No, not a misspelling of the Fab Four. I hauled my wife's '73 VW convertible of of hibernation since '95. I took it off the road because the floors are real rotted. I'm looking for someone who restores these cars. We need estimates on floor replacement and a restoration. I could go on VW sites, but I thought I'd ask guys here, that I know first for a reference. We got it running today.
Yes, I love Beetles, or cars close to them. I have a fully street legal sandrail. It is a blast driving around town. Everywhere I go people at traffic lights ask, "Is that thing legal?" Hell ya!!! To bad you don't live in central Virginia. I found this guy that restores VW's, has acres and acres of junk yard VW's, sells used parts, and he is way to cheap. Apparently he never heard of the internet. I bought 2 1965 front brake backing plates for 20 bucks!!! On the internet they were 50 bucks a piece. Time for work. Last year. Come on retirement!!!!!
I kinda like the original Type 1. IMHO they got better every year up to 1967, and worse every year after due to increasing safety and EPA regulations. I didn't like it when they installed a gas gauge and eliminated the kick pedal and fuel reserve, it took a bit of sport out of driving one. I didn't mind when they got rid of the "hockey puck" though. True VW story: My brother Tom was living in NJ, my brother Dave was living in PA. Without ever contacting each other, they both bought identical black Beetles on the same day from different dealers. Both cars had exactly the same options - a driver's side outside mirror and an AM radio.
Here in Denmark you can get the whole floor as one piece for weld in.. Parts are dirt cheap compared to US parts.. We can legally build them into beach buggy's ( one of the only cars here ) A full rebuild kit for the engine is same price as a gasket set for my nailhead..
Wow Sren, that dune buggy is EXACTLY what I wanted!!! I ended up with a sandrail. It's not pretty, but it sure is fun! I'm sending 2 pictures. The first picture is me holding our "neighborhood Daytona 500 trophy." We have a BIG Daytona 500 party, bet on drivers, and the winner gets the cash and the trophy for a year. I showed this picture to my 8th grade students at school. They know I go to the drag strip often. One of the kids seeing the "trophy" said, "I told you he races. Look at the trophy!" I'm laughing my azz off!!! Look at the trophy carefully. It's made out of beer cans!!! The next picture is my awesome dumbazz son taking a friend out to our woods. It is a SANDRAIL, not a MUD buggy!!!! They were stuck in the woods for 4 hours. Lesson learned! Sorry, I double clutched the first picture.
My father in law used to restore VWs for extra $. My wife's first car was a '73 squareback, with bright green and yellow paint.
A former SMA for the US Army has been restoring a 1972 in our shop, yesterday he completed the wiring and drove it around the shop. He needs to install the fenders, hood, trunk, doors, & glass; then on to the interior. He too everything apart and sandblasted & painted, rebuilt engine, switched from auto to manual trans. He also pulled another one out of the Florida woods used a can of gas and ether after a few tries it started and runs!
Well Jerry, you found beetle lovers, maybe one good recommendation, and a bunch of crazy people! I am one of them!!!
A friend of mine is a bug nut here in Michigan. You can PM me if you want his info. His sideline business is VW parts. I think you would find him extremely knowledgeable and helpful in putting it back together. He is also on the realistic side of prices.
What are your intentions for the car? Where you live there are so many sand rail shops on your side of the state over there. Have you ever even been to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes? I'm guessing no because when you had that long list of cars in you signature I don't recall you having anything like that. You must be about an hour or less away from the Dunes over there, if in I was that close I certainly would have something to fly around that place! A good friend of mine has a slightly modified '99 Jeep Cherokee with 19" of suspension travel in the front and 24" of travel in the rear suspension that can land like a marshmallow after getting 15' of air! The thing just floats over the moguls too. Seeing how the beetle needs a floor anyway, maybe one of those suspension shops over there can "put a floor in" for you while they slightly modify the suspension for you? Make sure you get the safety cage as well! That place is a blast, they have sand drags by the beech and if you think you would get sick of the same old land scape, think again because whenever the wind blows the landscape changes! Traction changes depending on how wet or dry it is, the wetter the better traction, the dryer the sand the more slippery. Torque is NOT the king on the dunes! Spin to win, it don't pay if you don't play, high RPM HP is better out there than low RPM torque. Unless you want to dig straight down in the sand that is. Its definitely different out there but fun as flock! Here are a couple of videos of the place; https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=silver+lake+sand+dune+videos&go=Search&qs=ds&form=QBVDMH
There used to be a VW specialist on South Broadway on junkyard row in Albuquerque. It may very well still be there. Might be easier to get a whole donor body. The bug specialist here in las Cruces closed and sold his property several years ago. Might be able to find where his inventory and cars went.
Thank You Everyone. We got it running and it runs very well. No smoke! Changed oil. Clutch won't release, so that's next. Then, I'm certain, the brakes will need attention. Derek, we've been to the dunes and it's fun. Quite an eclectic collection of vehicles. But, She wants this car to remain near stock. We have looked at street legal buggies and early Jeeps. Schlepcar, I'll be contacting you. Thank You.
Sunday, I drove it around our yard, in first gear with the clutch pedal in. On and off the gas until, after about 10 minutes, the clutch disc came unstuck. Now it works as it should.
