Wife's 1958 Bug

[GA1911]

My wife's father bought this car in boxes about 10 years ago, took it to Tim Baker at Baker Kustoms and Restoration in Dallas, GA. Tim put the car together and built a 1600 for it. My wife's father passed away a few years back, and she inherited the car. While her dad was alive, he took it to shows and drove it quite a bit. We drove it some after his passing, but it was in need of an engine, transaxle, and better brakes, as my wife decided she wanted to start driving it again. So it went back to Tim, and now here it is, a new 1776, freeway flyer transaxle, and disc brakes all around. We are still breaking in the motor, but it is really fun to drive, plenty of power. Looking forward to hitting some shows around GA this spring and summer.

[rcooled]

Nice looking car...welcome to the world of old VWs. Most any question you might have about your car can be answered here on this forum.

Any pics of the interior?
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'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone)

[Larmo63]

I love your old bug but I feel you are missing the whole point of driving one.

They are slow, you take your time and drive like people did in the '60s. If the brakes are rebuilt and adjusted properly, they work really well.

I like my Volkswagens stock, but to each his own.

At least you kept the outside stock looking.
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Lawrence
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‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[gt1953]

Oh my nice L41 black color! Lets see the interior now. With that engine and brakes uprade, it will be a pleasure to drive.
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Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[aa390392]

[irvanm]

Wow, awesome car.

[The Pilch]

Yeah that's gorgeous!! More pics!!!
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'85 Vanagon GL, weekender package, 1.9 wbx named Freddie/ '61 Beetle named Ringo/ '78 Dodge Monaco which is nothing like the Bluesmobile so please don't cast that oily rag upon it.

[GA1911]

Larmo...not my first VW, and we do just cruise around and take our time, but it is nice to have the power. The brakes were shot, needed drums and shoes all the way around, rear cylinders were blown, so we stepped up and went with the discs, not really that much more money than replacing everything on the drums.

I'll get some interior shots this weekend.

Thanks for the kind words, I'll let my wife know. She really loves this little car, brings back great memories of her dad.

[vwuberalles]

It's gorgeous! Her dad must be smiling from above. I don't see any problem with upgrading stuff in the name of safety in modern traffic. Bone stock has it's appeal, but there's something to be said for being able to quickly accelerate to get out of harm's way.
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[maplesyrup]

Love it! Enjoy
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Bugger

[sportin-wood]

Nice car, indeed!
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[GA1911]

This is our idea of cruising and taking it easy. Went out for a ride and beer close to home a few weeks ago.

[GA1911]

Here are a couple of photos of the interior. My wife's dad installed one of the "factory looking" stereos with a CD changer hidden under the back seat, along with the kick panel and rear speakers. My wife wants to install a storage tray under the dash, so I'll be pulling the kick panel speakers out. The person that her dad bought the car from had started to rebuild it, and had painted the steering column, steering wheel, parking brake handle grey, and installed all grey knobs. I like the original ivory color, and will change it back at some point, but not that big of a deal right now, we just want to enjoy the car.

[Dusty1]

[GA1911]

It has actually been lowered front and rear, and has a narrowed beam. The disc brakes pushed the wheels back out a little, so looks relatively stock. We have to change the front tire size, they are too tall (16580R15) and rubbing the headlight buckets when turning. It's a work in progress.

[toxicavenger70]

I was tired of the bamboo parcel travels unraveling so I got a metal one from Shorty's. https://shortysvw.com/products