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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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 Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:26 pm Post subject: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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Hi, I'm starting this thread to document a clients '47 Beetle. We talked about doing this a while ago but I wasn't sure I had the time then, and at the same time the '47 Resurrection thread was going. Hats off to Sean, Jason and the crew doing amazing work on that body. Luckily, I didn't have to perform any miracles with this body.
At this time, I'm just about done with metal and bodywork and approaching paint. I'll briefly catch up on that but will focus this mostly on the restoration of the chassis and final assembly. I did a fair amount of split beetle work back in the '90's and was fortunate enough do do a lot of work with Dick Christensen, but have mostly focused on buses since. So I'm a little rusty on beetles, especially '40s cars. And while there's a lot more information out there now I've still had difficulty figuring some things out.
As far as '40s cars go it seems to be a pretty well preserved and mostly in tact car. It received an amateur restoration in the late '60s and from what I understand, spent the next 30-40 years in a museum in Australia. *Correction, car was in New Zealand*. It was then sold to a collector on the East Coast here in the states where it spent a few years, then sold to the current owner in California. I've found some interesting things on this car and hopefully this can help some others doing similar cars, and if not, hope it's at least entertaining...
Thanks!
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David S
Last edited by DSweinhagen on Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:06 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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A few pics during disassembly...
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David S |
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Wolfsburg Classics
Banned
Joined: October 17, 2003
Posts: 326
Location: Christchurch,New Zealand.
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:49 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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David.
Nice to see this one in your hands.
This '47 actually was from New Zealand and was for a very long time owned by a major player in the importation of European Cars and in fact one of the first VW dealers here back in the early '50's.
Was very surprised it even came up for sale and left the country.
I know it sat in there private collection for many years.
Will be nice to see this one get your attention. |
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originalo
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Joined: February 14, 2007
Posts: 358
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:22 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| Quote: |
| : As far as '40s cars go it seems to be a pretty well preserved and mostly in tact car. It received an amateur restoration in the late '60s and from what I understand, spent the next 30-40 years in a museum in Australia.) |
David, that 47 seems to be outstandingly well preserved, congrats! On a side note: This is a RHD (!!) Feb. 1946 CCG (ex British Army) bug that really is sitting in an Australian museum (if it wasn´t sold too meanwhile):
Some info:
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:35 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| Wolfsburg Classics wrote: |
David.
Nice to see this one in your hands.
This '47 actually was from New Zealand and was for a very long time owned by a major player in the importation of European Cars and in fact one of the first VW dealers here back in the early '50's.
Was very surprised it even came up for sale and left the country.
I know it sat in there private collection for many years.
Will be nice to see this one get your attention. |
Thanks for the correction Tony. I knew I was a little fuzzy on the details.
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David S |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:40 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| originalo wrote: |
| Quote: |
| : As far as '40s cars go it seems to be a pretty well preserved and mostly in tact car. It received an amateur restoration in the late '60s and from what I understand, spent the next 30-40 years in a museum in Australia.) |
David, that 47 seems to be outstandingly well preserved, congrats! On a side note: This is a RHD (!!) Feb. 1946 CCG (ex British Army) bug that really is sitting in an Australian museum (if it wasn´t sold too meanwhile):
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Nice!
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David S |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:02 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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Some more disassembly and preparing the body for stripping. I removed sections of the front clip that I knew would be replaced...
Some new parts starting to show up thanks to Mika Virtanen and Wolf Parts.
Loaded up and off to Pro-Strip Mediablasting in Mesa, AZ
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David S |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:31 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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The engine is original to the car. It was loaded up and hauled out to George Schmidt (aka The Butcher Shop) in Riverside, California. Sorry for the bad pic. I guess that's the best I got as I headed out early one morning...
We stripped it down and the long block was left with George. I brought the tin back as would need to be paint matched. The carb, fuel pump and distributor were sent off to Ed Fall in Utah to do his thing. Note correct Huff carb and fuel pump...
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David S |
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KTPhil 
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Joined: April 06, 2006
Posts: 34009
Location: Conejo Valley, CA
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:00 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| I believe that's the same car that was brought to our club meet about two years ago in the Conejo Valley. It was wonderful to see, touch, and even smell this car! Opening the door, you instantly got a whiff of a WWII surplus store with the upholstery or headliner having that "old canvas" smell. All the materials of the interior were original. I think the coil has been changed, but otherwise it looks just like this car. Similar story about it spending so much time down under after being accepted as a trade-in for a new '67 from a dealer who didn't usually take trade-ins. The owner described one harrowing offramp when he had taken it on the freeway and then hit those cable brakes! I hope to see it again once the work is done! |
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René R.
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Joined: July 06, 2015
Posts: 1711
Location: No. Calif.
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:24 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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I'm really going to enjoy following the progress of this restoration! Big thumbs up.
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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996) |
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kafer53
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Joined: July 24, 2004
Posts: 904
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 5:17 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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Super nice car. Super solid!
Paul
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1953 Zwitter 11C (L73) |
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50Splitman
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Joined: April 29, 2004
Posts: 349
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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Unbelievable find, congrats! So solid it is truly amazing. Hard to find any beetle without major cancer in eastern US. Understand it spent a great deal of time in Australia, but still, truly unreal originality.
However, I'm surprised you went to the knife so quickly on the front end. Why not try and metal-work the original panels, as they didn't look that bad? Are you going to re-stamp or weld in the original body number in the panel behind the spare tire? Seems it would a shame to lose that originality. Also, the front apron you are replacing in the pic is incorrect - you need the style (unless you are going to modify it) that matches what was in the "before" pics.
Good luck with the restoration! |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 7:56 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| 50Splitman wrote: |
Unbelievable find, congrats! So solid it is truly amazing. Hard to find any beetle without major cancer in eastern US. Understand it spent a great deal of time in Australia, but still, truly unreal originality.
However, I'm surprised you went to the knife so quickly on the front end. Why not try and metal-work the original panels, as they didn't look that bad? Are you going to re-stamp or weld in the original body number in the panel behind the spare tire? Seems it would a shame to lose that originality. Also, the front apron you are replacing in the pic is incorrect - you need the style (unless you are going to modify it) that matches what was in the "before" pics.
Good luck with the restoration! |
Thanks. Maybe the front clip doesn't look as bad in the pics as in person. It was pretty badly damaged, pulled/hammered back out and gas welded/brazed back together. All the details and stampings were hammered flat on the right side. I did want to try to save the left side. In my experience, you could spend a ton of time but it will never look right.
I know the apron was wrong and must have been a mix up in ordering as I thought we ordered the early one. I didn't think it was worth exchanging all the way back to Europe and just changed the latch.
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David S
Last edited by DSweinhagen on Thu Nov 08, 2018 9:10 am; edited 1 time in total |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:17 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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Here are some pics back from stripping...
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David S |
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66brm
Samba Member
Joined: January 25, 2010
Posts: 3676
Location: Perth Western Australia
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| Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 4:20 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| DSweinhagen wrote: |
| originalo wrote: |
| Quote: |
| : As far as '40s cars go it seems to be a pretty well preserved and mostly in tact car. It received an amateur restoration in the late '60s and from what I understand, spent the next 30-40 years in a museum in Australia.) |
David, that 47 seems to be outstandingly well preserved, congrats! On a side note: This is a RHD (!!) Feb. 1946 CCG (ex British Army) bug that really is sitting in an Australian museum (if it wasn´t sold too meanwhile):
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Nice! |
It's still in the museum here, I recently met the guy who owns it
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Aust. RHD 66 Type 1
Aust. RHD 57 Type 1 Oval
| modok wrote: |
| I am an expert at fitting things in holes, been doing it a long time |
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splitjunkie
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Joined: April 04, 2006
Posts: 4094
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| Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 7:39 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| DSweinhagen wrote: |
Here are some pics back from stripping...
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Just goes to show you never really know what is going on until you blast all of the paint and bondo off. Looks like it's time for some more panels from Virtanen and Wolf.
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Chris
You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 8:11 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| splitjunkie wrote: |
| DSweinhagen wrote: |
Here are some pics back from stripping...
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Just goes to show you never really know what is going on until you blast all of the paint and bondo off. Looks like it's time for some more panels from Virtanen and Wolf. |
Yep, that thick paint, filler and undercoat was hiding a lot. A little rougher than I would have thought, but still not too bad for a '47.
I got a coat of epoxy on the body and started with the quarter panel repair...
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David S |
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50Splitman
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Joined: April 29, 2004
Posts: 349
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| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:56 am Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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Excellent work! Will certainly enjoy this thread 
Question on the quarter panel repair - did you TIG or MIG that panel? |
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rod_vw
Samba Member
Joined: December 20, 2006
Posts: 416
Location: Shropshire, UK
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| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:57 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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I can supply new upholstery fabric for the car should you need it. Drop me a PM if interested and I will send you a sample.
It looks the same as I have had woven for my '46.
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Rod,
Please visit http://www.historicvws.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/historicvwclub/
1946 Beetle (Back on the road after over 50 years! Last major outing - Hessisch Oldendorf 2022)
2016 T6 Selfbuild Camper and a LWB MAN TGE in build. |
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DSweinhagen
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2002
Posts: 382
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:04 pm Post subject: Re: 1947 Beetle Restoration |
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| 50Splitman wrote: |
Excellent work! Will certainly enjoy this thread
Question on the quarter panel repair - did you TIG or MIG that panel? |
Thanks! I just use MIG right now.
| rod_vw wrote: |
I can supply new upholstery fabric for the car should you need it. Drop me a PM if interested and I will send you a sample.
It looks the same as I have had woven for my '46. |
Thanks Rod. My customer already purchased some material out of the UK through a friend of his a year or so ago. Not sure if it may have come through you? I appreciate the info.
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David S |
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