Back to life - my 66 build begins.....

[dodgerodder]

Well I am a long time Samba follower, and after about 25 years without a bug I’m thrilled to be back in the game!

My first car was a 68’ that I built with my dad & brother in the mid 80’s. My original plan for the car was a baja. But I saw my first cal look, and I was hooked.

We built the car back then, and did everything ourselves. My pops has always been into cars, and thankfully me and my brother followed.

Well I drove that car for years, and loved it! Was so proud to drive a car to high school that we built, together as a family.

I don’t have many pics of that car, but here’s a few I have left.

So long story short, drove that car for my whole young life, thru changes and upgrades as money allowed. It finally died in ways I couldn’t afford to fix, and just didn’t have the skills to fix. I couldn’t weld then, the car ended up rusting badly, etc. RIP.....

Well as years went on, I learned to weld, and do many things I was never able to.

Built many different cars from the ground up. Went thru the bagged mini truck phase, Mustangs, traditional hot rods (30 Model A roadster pickup, still have it,) etc. but never had another bug.

Until now, finally.

More coming up!

[dodgerodder]

So fast forward to the end of last year. I REALLY wanted to get a bug again. So
I started the search.

I live in Florida, and just couldn’t find a decent start for project. Every car I found had the bottom 6 inches of the car missing.......

I wanted a pre 68, and started looking for the right car on the Samba.

Since horrible rusty cars were bringing too much locally, I decided shipping a car from California or Arizona might be the way to go.

One that I found in the Samba classifieds kept calling my name. I found a 66 in California, that looked like what I wanted as a starting point.

I contacted the seller, Jeremy. He was just a good, honest guy. Talked on the phone, he sent me many many pictures, and answered any questions I had.

Here are a few of the pictures I got from him at the time:

More to come....

[dodgerodder]

So though it needs some love, the car has great bones.

And the car somehow wouldn’t let me forget about it.
The usually rusty areas were solid, so I pulled the trigger!

Jeremy found me a deck lid. Also a dash donor, as the lower windshield corners have some pitting rust.

Jeremy really went out of his way to help with shipping the car, finding the parts, etc.

I really appreciate everything you did Jeremy!

A week later, the car was to me in Florida!

More to come...

[dodgerodder]

While the car was loaded on the truck, I was able to get a real good look at the underside. Everything really looked solid underneath!

I got it unloaded, and inside the shop. I was thrilled!! The car was everything that I saw in all the pictures Jeremy sent me.

Sure, the car had a few problem areas that need addressed. But any 50 year old car will have those.

All the normal bad areas are super solid! Heater channels, lower rockers, wheel houses, etc all look great!

More to come..

[dodgerodder]

So I still have more to post, but I’ll stop for tonight!

My plans are kind of a cross between a cal look & a resto cal look, if that makes sense! More of a traditional cal stance, with a rake. But still keeping the stock trim & moldings.

I will post all my progress, to hopefully help others that will be doing the same things in the future on their projects. I always love learning from other people’s build threads.

I’ve got some progress pics of things I’ve gotten done already, so I’ll definitely get those pics posted up tomorrow night.

Sorry for the LLLOOONNNNGGGGG intro to this btw!!

Dan

[vwuberalles]

Congrats on the new bug! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it, looks nice and solid!
_________________
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

[dodgerodder]

[jjohnson67]

Looks like she has decent bones. Good luck with your adventure!

[Rome]

Wise decision to insist on a solid car, and glad it ended up truly being so. Looking forward to your updates. Hope you continue with the patience, endurance and enthusiasm to get it finished and driveable.

[dodgerodder]

Thanks guys! I am super thankful the car ended up as it did.

I know of the troubled areas, and am happy to take the time to do it to the best of my abilities.

I was amazed that every running board bolt (into the heater channels) came right out, no soaking, no issues. And the condition of the heater channels are so nice!

Such a pleasant surprise!


I’ve started on the trouble areas, I’ll get started showing what I’ve gotten done so far

[dodgerodder]

So now onto the challenges. The 1st area in need of attention is the passenger side rear bumper mount area.

The car had taken a tap on that side of the rear bumper at some point. And a so-so repair was done.

The rear apron was replaced, done pretty poorly. So I removed it first.

The rear bumper mount area was hacked out, & a late model donor umm, put into place

Hacked up the engine side tray as well

Warped to death, & left as bare metal for ever. This has to go.....




.

[dodgerodder]

But my dilemma became finding a correct replacement quarter, with correct 66' bumper brackets....nobody repops them

And I don't want to put a 65 style repop panel in place. Bad fit & quality, & the wrong bumper mount...

So I kept an eye on the Samba classifieds for a 66/67 donor quarter. Lucky me, one popped up!!

But it's a WHOLE oem 66/67 replacement quarter....

Way to big to ship as it, & I don't really need the whole panel, just the rear corner. I contacted Peter, the seller. He was awesome!!

Willing to cut the part I needed & ship it, I have been saved!! Thank you Peter, you saved me, I owe you!!

I got what I needed to move forward, arrived in perfect shape!

.

[dodgerodder]

So now to cut out the bad. Once out, you can see the repair that was done. It kept the car usable, but that's about it......

In all its glory:

[dodgerodder]

My car is now a baja!! No turning back now.

I smoothed out the wrinkles in the wheel well, hammer & dolly time.



I first wanted to straighten this area out. It looked like it was chewed off by a beaver when the car was built haha!

So I set up a laser level, & ground it straight-MUCH better!!

Thank goodness the driver side was done straight from the factory!!


.

[dodgerodder]

Now I spent a TON of time getting my cut perfectly straight. Since I am tigging the new panel, fit up has to be perfect, no gaps.

Set up the laser level, so I could grind the cut straight, need to get it to match the laser line:

I did not stop til it was super straight.

Then I cut the new panel about an inch longer than I needed, so I could clamp it inside the cut to get it in the right place. Fit a fender up once I got it clamped it the right spot.

Getting there!

I then carefully scribed a line in the new panel, to cut for a perfect fit up:

Ok, I’m not gonna lie. Every time I hear the word “laser”, I think of this.....


Link

[dodgerodder]

And then I clamped it in place to see where I am at:

OK, not a bad start. But I need to get rid of the light showing in the gap, to make it fit perfect for tigging it on.

So I spent a TON of time hand filing, until the fit was perfect, no gap or light showing. Time spent here makes for a much easier weld job, & better end result.

Here is the panel clamped in place now, starting to look like something!

[dodgerodder]

So finally I can get ready to weld!

Cleaned the edges on the panel, & the car to get prepped to weld

Used copper weld thru primer on the part that tucks under the lip

And 20" of tigging later, & hand sanding the weld seam smooth, here we have it!

I'm on cloud 9, feel like a major hurdle has been cleared!!


.

[dodgerodder]

So next was to fix the butchered area of the lower firewall, where it meets the new quarter section.

The firewall was a warped mess from the previous gas welding repairs. So I bought a BBT firewall patch, & a BBT rear 66 apron.

SUPER nice quality! I highly recommend. Here's the firewall patch:

But I don't want to splice weld the engine seal channel. So I removed the seal channel from the firewall patch panel, & the car:

Removed the tar board spikes, since I'm smoothing out the firewall to paint:

I have a new piece of steel seal channel, that I will have to later form to the shape & curves on the firewall, then I'll spot weld to the firewall so it will look as it did from factory.

.

[dodgerodder]

So I got the firewall patch fitted, looking like a car again!

When I fitted the rear quarter/bumper mount section, I just drilled the spotwelds to remove the engine side tray. This way I can easily weld it in the correct location.

For now I cleco'ed the side panel back in place, looking better

[dodgerodder]

Now I got everything ready to weld the firewall patch in place.

I drilled holes in the lip to spotweld thru, & sprayed all mating surfaces with copper weld primer

I welded it up, sanded the spotwelds & weld seam smooth. Another hurdle crossed, baby steps!