[weena]

ill start at the begining

Ive owned this car for the past 6 years - started out life as a 1964 beetle that i had for my 18th birthday over the first year of owning it as a daily the condition soon became poor and the previous owners were not nice to it

the result meaning the car was to be off the road for a full restoration

on inspecting the car - huge amounts of rust were found around the rear window was the worst area.

a new body was sourced off andylham - a 1956 oval - brilliant the body got finished by a friend who was far better at welding than myself and mated to the 64 pan and a full roll cage added

The car returned to my house after a temporary coat of paint in this condition

i then begged my grandmother to allow me to store the car in her garage

thats when things started to speed up a little more

the car was tottally rust free and the next step was to keep it that way...

the floor pans were treated to some aluminum oxide paint that a mate sourced from work - this paint is used on aircraft and its pretty tough - both sides were coated with a few thick coats including the heater channels

 

[weena]

The the rebuild began - the car was to be painted in matt black as a temporary measure but i learned to love it

good quality carpets were bought and the car soon started to take shape

more parts added to the interior

and the wheels arrived

wheels are 4.5" wide 5 BRMs for the front and 5.5" ercos for the rear

front tyres are 145 65 contis and the rears are 205 70s

nice chrome handbrake

nice chrome basket

the windows are in

then i lowered it a little more -

then i fitted the front wheels and realised that it was a little bit too low so i hired it up a little bit -

 

[weena]

plenty of arch/wing clearance

started to fit down all the arches and headlights correctly

replaced all the steel bolts to stainless

not happy with the window seals the carpets look great tho

 

[weena]

get to look more like a car

adding more of the finnishing parts to get it ready for the 2008 show season

needs lowering - negative camber is not good

decklid held in place just for a picture

lowered the rear end down and fitted the exhaust up properly

the side exit has now been sold for a stock looking stainless item

one big rush to get the car to bristol volksfest - the car was getting mot'd saturday morning of the show and in a big rush the front left wheel wasnt fully tightened and resulted in a missed show and a trip on a flatbed

wonky front passenger wheel

 

[weena]

after a very sad day i finally got it to the mot station a few weeks later and it failed on:

rear wheel binding

leaky brake line

blowing exhaust

number plate light bulb has blow

lights need adjusting

not bad as i have no mechanical experience and its my first go at building a car from scratch

the car went back in for a retest and failed again as it was too low to test the brakes - they were not checked last time as it failed on so many other things

took the car for another retest and on the drive down i had no pressure in the brakes and had to return the car to the garage - there it stayed for 2 weeks and missed out on the long drive to European bug in - i made it in a rented car instead

back after a great time in belgium and france for 2 weekends i was revitalised to work on the car and having seen so many nice examples i was on a mission

finally got it MOTd the second week of august only 4 days before volksfest wales - a show i had to do!!!

look at the number plate flexing

spent a total of 48 hours in 3 days working on the car to get it good enough for the show and shine area - as its a local show there were a lot of people eager to see the car after 5 years of stress and building etc

The car went down a storm at the show and came second place to an awesome 57 rag top

Cruises nicely at 70mph

 

[weena]

i took a few photos up by castell coch in cardiff - such a nice location for a photo shoot

and sent them off to volksworld with an aim of getting into the show by emailing them at the magazine and they ended up printing it in the readers ride section which i was dead chuffed about

in the last few weeks the car has been almost fully striped down
there was a dent in the rear panel that was not sorted on the initial rebuild which has now been fixed

gearbox has been re fitted with rhino gearbox mounts

now its time for the paint to get as smooth as possible

a lot of time is going to be spent on prepping the body ready for a fresh coat of paint

front beam fully removed

beam taken back to just the beam so i can send it to my welders to have it narrowed - im looking to have it narrowed around 4- 5 inches as ill be running dropped spindles and disk brakes eventually

gave the rest of the suspension and steering a good clean before being sent to the chromers

 

[weena]

the rear quarter panel is the only part of the car with serious wobble when in paint so a lot of time will be spent here getting it perfectly straight

the front quarters are really good and i just took the paint back as a key for the future coats of primer

The roof was flatted back and shows now damage as yet - on the trial coat im sure some little imperfections will show up

my little 1641 engine needs a good clean and a new exhaust system

im on the look out for a stock looking stainless system - i have a feeling ill have to have one made up

i have some nice indicators that will fit on the rear bumpers

ive been hoarding some nice little accesories also

being a student is hard at the best of times but ive been building an oval and found out the hard way of how much they cost

after the paint has been done ill be adding some nice door cards, adding front and rear bumpers, albert mirrors.

the seats will have to wait as i want red leather covers for the stock seats that i have

the wheels will also be staying the same for this year until i can get a set of BRMs for the rear - id really want to fit fuchs again as i loved the look of my 64 when it was running them but the prices have gone through the roof recently!!

 

[weena]

wrote this back at the end of august and sent it into ultra - they published it in the jan 2009 issue - thanks to chrisradioman for supplying most of the pictures -but my car go a look in as well

 

[superbeetle91]

Hardcore motor man
I like that
Looks wicked....

is it getting a full prep/ respray of insides too? if so ru changing the colour?

 

[jmsheahan]

May well see you about in Cardiff - I'm a student down there too. Cool motor.

 

[weena]

the whole inside isnt too bad but its getting a fresh coat just to make it all match

and the colour is a secret until it goes on but that should be within the next 2 weeks

 

[woodybeefcake]

I like that! Not sure about the rear camber like, but each to their own I guess! Cant wait to see it with paint!

 

[weena]

I like that! Not sure about the rear camber like, but each to their own I guess! Cant wait to see it with paint!

cheers dude - im not too sure about the rear camber but i want it uber low - ill leave it as it is for now and once the rest of the paint and stuff is done i can crack on with other details

 

[weena]

more pictures tonight - but all the interior is out - dash is fully stripped and all the windows have been removed

the front beam has gone off for narrowing (4 inches)

dropped spindles have now been ordered with fresh king and link kit

spent 3 hours polishing parts last night with a mate and only got the speedo and ashtray polished between us - u know your sad when you stay in on a friday night to polish things that wont be seen :lol:

picture update when i get back from the lock up

 

[norm]

looking good dude, cant wait to see it in paint

 

[orangescotty]

was to oval body a straight fit on the newer pan ?

The car has to look alright well done.

 

[lex]

u know your sad when you stay in on a friday night to polish things that wont be seen :lol:

nothing wrong with it at all, when we remove the bonnet it will ALL be seen man, the sun will catch the shiny bits and blind people

my favourite home grown build ever and seriously excited about being able to play a part in it, however small that part may be

love it mate and it will kill when its finished

 

[weena]

pics as promised - done so much in the last 2 days - the car is fully stripped and most of the paint has been taken back to a key ready for the high build primer

there are some inperfections that need attention but that will be done before the paint

ill let the pictures do the rest

interior is out

started taking back the paint on the inner wings and getting rid of the high and low spots where the previous paint was gash

framehead fully dressed back just needs a clean and its ready for paint

under bonnet are and roll cage had a quick sand to get that ready

Lex hard at work - cheers for all your help dude - diamond

 

[weena]

passenger rear quarter is ready for paint

drivers side quarter almost there

roof is ready

it has to look worse before it looks better

fingers crossed ill have all the paint prepped and ready to go by next weekend which will mean paint will be on before the end of January then its rebuild time

the car is going to be painted satin black with gloss black roll cage/steering/suspension parts

should look pretty cool

 

[nomates]

Its looking as cool as fkcu dude ......fair play ,I love it