Early 1965 Beetle project

[left_coast*9]

[left_coast*9]

[left_coast*9]

Been working out the minor front end damage to the 65, it's been a slow but fun journey. I think a lot of shops would have just clipped the front end but this car is waaaay too nice to cut up. And can be fixed. So as you know it appears that the damage was from the driver's side to some degree (literally), but whatever the dumb-ass PO hit, went under the car too, bending up the spare tire tray and of course mangling the front apron. No big deal, let's pull that sheit out with some brut force delivered at the hand of the Dodge cummins diesel LOL
Here you can see (by the red line) that the drivers side is up and in more than the pass side.

All I did was weld on some pretty thick angle iron to the front quarter where the bumper bracket is spot welded. Of course the bumper bracket is in the spare tire side, but it provided some rigidity and strength/leverage to attach the angle iron. Here I show a photo of me working on the pass side as it needed to come out a bit too. Yes, the other end of that tow strap is attached to the hitch of my truck. It was a gentle tug. And later on, I merely snugged up the strap to provide tension and then banged on it with hammer and dolly to work out the kinks.

Here you can see it got to be an all-out battle! I've got angle iron melted to the whole front of the car! LOL Really though, the key here was to go slow and get the angle at which I pulled correct. That was where I had to be careful. Notice too that I have all my hammers and dollies out, as well as a BFH (big Ford hammer )

But look now, it's much better

Here I got the front apron off....still have some minor wrinkles to pound out at the bottom of the quarter

Getting really close. Front driver's quarter meets up real nice with the hood now. More work to do though.

This becomes scrap steel now. Sad but necessary sacrifice for the old guy.....

Cheers!
_________________
Jet City 1957 VW Oval Rag Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=408791
1965 Sea Blue Beetle Sedan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[left_coast*9]

Little by little, making headway. Progress is bliss. So I’ve been having trouble shifting into 1st and reverse. Didn’t care for that much. I was worried the tranny was going out, but I thought no way, there has to be something else. So first thing I checked to see whether I could adjust the clutch. Nope, I had that wing nut adjusted all the way up. Then I noticed, WTF!, there was a second nut in there in front of the wing nut! Ok, something’s fishy. PO was a dumbass, LMFAO, but I already knew that. Of course I am NOT an expert mechanic, but this was still funny. At this point, the last thing I wanted to do is pull the engine. So let’s start with the basics. Check the clutch cable. That meant pull the pedal assembly. Well that was the first part of the fun. It definitely revealed culprit number one. The GD hook was almost worn through!

After I got this out I knew I was in for some fun. Sure enough, culprit number 2: the front weld on the clutch tube was broken, and the tube was flopping around in there. Oh boy, that meant I had to cut a hole in the tunnel from the pass side to access and reweld the tube
Got the access panel cut, prepped or welding

welding done.

Everything is solid, solid solid in here. Amazing

While I was in there, before I welded up the front weld I noticed that the middle clutch tube weld was broken too! Had to go in and fix that , too. Yes, this is culprit number three.
Unortunately, this OG black matting absolutely disintegrated in my hands as I was taking it out. Bummer

Welded in a reinforcement bracket, in addition to welding it to the driver's side of the tunnel

Also replaced the clutch cable and bowden tube, as well as wire wheeled and painted the whole pedal assembly. Pics of that soon. Besides needing a little adjustment, the clutch works great now. Could not have done this job without this website, thanks Samba!
_________________
Jet City 1957 VW Oval Rag Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=408791
1965 Sea Blue Beetle Sedan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[itizmyne4]

Well since we're comparing vins, myne is 115659461 also a sunroof
Myne has front end damage, until i can get the funds to replace/fix it, i can just hide the problems for now ha. oh and the rear has damage too. Still looking good

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My 1st bug a '65SOLD

My brothers '63 RHD Oval

VW's are cars. Cars are not meant to leak oil. So if your VW leaks I think you should fix it. Be like me and have no leaks

[left_coast*9]

[jvulich]

You might have already done this but, I would check the shift rod bushing. I just replaced mine in my 65

[itizmyne4]

[left_coast*9]

[jvulich]

That's the gearshift coupler which I also changed. The bushing is under your shifter in the tab that supports the shift rod. You have to remove the shift rod to replace it.

[left_coast*9]

Well a few updates on the pedal assembly. Before:

After:

Replacing the clutch hook rod was easier that I thought it would be. A little heat on the right part, at the right time, and a BFH, and I declared victory. Thanks for lookin'
_________________
Jet City 1957 VW Oval Rag Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=408791
1965 Sea Blue Beetle Sedan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[HotRod06]

My VIN is 115246XXX its also a sunroof. I have similar front end damage. Your build is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work
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1965 Sunroof Beetle
It's not always the destination, sometimes its the journey.

[jvulich]

My 65 was built later in the year, vin 115831xxx. It was originally Panama Beige but the p.o. painted it Brunswick Blue.

[img][/img]

[mykidsbug]

Thats a nice 65..

[left_coast*9]

[left_coast*9]

[jvulich]

Thanks, that is my "as purchased" picture. I really can't complain, there was more in new parts than I paid for the whole car. I did decide to stay with the mostly stock look except for some dropped spindles,some blank hub caps and a Moon 3 spoke steering wheel. Engine wise the 1200 that came with it was worn out and wasn't correct so I decided to dust off a 1776 I had sitting in the corner of my garage which I'll be adding a set of Kadron's with the older style air cleaners and an nos Treuhaft 010 distributor. I also yanked the 4.37 gearbox and replaced it with a 67 4.12 unit that I had Scott at Metalcraft rebuild.

[left_coast*9]

Just about got this driver's side rear pan fixed. With as solid as this car is, the only reason I can figure this part of the pan is rusty is bc the PO ran over something on that side. See the damage below. The battery tray and the whole pass side of the pan is perfect.
First thing to do was to finish getting the OG sound deadening mats, the OG rubber mats, and carpet and seats out of the way, and the area cleaned up:

Then figure out what needed to be cut out, and what could and should be left in place. I am using a standard sheet metal replacement pan to patch this, so I also had to keep in mind it's shape and size

Got it out of the car. This is the damage I was talking about. This is the only part of the pan that got scraped....it's one of the lowest parts of the car in this area. You can also see the big bulge in the second pic below:

Granted, a little bit of surface rust on the inside didn't help

Got it tacked in here

I'll post up the finished product later, haven't downloaded those pics yet. In the meantime, here is the pass side -- all of this is surface rust:

It cleaned up real nice

Getting there. Sorry, I sound like a broken record I know, but it's amazing how solid this car is. Must have been in a garage and treated really nicely all it's life. Next is to finish the pan repair, then to seam seal the welded area real good, and Por-15 inside on both sides.
Stay tuned
_________________
Jet City 1957 VW Oval Rag Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=408791
1965 Sea Blue Beetle Sedan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[left_coast*9]

A bit more progress. Since I have the seats out, might as well make them look like new. The upholstery already does. But the seat frames need attention.

Here is the new floor pan quarter welded in and seam-sealed. Por-15 went on today, will post the final product soon....

Not much to show, but better than nothin'! Cheers.....
_________________
Jet City 1957 VW Oval Rag Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=408791
1965 Sea Blue Beetle Sedan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[left_coast*9]

Finishing up the driver's side. I decided to do this the right way and take the pedal assembly back out to make sure it gets good coatings of POR-15 back there. Even removed out the stop bracket.

So now I can focus on getting the interior back together, and at least make the car a driver again. Need to adjust the clutch, brakes (should be easy), and that'll be about it for now. Then back to the front end work. Stay tuned!
_________________
Jet City 1957 VW Oval Rag Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=408791
1965 Sea Blue Beetle Sedan
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0