Ruby red '63 patina project

[bus guy]

I've been a bit out of things for a while, due to divorce and major life changes. I sold pretty much all the cars I had, except for a half share of a bay Westy with a buddy.

I spotted this for sale on Facebook in Northern Sweden a few weeks ago. I had no spare money, so I sold a couple bikes, an original Tamiya sand scorcher and a few parts and made it mine. Here is a pic from the vendor.

It's been sitting outside for years and was covered in thick moss. I shipped it over on a boat from Sweden without going to see it, as it fits my plans as far as build year and has cloth seats and a factory eberspacher heater. Plans are for a stock height patina driver car, hopefully one that I can fulfill a dream in of driving to Nordkapp (the north cape of Norway) in the winter. Will update with arrival pics and getting started, but it will be back burner status for a couple of months. It has a nice patina decklid on it, but the wrong year, so a '63 correct decklid was included, but I need to paint match it. Here's a few pics for now.

[bus guy]

So I decided to do a clean up and moss removal. My buddy Johnny came over and we used bathroom mould spray, soapy water and green kitchen sponge scourers.
Here's the before:

And here's some after pics:
Wet...

Dry...

A small section buffed out...

Then it was onto removing all the rotted out carpet, homebrew rubber mats, leaves and rubbish. I leaned on the pass. Seat and it sank through the floor. When we removed it, my foot went through. Feels good to have it cleared out. All the rear luggage area, front and rear bumper mounts, etc seem really good and solid. Just need to save up for some green channels and German quality pans.

[67ctbug]

Paint looks like it'll turn out good!
_________________
'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'73 Dodge W200
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016

[EMPIImp69]

That was same color as my bug when it was new. Looks complete
_________________
1963 Ragtop Bug

[anthracitedub]

Sweet car.. Gersons channels and some pans, you'll be set.
Looks like the original glove box made it too!

What's the tubing that runs through the passenger side engine fire wall?

[grandpa pete]

why is there an egg timer under the dashboard ???
oil pressure guage ????
_________________
63 two fold rag
66 sedan delivery Type 6

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569619&highlight=sedan+delivery

[TDCTDI]

[TDCTDI]

[Rome]

This shot of the roof moss-

reminded me of this famous roof-

[bus guy]

Thanks for the replies. The tubing to the right of the engine bay is the original engine oil warmer; it was a Swedish winter thing, to get the car upto operating temps quicker and avoid the car trying to start on thick engine oil in sub zero temperatures. You can see the plug on the end in the rusty floorpan shot. It goes to a special sump plate, in place of the original type.

The thing under the dash is indeed the 24hr timer for the eberspächer heater.

[ZENVWDRIVER]

... nice patina and lotza' nice accessories.
_________________
5/50, pastel green 11G - SOLD
8/50, gray 11A Beetle
6/52, pastel green 11C - SOLD
11/4/52, black Zwitter - SOLD to my little bro.
1954 Porsche, pre A, with VW 36 horse- SOLD
1/54, black 11C Beetle - TRADED
2/55 Iceland green Beetle, on a 1965 pan
3/55 113 Beetle, stratos silver
1955 Messerschmitt KR175 - SOLD, sadly
1960 single cab
1962 SO33, with SO 42 interior
9/63 Pacific blue, Ghia
'87 Toyota MR2
'02 WestFORDia E-150, GAVE TO OUR SON

All super-heroes, wear a MASK

[bus guy]

Thanks Zenvwdriver 😊

I had a stroke of luck a few days ago, when a friend on Instagram contacted me with a killer deal on the correct year rear seat.

The original front seats are there and are cloth, with this pattern. Eventually I hope to get them redone; this cloth is available from Himmelservice in Germany.

My other small concern when buying the car, was the absence of the original door cards. I didn't really want TMI replacement ones. I saw these on eBay a couple of weeks ago, but they were too expensive. The auction ended and they were unsold. I messaged an offer a week or more after the auction had ended and managed to get them for half the original buy it now price. I paid £80 for the set and with a little love, they'll be perfect. They even came off a Swedish car and have a 1967 Swedish tax disc on them! 😊

The car was found by the previous owner with no decklid on. This accounts for the seized engine; it's a Vw factory replacement case, missing most ancillary parts, but still has distributor and one stale air heat exchanger on. It is seized solid; presumably from being open to the elements without an inlet manifold or rocker covers on. I will try to clear out the inlet ports and fill with diesel or Marvel mystery oil, to see if I can free it up and strip for rebuild.

The PO threw on this matching patina '65 decklid

But also included a correct '63 lid into the deal.

I want the correct lid on the car, so will buff out the '65 lid and hang it on the wall, then strip and repaint the correct year lid for the car. It's factory black on the back side and I need to find and weld on the spring hanger and, of course, match the patina.
I write for a couple of VW magazines and this little project update will be in the next Volksworld magazine 😊😊

Lastly for now, it was my birthday 2 days ago and my best buddy and Vw partner in crime blew me away with an original Swedish '63 instruction manual, parts price list and VW dealer map, in the original wallet. I was so stoked with this!!!

[anthracitedub]

Wow! Awesome update. That's great that you have those door cards... It was meant to be😃

[bus guy]

It feels like it was with the door cards; a friend has a 62 project and has struggled to find original door cards for the past 3 years. I couldn't afford them, but just couldn't pass them up.

[arizonabuckeye]

Oh man I would have left the moss! Looks great without it though...

[Buscowboy]

Lets get the Westy sold and you can plough( plow for our US friends) into the Ruby Red
_________________
1962 Gulf Blue Patina Deluxe Beetle
1963 SubHatch Westfalia MG/PW
1967 Fastback RHD Regatta Blue
1970 FI Auto Squareback
1999 T4 Transporter 2.5 TDI Reimo

http://www.youtube.com/@BuscowboyClassics

https://www.instagram.com/buscowboy/

[scottvw]

Here's some inspiration for you.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=659386

[Allan Buc]

http://therascalscats.skynetblogs.be/blog/

[bus guy]

^ Nice!

I bought a long swan neck passenger side hinge mirror at a show in summer 2015. I didn't have an early car to put it on at that time, but knew it was pretty rare and it was only £10. I gifted it to my buddy johnnylongtime, but he just gifted it back, as he's fitting Albert mirrors on his car. He even found a threaded hinge pin, lower nut and olive for me. The mounting pin on the mirror has been ground down for some reason and will need building up with weld and re-grinding, but I'm really happy with it. Just need to find a matching driver side one.

[GüteAndTite]

I was wondering something. I have the same timer for the Eberspacher heater as your car. Do you know if the heater can be turned on and off aeperwate of the timer or must you always turn the heater to on, then additional turn the heater timer to on as well for the heater to work???
_________________
Official 58-60 "Early Big Window" Convertible Thread & Registry
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=426481
F&S Saxomat Automatic Clutch System Thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=462533
61-67 Delanair Air conditioning Thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=457944&highlight=air+conditioning

PUNCTUATION CHANGES THE WORLD: "I need to help my uncle, Jack, off a horse" is way better than, "I need to help my uncle jack off a horse"