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Dan22
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2019
Posts: 639
Location: Battle Ground, WA
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 Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:33 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| kintail wrote: |
So the c-channel for the engine to body seal provides a shelf or anther conduit for the taillight wire?
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There are a couple of spot welded tabs on the back side of the valence panel to hold the tail light wire. You can't see it in your pictures, but if the apron is original on your car, you can probably see where they are.
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
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mkhanshaw
Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2017
Posts: 101
Location: CA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:30 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| kintail wrote: |
Weather warming up. Removed gas tank to find more rust at bottom of front firewall. This matches rust evidence in the front heater channels inner firewall. A couple more green panels ordered.... Master brake cylinder wiring not attached but will be addressed on new harness install. Maybe add new steering coupler to list. Also the new gas line shown (cut) in the photo was looped around the passenger side steering tie rod. Every time the steering wheel turned the fuel line rubbed against the steering tie rod.... mainly caused by not replacing the original fuel reserve valve/filter and using a direct gas fitting to the tank!
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Mine looked about like yours. I threw in the towel and instead of ordering parts from Gershon (Klassicfab), I noticed my framehead was coming loose from the pan so i've separated the body from pan and having washburn metal re do my whole pan. I am both envious of and applaud your welding skills.
Local to me I have someone doing my heater channels but turned out to not be as bad as needed to replace them entirely. Just the corners at the rear and front! I lucked out for it being a 54 as well.
Because of that, I did not need the Klassicfab Brazilian specials. I ended up ordering from Wolfsburg West. Their channels are made in Denmark and from what I understand very good quality. Good enough for my sectional patches anyway!. I wish I would have seen your post about wolfparts as they sell heater channel sections! Ah well..
What are you doing about your steering shaft? Mine, like yours, is a rusty mess. I am definitely going to sand down but then I am trying to figure out what to treat it with to prevent rusting again without painting or powdercoating it.
Im also considering installing some roller bearings of proper diameters to make the steering action smooth as glass (vs the plastic bushings)
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sunroof
Samba Member
Joined: October 06, 2006
Posts: 2014
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 4:01 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| Quote: |
| Weather warming up. |
From this:
To this:
In just a couple of days.
Don
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 8:28 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| Quote: |
Mine looked about like yours. I threw in the towel and instead of ordering parts from Gershon (Klassicfab), I noticed my framehead was coming loose from the pan so i've separated the body from pan and having washburn metal re do my whole pan. I am both envious of and applaud your welding skills.
Local to me I have someone doing my heater channels but turned out to not be as bad as needed to replace them entirely. Just the corners at the rear and front! I lucked out for it being a 54 as well.
Because of that, I did not need the Klassicfab Brazilian specials. I ended up ordering from Wolfsburg West. Their channels are made in Denmark and from what I understand very good quality. Good enough for my sectional patches anyway!. I wish I would have seen your post about wolfparts as they sell heater channel sections! Ah well..
What are you doing about your steering shaft? Mine, like yours, is a rusty mess. I am definitely going to sand down but then I am trying to figure out what to treat it with to prevent rusting again without painting or powder-coating it.
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My 1954 appears to have 62K original miles and is really fairly clean after 70 years. The rear fender bolts are coming out one at a time and fairly easily... the bolts and all fenders are also original to the car.
I'm compiling a to do list as I go and stocking up on parts ahead of time.
I have no welding skills.... have to hire out. So I will rely on the skills of my body guy, Cam, for the repairs needed.
The steering shaft . ... will be original finish.... clean off rust and clear coat maybe. The steering column itself has blue paint all over it and needs to go back to OG so it will be pulled as well.
The repair panel choices were guided by Sunroof who has been thru this show before. and also others on the Samba as I read their experiences. I had restored my '67 Westfalia years ago and was very familiar with the need for fit.... thus Klassic for the heater channels. I have the frozen drivers door issue and will repair the passenger door as well .... and my exclusive to me rear parcel tray money pit hole.
Got the drivers vent window fully working after years of being frozen in place today.
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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mkhanshaw
Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2017
Posts: 101
Location: CA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2025 9:33 am Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| kintail wrote: |
| Quote: |
Mine looked about like yours. I threw in the towel and instead of ordering parts from Gershon (Klassicfab), I noticed my framehead was coming loose from the pan so i've separated the body from pan and having washburn metal re do my whole pan. I am both envious of and applaud your welding skills.
Local to me I have someone doing my heater channels but turned out to not be as bad as needed to replace them entirely. Just the corners at the rear and front! I lucked out for it being a 54 as well.
Because of that, I did not need the Klassicfab Brazilian specials. I ended up ordering from Wolfsburg West. Their channels are made in Denmark and from what I understand very good quality. Good enough for my sectional patches anyway!. I wish I would have seen your post about wolfparts as they sell heater channel sections! Ah well..
What are you doing about your steering shaft? Mine, like yours, is a rusty mess. I am definitely going to sand down but then I am trying to figure out what to treat it with to prevent rusting again without painting or powder-coating it.
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My 1954 appears to have 62K original miles and is really fairly clean after 70 years. The rear fender bolts are coming out one at a time and fairly easily... the bolts and all fenders are also original to the car.
I'm compiling a to do list as I go and stocking up on parts ahead of time.
I have no welding skills.... have to hire out. So I will rely on the skills of my body guy, Cam, for the repairs needed.
The steering shaft . ... will be original finish.... clean off rust and clear coat maybe. The steering column itself has blue paint all over it and needs to go back to OG so it will be pulled as well.
The repair panel choices were guided by Sunroof who has been thru this show before. and also others on the Samba as I read their experiences. I had restored my '67 Westfalia years ago and was very familiar with the need for fit.... thus Klassic for the heater channels. I have the frozen drivers door issue and will repair the passenger door as well .... and my exclusive to me rear parcel tray money pit hole.
Got the drivers vent window fully working after years of being frozen in place today. |
Ah ok, I thought you were doing the fab work yourself. Its a special talent I praise the metal gods to. I love the exclusive parcel tray comment lol.
I think Ill do the same on the steering shaft (sand down and clear it).
I just got an update that my metal guy fixed some engine bay swiss cheese and is installing the "weber windows" today.
Ill post pics in my thread when I get it back.
I am stoked to see a fellow 54 getting structurally sound! If I learn anything, ill cross share.
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2025 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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So had to cut the drivers side newer running board off because a previous owner had used stove bolts. This would not come off otherwise without damaging the OG fenders. All but three rear 14mm fender bolts remain plus a bumper bracket bolt. Tomorrows task as it gets warmer. The 14mm bolts so far have come off easily with a wee bit of heat.
Drivers side heater channel holes made by gentle pressure with screwdriver. Also lower hinge and door repair required.
Passenger side looks fine on floor pan and channel except at front firewall and inner.
Will see when we open it up.
And ordered right and left WW mirrors as vision out of an oval to the rear is limited..
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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VW_Jimbo 
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2016
Posts: 11086
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 9:16 am Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Nice looking ribbed door!
The A pillar bottom and heater channel are shot! You might want to keep the door in place when you remove the pan. Been there, won’t do that again!
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Jimbo
There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!
| TDCTDI wrote: |
| Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look. |
| 67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!  |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 2:50 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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A pillar and heater channel definitely gone... door shut and ......bracing also?
Heater channel and rear quarter are solid it appears. Got drivers side rear bumper bracket off today and bumper mounting point shows no rust or prior accident. Two more fender bolts to go and being careful to not strip them!!
Passenger side work requires sale of another car and clean out of garage......
Pictures to follow...
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Not bad... rust perforation from rear tray and overall rear panel alignment intact. Bumper bracket mount has saw mark.... needs further investigation. No stripped bolts or body fasteners. Just one bumper bolt snapped.
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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mkhanshaw
Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2017
Posts: 101
Location: CA
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 2:03 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| kintail wrote: |
The steering shaft . ... will be original finish.... clean off rust and clear coat maybe. The steering column itself has blue paint all over it and needs to go back to OG so it will be pulled as well.
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Just a bit of advice when you go to do this. I took my very rusty 54 steering shaft out over the weekend, and soaked in Evaporust for 24 hours. To conserve evaporust, I took a 2" diameter PVC pipe, cut to length and capped one end to make a container to soak the shaft in.
I was amazed at how much came off! I then hit it with my air tool and wire wheel to brighten it, then clear coated with krylon clear
Wah lah!
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scarabee
Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2021
Posts: 153
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:45 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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| Nice! The tube to minimize Evaporust is a great idea. |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2025 6:43 am Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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That came out very nice! When I get to the steering shaft I will be doing the same thing. For the fender bolts, I recently took off. I have been using Por-15.
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2025 4:35 am Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Tear down of entire car continues for future bodywork.... and in no particular order as old rusted bolts continue to succumb to penetrating oil and cautious heat application.
Yesterday the six exterior body chrome strips came off. They had been removed before for the glorious blue 1992 repaint. 1st one taking 30 minutes... the last about 60 seconds. Used thin/and thicker plastic wedges between body and moulding with oil to the clips. Had a metal upholstery tool with a flat blade and notch in it that would compress the clip to release it. No bends to the moulding or damage to the body. Will be polishing them up and reusing them.
Drivers front fender will be off by weekend. Likewise interior of drivers front door being gutted. Two screws holding up at moment. Have new aluminum door trim/rubber scrapers, vent window rubber, etc. and looking at re-chrome of vent.
Glove box door, and speaker chrome grill with screen removed. I am told the the Deluxe speaker screen may have been flocked in black by VW while the standard/Cdn custom screen was painted? Anybody know this one?
Transaxle needs two new rubber axle boots. The old ones aged out when I put the car up on axles stands...... they immediately cracked.
Wide whites now mounted on rims for ease of movement; and all four rims OG dated 08/54!! Rims will need to be trued before final install.
Got detoured on wheel rim colours as I got a spray paint can of ultra maroon to experiment with.
Met another local '53 VW Beetle Custom owner and saw the car last night.... lives in the neighbourhood !! Saw it at our first Vintage VW Club of Canada meet in Winnipeg on August, 1981. Original upholstery with 25 hp motor and some body work required..... being brought back to roadworthy condition!!
On the rear apron front, will keep inner structure, take out spot welds, and slip in Wolfparts apron... Will see what happens!
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2025 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Quick ultra maroon sample on ash tray cover. Small flake amazing!! Even better when professionally done!!
Original ultra maroon glove box door
Ultra maroon paint code
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2025 6:15 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Drivers side done. Minor tussle with front fender wiring tube to body will require a touch of metal. All bolts came out again .... no strips. Rust hole at A pillar as expected. Couple of items still in drivers door to be removed. Onto passenger side tear down....
Was trying to save OG horn it looks 50/50 with the rust!
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2025 11:54 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Received an OG ultra maroon glove box door to compare to my respray of the ash tray cover. Almost dead on match.
Removed headliner and bows yesterday. Now looks like an aftermarket headliner kit was put in during the '90s when the blue paint was done.
One more bolt to go and passenger side front fender comes off. 11mm bolts had to be creatively cut off again using the Dremel for the headlight fender wire conduit..... no damage!
Now that the grease nipples were accessible, dumped a lot of new grease into the front end. Much happiness!! Will need to use penetrating oil to loosen the link pins a bit.
Shipment of a couple of key long awaited parts coming soon!
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2025 3:43 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Passenger front done. No rust perforations ... no stripped bolts!!
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 6:21 am Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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The passenger side running board was cut up and sacrificed to the VW gods. Once again another "stovebolt" was used to attach one end and the rear fender had to be preserved. 2 expensive cutting disks later (Dremel) plus two running board bolts that just unbolted from the body with no problem.... done that task.
The heater channel appears solid on this side to the back..... but it and lower door hinge will be replaced anyway just like the drivers side.
The passenger side rear fender has two bolts holding it in place for now that can be easily removed.
Next step..... clearing out what remains of the dashboard switches and some wiring (new harness). Steering wheel stays in place for now to move the vehicle.
Removal of 40 hp motor next...... still plans for 36 hp in the future. In anticipation there was a sale and more $$$ spent of the budget. Note that 4 tailpipe baffles are spot welded in place.
Has anybody run one of these with them removed..... and is the exhaust note "better? I ran an old 36 hp motor with cam and stock muffler with all baffles removed and the sound was glorious but not over the top. Just slightly louder and definitely different than stock.... Not loud enough to attract a ticket though..
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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sunroof
Samba Member
Joined: October 06, 2006
Posts: 2014
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2025 1:42 pm Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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Looks like its had a bit of a tap on this side.
An easy one to pull out tho.
Don
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kintail
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2003
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 12:54 am Post subject: Re: New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate |
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It looks like a tap......but when looking at the inside of the front hood it doesn't.The front fender fits to the headlight conduit.... anyway we can examine this week.
The rear passenger fender held on by two loose bolts!! All fender bolts have come off perfectly. Meanwhile I am looking at a few engine sheet metal screws giving me more trouble in taking them off. Nothing that a lot of penetrating oil and application of heat.... plus time....... for entertainment. I was able to remove some petrified remnants of the old engine rubber to body seal.
Sunroof (Don) planning to come over late this week for an assist in dropping the motor. I am looking at a very long engine bolt for the starter that looks non-stock and entertaining.
Similar to painting underneath the front hood, the motor was removed and the whole compartment, wiring, and all, treated, to a coat of blue paint. With old wiring cut and spliced its a good thing the harness will be completely be replaced. You can also see the rust perforation of the rear parcel tray/ similar to the small hole in hole in the drivers side rear fender well...... picture to follow.
This will also be the first clear look at the transaxle and its condition.
Rear firewall
Driver inner rear wheel well
Put the 2013 Subaru STI up for sale this week. So hope this moves which will clear up a lot of garage space.
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Scott
August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe |
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