67 Beetle Renovation UK

[Redfox86]

Hi everyone,
I’m new to this forum but thought I’d join after looking at a few threads, it looks to be an active and useful place! Good forums are hard to find these days as Facebook groups are the new place to be and have killed off many a good forum, but I find places like this have far more useful and friendly information in them.

I’m based in Lancashire, UK and I’ve recently bought myself a lovely little Beetle which is a car I’ve always had “a thing” for. I’ve restored several cars over the years and I own a few classic vehicles in my little fleet, and I’m very happy to have finally added a Beetle to that collection.

The car in question is a LHD German import which started its life in Düsseldorf before finding its way to the UK in the 1980s where is was dismantled and spent much of the next 30 years in a disassembled state. The chap who brought it here gave up on the restoration and sold it onto another gentleman who completed the restoration in 2018 and then it sat around again for 6 years until he decided to sell it which is where I come in.

The car is a 1966 build year but I’m told because it was built in October 66 it means it’s a 67 model year, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. Originally the car was yellow but during the restoration the colour was changed to blue which does suit the car very well, although I do like yellow Beetles. The restoration has been carried out to a good standard but isn’t fantastic as there are a few areas where things have been rushed and the car has been built using a selection of parts from across the entire Beetle build years!

For example the doors are from a later model, the seats are from an earlier model, the chrome trim is from all sorts of models and the switches and dials are a selection of colours and years. But I bought the car as a rolling restoration so I could enjoy driving it and restoring it on the go. I enjoy vehicle restoration a lot but I’m getting tired of ground up restoration work so I’m trying a different method with this one.

I’m just about to finish overhauling the brakes as they were seized when I bought the car, this car has disc brakes at the front which I’m told are standard fit for the 67 model cars in Europe. I’ve fitted new discs, callipers, pads, brake hoses, bearings at the front and at the rear I’ve fitted new wheel cylinders and hoses as the shoes were ok. Tomorrow I’ll be finishing off the work by replacing the pipe from the brake fluid reservoir to the master cylinder with a new pipe I’ve made and then I’ll be ready to take it on the road.

I’m looking forward to getting this car looking the way it should but I’ll also be adding a few personal touches along the way. I hope this forum will provide useful information and as I learn more about these cars I hope I can contribute to other threads as I learn more. I shall use this thread as a constant update of information on my project for those who are interested.

Let’s get started!

[finster]

welcome to the samba. it's the only place to be! the largest 'hive mind' and archive material all in one place. when I look on farcebook groups there is so much nonsense and misinformation and usually some buffoon asking if it's for sale or hearts emojis
you are correct to say your car is a 67 model even though it was made in 66. the model year ran from august 66 to july 67.
be aware that this is a US based forum and different markets had different features so bear that in mind. for example your car should have sloping headlights whereas US/canada already had upright ones that year. also there were several models of beetle - 1300A base model, 1300 and 1500. if your car was fitted with discs at the factory then it should be a 1500 as I'm sure the 1300 had drums.
the brochure here should give you an overall idea of fittings https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1_67_bug_german.php

I can't see yellow listed other than yukon yellow for cabriolets so that's interesting - unless it's post office yellow...

please post photos, we do like a gander
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

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

[Redfox86]

Hi
I got the impression it was a US based site but I used to be part of a similar forum for Jaguars. I find that irrespective of nationality a car guy is a car guy and our language is tinkering with old cars.

My car does indeed have sloping headlights but a lot of it’s originality has been lost and I’d like to put it back as I go along. It was a 1500 when new, but it’s engine has been replaced with what I’m told is a rebuilt 1300 single port unit with less than 500 miles on it. I have the original German logbook for the car so I’ll have a closer look at that when I get a chance to see what colour it’s listed as.

The last owner sent me photos of the car during the restoration, but unfortunately I’ve lost them during a phone swap and they didn’t back up. I’ll have to ask him for them again.

Thanks for the brochure link, it’s answered a few questions about what trim and stuff should be fitted to mine.

[Redfox86]

I thought I’d post a bit more about my “identity crisis” 67 Beetle, I’ve had the thing a month and as of yet I’ve hardly been able to drive it at all! I’ll explain why below.

I bought the car relatively cheap as it was advertised as an unfinished restoration project, basically the guy had got so far with it and then gave up. The car had allegedly been on the road and driven, but not very much. The paint is also bad as he used Celulose paint but after applying it he never gave it a run down and final polish. As a consequence it’s gone flat and has a lot orange peel effect on it. He’s also used parts from all sorts of beetles to get it together which means just about everything is wrong for the car.

I bought it with the intention of using it as a rolling restoration project, my other restorations have all been bare shell, but I thought I’d get a beetle because they’re something both my wife and I both like but have never owned. So I brought the car home on my trailer in terrible rain and the next day when it was dry I set about fixing a few little things before going out for a drive.

I decided to go to get fuel first as I had no idea how old the fuel in the tank was, so off I went. The petrol station is close to where I live and I wasn’t held up getting there so I coasted in and put £30 in the tank. Then it refused to leave the petrol station forecourt, the brakes were completely seized on. I ran home and fetched my trusty Volvo which still had the trailer on and retrieved the car and took it to my little workshop I rent to see what the problem was. Everything it seemed.

The previous owner had done a great job on the physical body in terms of welding (not the paint) but the mechanical side is atrocious, worse than I thought when I viewed the car. The brake discs were red rusty and callipers were completely seized, the rear drums weren’t even in the game, the brake reservoir is the wrong type, the gravity pipe had been badly routed and the steering gear had chaffed it to the point it was leaking and where it went into the master cylinder he’d used the wrong grommet and pipe and had cut it to fit in the hole. In short the brakes were condemned.

I wasn’t able to test drive the car when I viewed it because it had no insurance or tax, but I really wish I had done now. So the last 3 weeks I’ve spent working on the braking system trying to get it operational. I’ve bought a lot of new parts and I’ve had a lot of red herrings where I’ve discovered he’s used all sorts of random brake parts from across the Beetle range. I’ve almost got it all back to standard 1967 specifications now.

I’d like to get the car on the road for a few weeks and enjoy the autumn weather before the winter comes bringing salty roads with it. Whilst it’s off the road I’ll be going over the whole thing and rectifying all of the other bodges and bad bits. First thing to come off will be the ridiculous adjustable front axle and the standard type will be fitted along with stock tyres. It’s just not to my taste or my back for that matter.

Anyway I hope to get more done soon and actually get the thing on the road for a few weeks. I’ll be using this forum for reference a lot!

I’ve not worked out how to post pictures yet, but I’m working on it!
[/img]

[finster]

to post a photo -
use the drop down menu at 'gallery' in the header bar ^
select 'add photo'
opens this page/form for uploading photos

the image needs title and category boxes filled
use browse to select photo(s) from your device - note images are limited to 1600 x 1600 pixels max
click submit

the photos will now be in your gallery so when posting in a thread click the '+ insert photo from my recent gallery photos' link which is below the box you're typing into. thumbnails of your photos will appear and click 'insert' to add to your post
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

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

[Busstom]

[viiking]

Re the brake disc callipers being seized.

I split and rebuilt the callipers myself. If they are ATE callipers (which they probably are) they aren't difficult to do.

A lot of websites say to "never split a calliper" but these are very simple devices.

The only issue is that there are small O rings that separate the two calliper halves.
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[Redfox86]

[viiking]

[Redfox86]

According to the maintenance manual I’m using there were two types of calliper fitted to the car, one by Girling and the other by ATE. The ones sent to me by my chosen VW parts supplier were branded classic line/JP Group parts but that’s not to say they built them. They are the two pin type and they look very nice.

They work, that’s the main thing, unlike the junk that was on there before.

[Redfox86]

Some good news at last! I’ve finally got the brakes working and I can safely drive the car

After replacing the front brake discs, callipers, brake pads, wheel bearings, brake hoses, solid brake lines, the master cylinder, the grommet in the MC and the gravity pipe from the reservoir to the master cylinder we managed to get the system bled yesterday and after a short test drive it’s apparent the brakes are very effective indeed!

I brought the car home from my workshop on my trailer and I’ll use the car this morning to travel to work as it’s not too far away and it’ll be a good test to see if any other problems are there.

At least I’ll get some autumn drives in before the winter comes bringing evil road salt with it!

[Redfox86]

Well I drove the car to and from work yesterday and all went well except for the speedometer not working. I suspect I may ave knocked its cable or not reconnected it properly during all the brake work so I’ll get a look at that. The speedometer in the car is the wrong type, it’s a later one with an electronic fuel gauge inside it. I will get that addressed at some point in the future as the PO did fit the correct mechanical fuel gauge but didn’t connect it choosing an electric sender instead.

Anyway the drive was good, a little bit bouncy in some places but I think that may be because the front beam is an adjustable one and the anti roll bar is sat in my workshop waiting to be refitted with a stock axle. I think I need to back the rear brakes off just slightly as they are dragging a little bit. The gear change is a bit weird for me, the stick sits that bit too far forward than what would be comfortable. I suspect too that the mechanism is either out of adjustment or worn so I’ll check that out later too.

But overall it was a positive experience and I do like seeing peoples faces as a 58 year old car overtakes them in their vulgar EV

[finster]

good stuff. if you're tall with the seats pushed back the gear lever can be a tad too far forward...

but it's time we saw some photos of the car!
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

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

[Herrbern]

[Redfox86]

[aquifer]

[The Pilch]

Welcome to the forums Redfox, and hi from another Brit - I'm a soft southern shite originally, but live in Central Utah now.

We all wanna see a Pic ot the car!

Welcome again!
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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.

[Redfox86]

[Redfox86]

Finally got a couple of pictures for you to see.

Here is “Oddball” in his current condition, just about every bit is wrong!

Pictured next to the first car I ever restored and I’ve had since I was 16, my 1971 Triumph Herald which is actually a custom car tribute as she’s fitted with a Vitesse Race Engine and various other speed parts.

Oddball is a cute little fellow and I’m sure in time he can be gradually returned to how he should look!

[The Pilch]

What a cool looking car! Love it!

I'm super interested I how your car will look, because despite being from England, I've been out here in the states now for 13 years and only know US spec stuff. So a euro spec 67 will undoubtedly look different from a US one...case in point below a Pic of me aged 5 with my dad's 67 (or maybe a 68 ) certainly not a towel rail front bumper like the American ones!

Keep posting, this car is going to be ace!
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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.