I don't usually have a car long enough to warrant a build thread! but ive had this beetle now for 2 years.
I have had various other vws and mostly minis so this is my first aircooled one and its an itch i've wanted to scratch for a few years now. I won this on ebay back in march 2018 shortly after all that snow we had as i remember it being freezing driving back, I had to take a 5 hour drive to see it and then another slow 5+ hours driving it back which was an experience.
So why did i go for a one year only 67 beetle? well you don't see many(plus i couldn't afford an oval) and i love how they look when there done as a cal looker. I had looked at a project before buying this and it was missing too much. Then this one popped up and its far from original which is what i wanted as i didn't want to ruin a perfectly good one.
Its currently about 17 shades of purple and did have loads of fake patina but was originally an off white colour looking at the engine bay. Theres no original colour code i can find but i will at some point get the birth certificate from VW as i'm interested to know what it looked like originally. The interior was home made door cards and a fake grass carpet (These went as soon as i got home as did the truck style wing mirrors it had), the seats are a dark purple vinyl and don't look too bad but underneath it is the original black vinyl. I think it was a back to 89 style car at some point as the colour was changed to purple back then. It was a pretty grim looking car when i picked it up so i will have to try and find the photos. I think it helped with the price in the end which wasn't bad for me!
The worst of the fake patina was on the roof! it was only surface rust but looks like it was clear coated and covered in ankor wax! which was a nightmare to take off. It took a few goes with some paint stripper! but i eventually got it all back to bare steel and then painted. Its not perfect but the rust hasn't come back i used some of bilthambers electrox and then some of there epoxy primer over that. Then painted the lot with the best shade of purple i could find to match the other different ones. Its not ideal but i will at some point spray the whole car.
I don't have many finished photos but it's finished for now. I had to take both drivers side windows out as someone had etched an image into the windows so you couldn't see anything out of them.
After i had done this i tackled the electrics i tried to save the old loom but it was hacked about too much so i tore it all out and fitted one i had made for me. Its good quality and well made but i found a few things to either be abit too short so have had to add to the loom. I am putting this down to not much being original on the car itself.
With the electrics done i then turned my mind to the steering, driving it home it seemed to move about alot and when i had a look pretty much everything was shot and needed replacing. I found the long steering arm someone has made there own as its in two parts as below instead of one long arm.
So that went in the bin and i ordered a new one.
I'm sure you can see from this picture i am going to come up with some bodywork issues soon aswell!
This sort of brings me up to date now! and with everything thats going on i cant start on the bodywork yet as i need to build a shed to store parts. It currently needs a heater channel on the drivers side and they do however look like they are the originals but someone has just replaced the front section instead of the whole thing. I don't see this as too much of a problem as when i come to change the whole channel i should be able to find the factory welds easy! Lower hinge panels both sides need to be done as will the front arch where the drivers channel fits to it. The bulk head inside is fine just looks like the outer part where the channel meets will need replacing. Rear bumper/arches need to be done aswell. Thats all i've found so far but no doubt theres more to do!
I have had various other vws and mostly minis so this is my first aircooled one and its an itch i've wanted to scratch for a few years now. I won this on ebay back in march 2018 shortly after all that snow we had as i remember it being freezing driving back, I had to take a 5 hour drive to see it and then another slow 5+ hours driving it back which was an experience.
So why did i go for a one year only 67 beetle? well you don't see many(plus i couldn't afford an oval) and i love how they look when there done as a cal looker. I had looked at a project before buying this and it was missing too much. Then this one popped up and its far from original which is what i wanted as i didn't want to ruin a perfectly good one.
Its currently about 17 shades of purple and did have loads of fake patina but was originally an off white colour looking at the engine bay. Theres no original colour code i can find but i will at some point get the birth certificate from VW as i'm interested to know what it looked like originally. The interior was home made door cards and a fake grass carpet (These went as soon as i got home as did the truck style wing mirrors it had), the seats are a dark purple vinyl and don't look too bad but underneath it is the original black vinyl. I think it was a back to 89 style car at some point as the colour was changed to purple back then. It was a pretty grim looking car when i picked it up so i will have to try and find the photos. I think it helped with the price in the end which wasn't bad for me!
The worst of the fake patina was on the roof! it was only surface rust but looks like it was clear coated and covered in ankor wax! which was a nightmare to take off. It took a few goes with some paint stripper! but i eventually got it all back to bare steel and then painted. Its not perfect but the rust hasn't come back i used some of bilthambers electrox and then some of there epoxy primer over that. Then painted the lot with the best shade of purple i could find to match the other different ones. Its not ideal but i will at some point spray the whole car.
I don't have many finished photos but it's finished for now. I had to take both drivers side windows out as someone had etched an image into the windows so you couldn't see anything out of them.
After i had done this i tackled the electrics i tried to save the old loom but it was hacked about too much so i tore it all out and fitted one i had made for me. Its good quality and well made but i found a few things to either be abit too short so have had to add to the loom. I am putting this down to not much being original on the car itself.
With the electrics done i then turned my mind to the steering, driving it home it seemed to move about alot and when i had a look pretty much everything was shot and needed replacing. I found the long steering arm someone has made there own as its in two parts as below instead of one long arm.
So that went in the bin and i ordered a new one.
I'm sure you can see from this picture i am going to come up with some bodywork issues soon aswell!
This sort of brings me up to date now! and with everything thats going on i cant start on the bodywork yet as i need to build a shed to store parts. It currently needs a heater channel on the drivers side and they do however look like they are the originals but someone has just replaced the front section instead of the whole thing. I don't see this as too much of a problem as when i come to change the whole channel i should be able to find the factory welds easy! Lower hinge panels both sides need to be done as will the front arch where the drivers channel fits to it. The bulk head inside is fine just looks like the outer part where the channel meets will need replacing. Rear bumper/arches need to be done aswell. Thats all i've found so far but no doubt theres more to do!
