So I've had a car my father bought me when I was 15. It was great at the time, but I didnt have a license or permit. I was unable to drive until the following year, but decided to begin working on it. I knew it would be a tough project, but I was 15 and determined... A year later, I could finally drive except the car my dad bought wouldnt run. It needed a few things, new brakes (complete rebuild), tune up, tires, battery, wipers...

How many can guess from this pic what car I'm restoring??


Let me apologize to GW, AHero, Gdupsedan, ABQ, Canuck in advance for the PS camera, I'll be spending so much on this that I dont have the funds to pay for a $800+ camera


This whole thread might appeal more to the West coast peeps vs East coast. Not too many East coasters are into this sort of thing...

So at 15, I spent my life savings (about 800 ) on all the parts I needed and together with the help of my dad installed them all in about 2-3 weeks. Well, things changed as my sister left for school I took over her car a (1986 Olds cutlass supreme). I wish I still had that car althought it was a V8 and a boat. I would definitely ride around in the Olds today, whereas when I was 16 I hated that car (hindsight is a b1tch). Over the summer in the 90 degree heat I would sand by hand the entire car only to be let down by rain which would then rust over all my work and so I gave up angry...

Eventually I moved on from car to car, and neglected my vintage auto sitting in the garage for 12 years. Suddenly, a few months back I decided to get to work again...this car will be my daily driver/beater so to speak. Except the money I put in, I should mostly get back meaning I may spend 8-9k, but at least I can sell this one day for 5-6k. Whereas I spent 8k on my G35 but the value of the G is still what it is...

Anyways I have set a budget of around 8-9k for the project for all the bits/pieces. In the coming months, it should all come together and I figured I could share the progress pics with some of you (whom care..). Before you guys post away about this/that, just want to let you know I'm going to try to keep everything OEM (original) for the sake of resale. Those who know vintage cars know when you change to aftermarket seats, body, wheels etc etc, you tend to lose value. I am going to keep it mostly OEM (paint, interior...) except I will

1. Slam it down to the ground - major rear camber problems (meh, OEM tires are $40... )
2. Install a narrow beam to tuck the front tires in (unlike G's, the VWs look much better w/ the tires tucked, vs having them flush w/ the fenders)
3. Install earlier bug bumpers vs the 1969 year model - I like the 66 models better
4. Aftermarket exhaust that'll take advantage of larger engine (larger displacement, more aggressive cams, lightweight pullies, dual carbs )

I plan to paint the car a pearl white/white similar to the VW below

Overall budgeting is as follows:

Engine - $3500 (Complete Turnkey motor: Already dyno tested/tuned brand spankin new 1776cc, about 115WHP on a car ~ 1800lbs = ) www.steelbuggin.com - recommended by many in the industry as one of the better engine builders (except for Gene Berg whose engines run in the 5k+ territory (no thanks..)

Paint - $3300 (real good quality paint job like 2-3 coats w/ a clear coat). About $700 of this goes to having the entire car blasted (aluminum oxide, plastic beads) D & V autobody, worked on my G 3x for my kit and 2 accidents, also worked on Mike Wassers (G35 from Evolution Auto)...great guys, good work.

Interior - $1500 (High estimate, keeping it original brick red seats and door inserts. Black german wool carpet from wolfsburg west, seats and headliner from sewfine) www.sewfine.com and www.wolfsburgwest.com

Misc. Parts - $1000 (small trim pieces, chrome pieces, brackets, bolts, hubcaps, wheels/tires

Here are the pics, teardown front/rear fenders and bumper and applied some OSPHO which I applied on some of the bare metal which I grinded down w/ an angle grinder (nice $80 investment). OSPHO is amazing on rust...









Here are some of the pieces soo rusted they must be replaced...





Kind of cruncy like cereal when you step on it...

Dropped the engine this past weekend (3-4 hr job taking frequent breaks)






Yes thats actually a philips screwdriver holding the gas in the fuel line



OEM exhaust



Some interior shots (Stripped the entire interior a few weeks back, all remains is the drivers seat)



Badly rusted rear luggage area (will be blasted away and primed)





Look, no amber in the tails, kinda like a G35!!



Trunk (in the front of course) and the rusted *** gas tank which will be blasted/primed and powder coated!!



Bench rear seat and passenger racing seat w/ harness j/k



Last couple of shots...







OEM hubcap..used to be chrome, now its polished aluminum



Here's a teaser for what the engine should look like once I receive it




One thing I am having a hard time debating: Which rims to get?? Keep stock wheels, powdercoat the inside spokes to match red interior like this, OR throw the chrome Empi 5's on which are hot on VW's

These wheels are the OEM wheels, except they are powdercoated red w/ an OEM chrome hubcap. I am keeping my car white like this one, and since my interior is OEM red as well, I could do something similar and use whitewalls give it that 'vintage' look


OR I could give it the new school look and get the EMPI 5 spokes...these will require more $$ since I'd have to change up my OEM brakes to fit them. VW's use a 4 lug setup, these only come 5 lug so Id have to buy new drums just to fit them including the cost of the wheels...They are nice though...



Thanks and look forward to your input

 

O Shyt, Herbie iz making a come back....P. Diddy style

 

nice, thats a fun looking project. There is alot of work to be done there.

 

Interesting project. I'm curious to see how it turns out. I'd go with the new wheels look btw but it depends on what you do with the rest of the car too (i.e. interior look)

 

I was guessing a Triumph TR-1 from the first pic, but I guess I was pretty far off.

Sounds like a fun project, but I think getting all the vintage parts may be $$$?

 

^^actually youd be surprised. vintage parts are cheap unless u go custom. Fortunately there are many options for this car, and as I mentioned this is more of a 'west coast' thing i guess kind of like the whole 'low rider' scene. Regardless though, 8k for a daily beater IMHO isnt bad since its also unique and more rare than our G's.

The vintage car thing has sort of grown on me. New cars are great, but you see them daily, even then when you mod them they still are the same car. I have always prided myself for being unique and doing something different. Having grown up on the west coast, I think it would be different to bring a little style over here. How many vintage bugs do you see slammed around our area?? I dont see any at all...

One last thing to remember, I like many others spent around 8k total on the G over the years Ive had it. In the end, nothing I did, or wouldve/couldve done would make its value increase. It's just the name of the game with cars. Regardless of what you do, the car is never worth more than what it is simply b/c cars I consider liabilities never assets (since they depreciate). However, with older/vintage cars, I see in bluebook/nada that a vintage Bug restored could be worth 5-7k.

Theoretically I could spend 5-8k on this bug and I 'should' get back at least 4k if I decide to sell it. Whereas I could buy a 1995 toyota celica, spend 10k on it, and I could only still sell it for 5k...

 

swap SR20DET engine in it lol.... nice car indeed

 

Hey man I would have never guessed that anyone here would be a bug person. Your story sounds almost exactly the same as mine. I was 15 and was in need of a car. I have always been a person that has to be different and how I express myself is through my car. So what better way to be differant than a with a VW Beetle. I searched and searched and came up with a blue '73 Super Beetle. My parents purchased the car for me for 2500 bucks.

I still remember the test drive my father and I went on. It was winter so if anyone knows the beetle undestands the that there is "no heat". Infact as years went on I carried a ice scraper inside the car so I could keep the frost off inside of the car. Then I noticed the gas guage didn't work and figured "well thats a project to work on." Infact the guage did work but didn't notice till summer because for some reason it would only work above 80 degrees. Dont ask me why, I couldnt tell you. Finally there was the gas smell. I figured that there was some gas leak that we could fix due to a strong smell. Infact I could never find anything and found out that VW's always smell like gas and there is nothing you can really do.

Then a year after haveing the car I blew up the engine. This is when my father coined a new name for the Beetle. "Hitler's revenge" We found that when working on a VW you have to take all of you automotive knowledge and throw it all away because everything is different. So anyway I found an old 1300cc engine for 100 bucks. We put that engine in but I hated the power. I then later found a 1500cc engine all rebuilt for 350 bucks. So we then put that in and made the mistake of setting the thermostat wrong and cooking the engine. After that the engine never ran right so I decide to have a new engine put in professionally. 1500 bucks later it finally ran right.

Over the years I ripped apart the car and put it together again. I leared it inside and out, left and right, up and down. I love that car and still have it sitting in PA in my parents lawn.

So any way sorry about my drawn out post but you seem to have an awsome project. If you ever need some help or just need to BS about the car let me know. I love working on this car and know alot about it.

And by the way. I have have always love the EMPI wheels and instead of new brake drums I would definitely get a disc brake conversion kit. VW brakes suck.

Good Luck
Eric

 

Where the hell is th careometer.Just kidding puria.

 

Should go with EMPI 8 spokes for it. I've got them on my 240z and love the look of them. Plus they are 4 lug so no need to change up your hubs.