August 67 (68 model) Beetle Cabrio restoration

[Buggeee]

This is at once the most frightening and awe-inspiring build. Like witnessing a high-wire act, executed perfectly.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Puppy67]

[Puppy67]

Another big step. The body, for the 1st time since starting its reconstruction, is back off the pan. It all looks and feels good (the door gaps didn't appear to change) and is now on a dolly ready to go off for soda blasting again. After that it's getting delivered straight to the local paint shop for final prep and paint.

[Puppy67]

The floor pan has been stripped, re-blasted, acid treated, etch primed, seam sealed, chassis black epoxy, and finally the underside in raptor truck bed liner. The inside has also been treated with anti- rust cavity treatment. Hopefully that should last!

.....and yes, I spotted in the pictures that we forgot to bend up the brake hose tabs at the front. Never mind. If that's the biggest problem we have left to deal with I'll be happy with any touch up required.

[Puppy67]

Just a very small update.

I've had an electric washer pump in my car since I can remember, but it was a universal pump inline from the original bottle behind the spare wheel. I decided I'd swap this out for a Mexi bug bottle/pump combo like this.

I didn't want the extra switch on/under the dash for the washer, so I stripped out the old valve system in the original wiper switch and found a momentary switch that could be fitted in its place. A few minor tweaks later, and the stealth install is ready.

[Buggeee]

Well played with the switch.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Puppy67]

The body has just come back from being soda blasted again and phosphoric acid treated. Hopefully the attention spent on the metalwork shows, as we're aiming for only very minimal filler/high build primer being required. The shop it's at now is more than capable of sorting whatever they feel isn't quite right.

Now just the wait to fit into the paint shops busy schedule. A few other places could fit it in sooner, but I've been seriously impressed with the work this place does, including a history of show winners on classic, custom and muscle cars. Even though that's not the aim here, why skimp on paint after all the hard work on the metal.

[Puppy67]

Flu season has taken its toll on progress. The used wings/fenders have had some minor dolly work to improve the dings, but that's all on the main body.

Had some progress on the wheels though.

After a scrub/power wash they were weighed (just out of interest) before a full strip. For those interested, 9/67 and 8/67, 5 1/2J x 15, were 5.24kg, 5.28kg, while the 2x 4/70, 6J x 15 were 5.5kg, 5.52kg. the 9/69 6J which was already partially stripped was 5.48kg. I know it may have been cheaper to buy repros and sell these, or even to just get these polished, but I felt it worth doing them properly, so off to Mike Champion of MCE Porsche they went. They have since been stripped, polished, re-anodised, and detailed.

Looking rough.

Looking good (after anodising)

and after detailing.

5 1/2" with small lip.

and the deep 6"

[Puppy67]

Tyres on.

I used to run 185/65 rear and 185/55 front. Nice, but I fancied a change.

The rears now have 205/60 R15 (almost identical diameter to the original 155 R15) and fronts are 165/65 R15 (same height as the classic 135 R15, but over 1" wider for better road holding). Even better, Goodyear do both sizes in matching tread.

The original scratched up centre caps were polished and detailed as a test to see if I liked the look. I think so.

My spare is a 145 R15 on a 4 1/2" rim, smack in the middle.

[Blue Baron]

It looks like the original color peeking through was Yukon yellow. It will be interesting to see what color it ends up getting dipped in.
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We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.

Heinz Nordhoff

[Puppy67]

Nicer weather today, so had a little play.

This is the 4 1/2j spare wheel with a spare wheel fuel can. It's a Bellino 6l from a BMW, but it works. 3D printed tube in the centre fits snugly into the wheel to keep it rattle free.

[Puppy67]

I had an update from the paint shop today...

All the straightening of dings, edges, etc on the wings and front/rear hoods is done and 1st primer coat applied. Panels are only loosely fitted for these shots, but nice work so far.

[Puppy67]

I knew the paint shop was busy, but this update seems to have taken an age. To be fair, I was aware that (at the start at least) it would be fitted in amongst other jobs and not a "priority job". I've had a few small updates, but nothing I felt worth posting, but they've really cracked on the past couple of weeks.

It's gone from skim fill/high build and block sanding....

...to "final prime"....

...and now a lightly dusted over guide coat ready for the final sand before colour.

That's still a week or two away but I must admit, the excitement is building. The interior is still going to get a bit of attention in the more visible areas, but it feels like we're nearing the next stage - re-assembly.

Currently the floor pan is upright against a wall to save space, but soon it will be time to start building the pan so it's ready to drop the body on when it's done.

[finster]

nice! are you going for the metallic crimson again?
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[Puppy67]

After a few spray out tests the colour choice is a subtle change, but still pretty similar. I'll leave the exact shade as a surprise, but it is from the VW/Porsche colour charts.

[Puppy67]

While I had a bit of spare time I decided to try and improve performance and looks on the engine. To be fair, this is more about looks, but who knows.

The engine is already pretty strong, although nothing too wild. I'm happy with the 34 ICT carbs for their economy and driveability over IDFs, but was never happy with the look of the standard cone air filters.
I'd already changed to CSP linkage (a massive improvement over the hex bar kit), and taller manifolds (again, a nice improvement in low/mid range), and had played around with different filters, but nothing was quite right.
I liked the look of the Vintage Speed filters, but they're pretty expensive to "just try". Noticing how they appeared pretty similar to, if not identical, IDF filters but with a different base I tried modifying a well used
(rough, dented, slightly rusted) set of IDF filters I hadn't yet thrown out. These were a huge improvement, and while I was never 100% happy, it was better than the cones and good enough to live with.

Anyway, I'd also been growing tired of the CB breather tower for a while. Every time I looked at it I felt it was wrong for this car, so that had to go.
While hunting for a good quality/original filler I came across a Vintage Speed 356 style filler (marked as a return, may have damage) for a 60% discount. New ideas started to form, so I took a chance.
When it arrived I was very pleased to find a perfect filler in a badly damaged box.
What does this have to do with the air filters? Well, I had always liked the Knecht filters on the 356, 912, and the vintage speed/oldspeed look in general, and this got me thinking. I had a few old oilbath filters in the garage and
a quick test fit confirmed that they fitted the Weber 34 ICTs perfectly. Clearly the snout part was all wrong, and I didn't really need the preheat anyway. A search on Google, Samba, Volszone, etc showed a few
dual oil bath setups, but they were either using much earlier filters, multiple filters cut up and joined together, or some simply having cut off the snout section. Still, worth a try.

Step 1, trim the snouts off two matching filters.

Step 2, realise the offset on the filter would make the filters sit "wrong". If the openings pointed rearwards, both filters would sit to the right side of the car. That would irritate me.
If the openings both pointed inwards, the offsets exaggerated the offset of the carbs (due to the offset of the heads front/back), the left disappearing further forwards and the right moving rearward. Again, wrong!
OK, so the openings would have to point outwards. I'm not convinced on that either, plus the breather connections would need to be moved as they pointed in totally wrong directions.

Step 3, realising why (at least one person) had cut up multiple filters to make them the way they wanted them, I too decided more work was needed. Not having any extra matching filters, I modified what would be the right hand filter,
putting the new opening opposite the original position. This meant both filters offset inboard (closer to the fan housing) for best body clearance and a more compact look. Much better.
I then made new snouts which both angle inwards and downwards, partly for looks, but also engine lid clearance and better weather protection (having open vents above them).
I also figured (hoped) the addition of the snouts should (might) reduce induction noise further (the old filters had given noticeably little silencing and that became tiring on longer drives).
Additionally, the right filter will be connected to the oil filler breather, and the left filter will connect to the fuel pump blanking plate. Ample crankcase ventilation for my fairly mild engine setup.
Fit and clearance is a guess at this stage as I don't currently have the car together to test fit, but I hope it works as I'm liking them so far. If not, any mods should be minimal.

So, that's the looks sorted, but where does the extra performance come from?
Well, realistically there probably won't be any, but there's a chance that the "stack" inside the filter will help if there is any reversion and fuel stand off. Only time will tell, but it's unlikely to hurt.
Sorry, no "in progress" pics. I was too busy thinking and doing to think about recording steps.

[Puppy67]

Just a small update.

When I got the car it had original rear lap belts and more modern inertia reel fronts. Obviously they were functional, but I wasn't a fan of the looks of the modern stalk receivers. As the car is getting so much other work carried out I wanted the front belts to be more in keeping with the look of the rest of the car. I wanted all the belts to match, so accepted that this would mean replacing all of them. It wasn't top priority, but I kept looking at all the options. All had their compromises. Looks, price, etc. kept me from pulling the trigger, then I found a front set of originals to match the rears. Looks were perfect, unfortunately 55 year old static belts weren't necessarily the safest or the most practical. The decision was made to re-web the belts. Then I started thinking, why not go inertia reel but with the original VW tunnel receiver? Well, that's what I did.

Re-webbed rear original static lap belts and inertia reel fronts. All in a mid grey, just to be different while still neutral.

[pocomo617]

Wow, attention to detail here is stunning - on both the work and the build thread. Can’t wait to see the finished car!

[Puppy67]

Thank you Pocomo617. The paint shop has been busy with other work (fitting mine in as and when to help keep costs down) but here's a small update.

All prep work is now finished!!! A few of the smaller bits are now also in colour (but I'm leaving those pics for now), and the finish is stunning.

[finster]

ooh! the suspense...
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...