Our project 66, tetanus shot not included.

[The Pilch]

Hi everyone!

Some of you might have seen our thread "Our 85 fix-up-and enjoy vanagon" and some other gubbins I've posted on here, but this Saturday 26th March 2022, we picked up this sweet little 66, and this is the story of its restoration/recondition/fix-up or whatever people are calling it these days. I'll try and update daily and also keep it as interesting as I can.

Last Thursday, I talked to a buddy about keeping an eye out for bug project, 67 or earlier. Saturday morning, 9:30am, he messages me and gave me the details of this...

He said, "Ill lend you the cash if you don't have it, just go get it, no matter what"....

So with about fifteen seconds of pondering and a couple of minutes to run it by the wifey, I began the panic.."Oh man, I don't have a truck!! I don't have a trailer!! I'm such a loser!!" etc etc...turns out I have world class friends, and within an hour, me and my buddy Shawn were at the sellers place, loading it up...

...and after about a 40 minute drive, we arrived at Casa Pilch

It took less than four hours to find out about it, figure out how to get the money, figure out how to get a truck and trailer, get it, drop it home, and then stand in my kitchen with a cup'a'joe and marvel out the window at what just happened. Aaaaaaaand breathe...

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'85 Vanagon GL, weekender package, 1.9 wbx named Freddie/ '61 Beetle named Ringo/ '78 Dodge Monaco which is nothing like the Bluesmobile so please don't cast that oily rag upon it.

[BSheldon]

So many '66s lately! Nice find.
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"Betty" - 1966 L41 Sedan

[Pruneman99]

Gotta love it when something can just come together so quickly. Now you will get to enjoy the ride of getting it going so you can enjoy the ride when it's done!

[sportin-wood]

Nice find! Can you tell what the original color was?
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[vwuberalles]

Nice score, can't wait to see it come together! Welcome to the red 66 club.
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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

[Chickensoup]

polish her up! Looks good
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-'85 c10 5.3 LS, 222 cam, long tubes, x pipe, 3 inch spin tech's
-'05 B5.5 TDI Wagon 17in sport rims ;EGR + BSM + ASV Delete, Stage-2 Tune, straight pipe
'65 Tourist Delivery Build
'66 RIP
'69 RIP
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"

[toxicavenger70]

Nice! I would do the bare minimum and put in on the road for a while.

[The Pilch]

Thanks for your responses guys!

So, Sunday afternoon was glorious weather-wise so I thought I'd get right on with it, and stop doing what I can sometimes be accused of and that's procrastinating.

This is where you will get tetanus through your computer screen so please, continue with care....

Oh boy, I got my work cut out on this one....

To say I was nervous and regretful would be incorrect. I knew exactly what I was getting into with this bug. Complete unmolested cars, as you know, are a rare thing and that's exactly why I jumped on this one. But I will fully admit, I've never seen one quite this bad before.

Thanks for your question sportin-wood, as you asked above what the original color was...well, here's a pic, you guys tell me, the color tag is badly marred but to me it looks like Pearl White L87.

With this red interior

Thanks vwuberalles for welcoming me to the red 66 club but unfortunately it looks like it's a faker. I absolutely LOVE white bugs and I'm sad this was one and is now not. In particular the red interior really gets me dribbling. This bugs interior however, only really gets me sneezing and vomiting, but with a lot of time and work it'll be glorious again.

The transmission is there, and goes in and out of each gear seemingly. I can freely spin the motor too, which does make me concerned that it has absolutely no compression - but again we shall see.

So, to sum up my rapid-fire 66 bug find, she most definitely needs heater channels, floors and a shed-load of fabricated repairs and assorted sections from Wolfsburg West. But it is very complete, and for the deal I am very happy.

Oh, and to get a good start, these were part of the deal too...

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'85 Vanagon GL, weekender package, 1.9 wbx named Freddie/ '61 Beetle named Ringo/ '78 Dodge Monaco which is nothing like the Bluesmobile so please don't cast that oily rag upon it.

[The Pilch]

During Sunday, after poking around with a screwdriver and complaining to the God of Rust, I began the tear-down. The fuel tank was missing but they left the bolts. Everything else up front came apart pretty easily. I was upset by the shop who painted the car red, as they removed the headlights but just painted over the wires and various other annoyances.

There was a 6v to 12v inverter within the wiring system which I found...odd. Most of the body panels are great. It really does look nice...from a distance...looking the other way....with one eye closed...blindfolded

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'85 Vanagon GL, weekender package, 1.9 wbx named Freddie/ '61 Beetle named Ringo/ '78 Dodge Monaco which is nothing like the Bluesmobile so please don't cast that oily rag upon it.

[The Pilch]

Monday was one of those days where the car fought me. All I wanted to achieve after work, was to remove the rear fenders. Bolts snapped off and the little square threaded things in the body would turn out and eventually I knew if I started fighting back, this rancid creation would bite me and I would have to go find a booster shot for all kinds of stuff. So I quit. Tuesday however, was very successful and I uncovered more ghastliness once the fenders were finally off...

Yup, thems there wheel well sheet metal gonna need some luvvin'...
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'85 Vanagon GL, weekender package, 1.9 wbx named Freddie/ '61 Beetle named Ringo/ '78 Dodge Monaco which is nothing like the Bluesmobile so please don't cast that oily rag upon it.

[Pruneman99]

Whoa. You weren't kidding about the rust..

[Eric&Barb]

Nice beetle from above the heater channels! Looking forward to watching your adventure. Yes, L87 is Pearl White.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[sportin-wood]

Yup, Pearl White L87 with red pigalle interior. Awesome factory combo. Thanks for sharing the pics!
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[The Pilch]

Today, Mar 30, was a productive day as I had a little extra time from getting home early from work.

I'm pretty sure the running board is toast.

This bug has pop-outs. I know some people go crazy for these. Me personally, I don't care either way. I've talked to people who have them and they all quietly admit they leak when it rains. But if these are original then they will stay.

The window seals are all brittle. So brittle that I can just break bits off with pliers.

I removed the rear window.

There wasn't any rust around the opening, except for this tiny section which doesn't worry me...

Tearing down is fun. I love finding cool old stuff. This bug, however, doesn't have any cool old stuff. Instead, it has rust. Lots of rust. Here's some, which announced itself when I tried to unbolt the seat belts from their mountings

A little clean up made it easier to see the full extent. It also made it easier to see flashes of the original red interior. This red vinyl was so brittle it almost crumbled to dust.

Rolled the car back, swept up a bit

Removed the windshield, for once without breaking it...

and then last of all today, removed the steering wheel, which had the horn ring snapped off as most of them do...

I was expecting serious decay under the cover, but...

That'll do for today. In a few days I'll aim to have the door gaps adjusted before the body is braced, the body-to-pan bolts removed/broken off, and some kind of saw-horse extravaganza built to sit the body on. That's the plan. Thanks guys see ya later!
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'85 Vanagon GL, weekender package, 1.9 wbx named Freddie/ '61 Beetle named Ringo/ '78 Dodge Monaco which is nothing like the Bluesmobile so please don't cast that oily rag upon it.

[The Pilch]

[The Pilch]

[The Pilch]

[vwuberalles]

If the red paint job was that crappy you may have good luck in stripping it away to reveal the OG white! There's a bunch of good threads on the samba about removing resprays.
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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

[gt1953]

Oh My rustosis. You have quite the job ahead. Way to much me and hope for you you did not pay to much.
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Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[BSheldon]