"Menace" '65 Tourist Delivery Build

[Chickensoup]

The day has come and im hyped. heres a 65 in which im told is a euro bug. its a California car and has 0% rust. except the rear floor pan sections which is more than fine. But, it does have a few dents.all can be pulled or hammered out but one. the front drivers was hit thankfully just on the apron section and not the side panel. so that will need a replacement piece. im not sure i want to paint it yet. if i can find OG fenders that are the same color then ill keep it a patina look but otherwise ill start the body work soon. PLEASE educate me on euro cars. what is that nob under the dash? is that a column lock? why is the gas gauge not VDO? i know some of you purist are gonna be mad when you see putting a few 66 parts on it like a 66 speedo and windshield wiper reservoir but its only temporary. also, do you think the passenger side rear fender is savable? it says Mexico on it so im guessing its a later model fender? How about the steering wheel? it looks pretty far gone but will putty save this one?

Edit. What do you guys think the paint is? It looks more than than white but I'm not sure if its gray either. And how do I tell if it's a standered or deluxe?

thank you

[Morganwerk]

Your work is cut out for you! Good luck!

Look at the VIN. If it starts with 111 it's a Standard, If it starts with 113 it's a Deluxe.

As far as the gas gauge, they were supplied by different companies over the years. Most were VDO but not all. Is yours a Magura?

Yes, that is a steering wheel lock.

You're also going to need the right deck lid. the one you have is for a later '60s.
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Gary
1966 1300 Sea Sand
2003 GTi VR6

[Eric&Barb]

Would try pulling out that damage and see if the rest would hammer out. At worst you would greatly reduce the amount of metal you will need to cut out and weld in.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[Helfen]

[Chickensoup]

heres the big damage. i dont think i could hammer than out so i plan on buying a replacement piece.

yes magura

you cant see it in this picture but there is a silver box with wires going to it. does it have to do with the radio or is it a module for a gas heater? also, that rust you see isnt rust. if you spit on it an wipe away the top layer there is shiny paint underneath

[Eric&Barb]

[Chickensoup]

Thanks, I'll try pulling out and go from there. The thing I'm talking about is not pictured. It is square, looks to be a dull aluminum or steel material, and I think it has a few vents in it. I'll trace the wires if they still lead to somewhere. Oh, and trust me, I never throw stuff away until I know I dont need it or until I know that its garbage. I even plan on keep9ng the wires for reference. Taking lots of pictures while things are still together helps too. So since this is a euro beetle should it have euro headlight lenses and the multi color taillight lenses also? So what euro special stuff am I missing? Is there anything else I should know?

Thank you

[Busstom]

As alluded to earlier, that is a '67-only decklid, so if you want to sell it you can target your market appropriately and hopefully it carries some elevated value due to it's one-model-year application.

I agree with pulling out the damage if possible. If faced with that, I would also employ a porta-power in several configurations to complete the job. It will be rewarding to watch it come back into shape.

[Chickensoup]

Today I started to vacume and wipe her down. There was a lot of filth inside and out. I found a very, very, brittle piece of the OG seat cover inside the bottom of the door.... along with the headliner. Now that look more at the colission damage i think that its pullable. I have most of the tools to to the job. Here are some pics, these are before I sprayer her with gun oil,

Unfortunately, the missing window trashed the floor pans but if that's the worst of it then I'm a happy man

Here's what the damage really looks like

Ah, and what the heck is this? Is it factory? It has 2 wire coming out of it and one is disconnected while the other just leads to the fuse panel.

Thanks

[Eric&Barb]

[Mark Evans]

[61SNRF]

[Chickensoup]

[vwoldbug]

Don't cut any sheet metal off until the front end is pulled and try to get original metal.

[Chickensoup]

ok, new question for bodymen for people who have used a stud gun before. So what should i do first? should i try pushing it out as much as i can from the inside of the front apron by using my hands? Or should i look for the deepest resest and just start off with the stud gun? i checked out the body work sticky over in the body/paint thread and that helped a lot. Anything i should be aware of? Also, can someone please point out which area i should tackle first?

thanks

[Eric&Barb]

Do not think you are going to get enough traction with a stud gun. Think you will need to put a board inside the deepest part of that dent and drill holes in the body bigger than 3/8". Then use 3/8" eye bolts thru the body and the board. Again you will need to anchor the other side of the suspension something that will not allow the beetle to be just towed about by the damaged area being pulled.

When you attack any dent like that you are only going to get good results by pulling the deepest part out first. In other words you are trying to rewind time by reversing how the dent occurred.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[b-man]

A good body man with a Porta-Power setup and experience pulling body panels back into shape can easily straighten the front end sheet metal. Chaining the chassis to the floor keeps the car stationary while the pulling job is done. There were a couple of guys all my friends used to use when we needed pulling done, you’d be amazed at some of the crushed and wrinkled messes they were able to pull back into shape. A job like yours would be child’s play.

A stud gun is useless for anything other than minor dent repair where you have limited or no access to the back of the panel.
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1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle

[flyboy161]

A scissor jack cross wise inside the spare tire well and a hammer. Use wood for the scissor jack to press on and against. Apply pressure to the jack and then hammer outwards. As Eric and Barb said, a come along pulling the drivers side while a chain holds the passenger side. The idea is gradually increasing the push of the jack, and the pull of the come along. Let force do the work for you. The hammer relieves the built up tension of both tools by hitting the dent at its apex. If you do it right, the scissor jack will lose tension and require adjusting frequently. After awhile the dented area will be straightened out. Be patient.

Stud guns work well on smaller dents. I’ve never used them myself, but I have used the method above. You want the top of the scissor jack to push against the most dented area. The base should have a bigger block of wood to push against so you don’t dent the other side of the car with it. I literally pushed front of a beetle out 1.5 inches and pushed the quarter panels in .75 inches using this method. The car had a direct front hit and the quarter panels aft of the fenders had bulged out. It had been “fixed” by a body shop, but they did not take the time to finish it.
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1968 Westfalia
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=792825&highlight=

My father's 1970 Beetle-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=603879

The 1964...Diamond in the rough
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=612776

My 1958 Morocco Bug-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=611483

[Chickensoup]

Wow! great advice!! Thank you guys so much!! I'll post results hopefully tomarow and go from there.

[Mark Evans]

I would anchor the car down and try to pull out the dent rather than push with a jack against another part of the car. You could create more damage against an already straight side.
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'63 Ragtop