'66 Field Find parts car.. project

[WADVR]

Hello, I figure I’m far enough along on this that posting a thread won’t jinx the progress. Long story short I bought this as a parts car as it had a few components that I needed for my ‘67 but ended up finding a better condition ‘67 shell to move ahead on once this project is mobile. That said I decided to get this old car running for a fair weather daily driver (short backroads commute). My plan for this ‘project’ is to get it running and driving and leave it ugly for now. Might do the body at a later date.

On to the car:

1966 Sea Sand beetle rescued from a field in eastern/central Washington. I actually found the car on the classifieds here. I believe the guy I purchased it from, purchased it from the family of the original owner who passed away in 1979 and willed it to a family member who in my opinion beat the piss out of it and left it on the farm. It clearly shows some history of fender benders and aggressive driving. The car has its original license plate from 1966 which matches it being sold/licensed in Chelan County which is where I happen to be from as well. I plan on either running the plate as is or if needed having it restored, have heard both ways work but I guess it is up to the mood of the licensing place employee. When I got the car it was missing most of the glass, interior, signals all broke or missing, engine was removed long ago, just about every fender dented, needs heater channels and of course the floor pans were rotted out but otherwise a cool car and for some reason I dig the color.
For the last year or so I've slowly watched the classifieds and Craigslist accumulating parts, glass etc. I will be running the 1600sp out of my '67 as I know it is a solid engine and not numbers matching or anything. I am going to run 12 volt but no hacks made so it is easily swapped back to 6 volt service if desired later. In May of this year (2 months ago) I decided to get this project rolling.

Stage 1: getting it running/driving is about complete, I will post up some pictures and a few things I have learned along the way. Stay tuned.

Ill start it off with some before pictures:

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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[Eric&Barb]

While rough, it looks like a good project!
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[Rome]

Hope you achieve to get it running and safely on the road. Reviving a seeming lost cause is honorable. Do you have welding equipment and abilities for your rust repairs?

[russ c]

My 66 was in similar condition when I found it. Good luck with it!!

[WADVR]

After gathering many parts I finally pulled the trigger on starting this project. I started with pulling the body to start work on the pan and mechanicals.

I have seen many contraptions built to hold a bug body off the chassis but this worked well and I had all the materials. That and help from a couple neighbors the pan was off and into the garage.

A couple weekday evenings and I had then old pans removed and new WW pans installed, seam sealed and painted. I used Rustoleum Semi-Gloss paint and In my opinion they look great and the sheen is a good match to original.

While I was in the area, I replaced the complete braking system with a new MC, All hard and soft lines and wheel cylinders. I am considering discs at some point so I did not replace the shoes but did adjust them up and they work well. I also went through the cable conduits and cleaned them out, replaced cables, installed new shift rail bushing, blew out the fuel line and checked its condition which luckily was in good shape amazingly.

Now is where the trouble starts.. I went to replace the clutch cable as it had a strand frying and again, now is the time to do it, well it got stuck in the tunnel and would not budge. Turned out that the steel guide tube inside the tunnel had split and the cable was jammed in the split. I got it all out and then went researching this predicament which I must say is not an easy procedure to find info on. Lots of info on Bowden tube replacement and adjustment, lots of info on reattaching the tube to the tunnel in the middle of the car as that is common for it to break loose and cause clutch adjustment issues, chattering, not disengaging, making a terrible banging, scratching noise etc but little info out there on full replacement. I found some info by searching autostick conversions as some of those cars did not come with a guide tube so naturally there is some info on it. Also no one advertises selling a guide tube and most simply go to the metal supply and buy 6' of 1/2" thin walled mild steel tubing. The correct size is 12mm and I was concerned with the bowden tube not seating correctly as I recalled it being a tight fit to begin with. Another factor is none of my usual suppliers had the size I wanted, was not cheap and would mean driving into the city during work to pick up. Not being all that excited about that, I decided to look closer at Wolfsburg West. Turns out if you search "clutch cable guide tube" exactly what is needed pops up but it says in the description it is only for the Bus. I took my chances and ordered it along with several other parts to absorb the shipping which I must give WW credit, their shipping is very reasonable IMO. So to put it out there, I used part number 211703517 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211703517

Below is how that process went:

Broken guide tube pulled out of the rear of the tunnel:

The guide tube is attached to the tunnel in 3 locations AND has a clamp that attaches the tube to the fuel line just about 9" forward of the mid span tunnel attachment.
The front attachment is right behind the pedal assembly or 34.12" ahead of the leading edge of the mid span tunnel attachment. The front attachment is a vertical plate with a cut out for the tube to rest and align properly in, this plate also supports the fuel line. I did not take a picture but this is visible (not accessible) from the front access cover. a hole will need to be cut into the passenger side of the tunnel to access/weld this point.

The mid span attachment is the most commonly repaired and there is info on it such as measurements on where to cut etc. I just measured back and cut accordingly making sure to make the hole also able to access the clamp that attaches the fuel line to the clutch tube. I possibly made a mistake here by not bracing the tab to the tunnel bottom. I simply removed the tab from the old line and welded it to both the tube and the tunnel just as original, again I should have added a brace but live and learn they say..

The hole I cut into the tunnel to access the necessary clamps and attachment points. I will add that the reason it is such a long hole is there is a clamp that holds the fuel line to the clutch tube apx 9 inches ahead of the spot where the tube is attached to the tunnel mid point.

The rear attachment for the guide tube is at the top of the tunnel under the shifter coupling access cover. There is a variation in the tunnel that shows where the tube is to be placed and welded. As you can see in the photo I left the tube long and cut to length after fitment and welding. Bending the tube to fit changes the length so it is best to cut this after as I have done.

Lucky or not, some PO hacked this nasty hole in the side of the tunnel to fix the shifter I assume? which luckily I did not repair before finding this issue, I was kicking myself for not squaring it up and welding in a new patch when I had the pans out of the way but turns out that saved cutting another hole so lucky guess it is. This hole turned out to be just far enough forward to allow me to stick my MIG gun up inside and by feel weld the tube to the front tunnel attachment right behind the shifter. If I was to do this again and didn't have the hole already I would have to cut an additional hole to weld this up properly.

Now for the tube itself: I noticed that the front opening of the tube where it goes to the pedal assy was flared. I took my flaring tool and flared the end to match:

Now for the bend in the tube, this part sucks but was not hard to do in the end. Just have to make sure you fish it in the right path as it will want to go on the wrong sides of all the other guide conduits inside the tunnel. I saw a post where someone used a string or something to make sure it went the right path. Not a bad idea but of course I did not use it. Bend the tube to match the old tube as best as possible but it is kind of self explanatory once you get it in there and see where things need to line up to attach like before. The rear attachment point really sets the position of where it exits the chassis and the bend needed to make this happen. there is not much room for error here as the rear seal and Bowden tube do not have much room to move position and angle. I believe I cut my tube to make the amount protruding out from the chassis to be 1.25", I got this measurement from my '67 pan sitting bare at the moment.

All positioned and welded back up, didn't get a shot of the welds smoothed out and painted but you get the idea. Also eventually this will all be recovered with a new sound deadening material be complete.

That all for tonight, I have learned quite bit and wanted to pass the info along.
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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[WADVR]

After and during the clutch tube repair I was fighting a leaky transaxle flange. It did not appear to leak before I replaced the boot so I spent considerable time trying to seal the boot when the real problem was the 2 piece flange itself leaking between the halves.

Here is the thread and info on that work: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702787

leak location, loosened halves:

used RTV to seal

So far no more drips and I have driven the car a few times in the neighborhood and cycled the suspension etc, so will see how long this lasts.

Super glad I was able to work on this problem while the body was off, it would have been much worse working this from under the car and as others have said probably impossible. While I was there I installed new mounts on the bell housing, clearance the tranny for the 12V flywheel, installed a new release bearing and filled the tranny with Amsoil.
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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[WADVR]

No pictures but I installed the engine after clearancing the tranny which took removing the engine and test fitting 8(hundred) times. Again lucky to do this work without the body in the way. Installed a 12v starter and a new battery cable. The pre-existing wiring was a hack job mess so I removed it all and started fresh. I assume it was an attempt at a hard start relay which hopefully I find unnecessary after the 12v swap.

Another small un pictured change was lowering the rear a single outer spline and installing some EMPI drop spindles and new seals/bearings/ outer TREs to the front. Depending on how things sit I might swap the beam out with a 2-3" narrowed adjustable beam but for now it remains original.

After this the body was reinstalled and here is how it looks with a few gallons of fuel, will see how it settles out:

I am not going for the totally slammed look but a little tighter than stock 'stance'. Down the road I plan to dial in the suspension and improve the handling for a fun car to drive in the twisty backroads around here.

Next up is my attempts at 'patina' body work, don't get your hopes up. not a body guy for sure but I hope to make it look a little better until I pull the body again and replace the heater channels and do the heavy lifting on the body work.
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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[67_13Deluxe]

That looks like a fun project! Nice job on the pans!

[WADVR]

[Rome]

Slightly lowered stance looks perfect.

[WADVR]

Got the lights all working with exception of the dash lights, need to swap in 12v bulbs still. I ended up dropping in the flasher relay and dimmer switch from the extra '67 shell, will also be swapping the wiper motor from this as well but don't plan on using the 2nd speed as I want to keep the original switch. I am amazed that after sitting in the exposed weather for so many years the headlight switch works as does the turn signals and dimmer. I did have to clean a few fuse box connections but can't complain.

Getting closer to venture outside the neighborhood!
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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[WADVR]

Got some glass in it and couldn’t help but take it for a ride. Drove great, have a few small items to tend to but for a first drive in 39 years I can’t complain at all. Did the rear window today, what a pain in the ass.

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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[WADVR]

Back at it. Going to replace the heater channels and rust repair. Basically the rust is pretty heavy around the rear quarters wheel wells and will all be fixed along with the heater channels. Here’s the bracing and I should have the body off in the next couple days.

Will be installing KlassicFabrications heater channels with crossmembers sourced from Wolfsburg West along with other sheet metal panels.

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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[toxicavenger70]

Dang you are kicking it!

[hewica8]

Very cool bug! Nice work reviving a car that many would have not given a second chance.

[WADVR]

Thanks. Pretty stoked to get this thing so,I’d then see where it goes from there.

hewica8 - although not as low I’m going for a similar look to your old and new project. Nice work!
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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[WADVR]

Here it sits ready to be pulled apart again. Going to start with the wheel well and body mount repairs on the chassis so I can verify alignment before pulling out the complete middle of the car. Figured narrowing down the variables would be a good approach here.
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- 67 Beetle Full Resto Project
- 66 Beetle “Parts Car” Project

[vwuberalles]

Nice bug! Is that bike in the background one of those Rokon 2wd things?
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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

[WADVR]

[vwuberalles]