HFS's car thread | Nearly-5000-miles update

[Hollidog]

Roland is such an awesome name for a car. 👍

 

[Highlandor]

Think I might have chosen a colour, too. Porsche mint green:

The other option is a similar tone but slightly lighter shade, but the more pastel the colour goes the more 1960s it gets, and it's very obviously a 70s Beetle so I want a 70s colour.

There might not be many 'peppermint' green Bugs around now, but a very famous Bug was "doing big things" 20 years ago on the show scene, it was simply called "Peppermint Dream" and it sparked a whole host of mint green 'cal look' look-a-likes.

"Peppermint Dream" ended u being driven by an old school friend of mine, years and years after it was retired froom the show scene, still slammed and looking awesome. Testiment to the guys that built it, that car got used alot and the custom paint job they did for it last really well.

If you're keeping the bug reasonably standard, possibly going back to the original colour would mean better 'resale' value. If you're going to go for a colour change, then you might aswell "go for it" and do something a bit special.

But being a standard 70's bug, these aren't the prettiest base cars to start off with, so maybe keeping it subtle would be a good choice.

There's a really nice turquoise from the Split Screen campers that might work well, it' still and original VDub colour, so easy to repair any chips or scratches or get more of, it's different but not overpowering either.

Either way - it's great to see someone keeping the 'Dub' legend alive. I owned a number of Bugs from the early 90's for many years, went to many shows and clubs - they were awesome times.

Good luck with the project - oh yeh, that wiring, welcome to the world of aircooled VDubs!!!

(o\|/o)

Keep Dubbin' 👍

 

[Grayfox]

M

That kinda looks like a rat-rod.

 

[Jim Prower]

I'd be going for a green-ish theme on the interior too. Non standard, but close enough to stock to look like it could have come from the factory.

Well, that's not too hard, as there is - or will be - a LOT of green already in the car, due to exposed sheetmetal. XD

I still think you need build up a 1600 Dual Port for this thing. If nothing else, you can keep the stock engine and swap both out within 30 minutes. Dad could. XD

 

[NLxAROSA]

Looks like it's coming together quite nicely, keep up the good work! 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

*Snip*

(o\|/o)

Keep Dubbin' 👍

Thanks Had a look for "peppermint dream" and a few different Dubs come up, but I love the colour. Also love how easily Beetles can be transformed by a simple colour change. So much room for doing something unique with them.

That kinda looks like a rat-rod.

I know! Thought that as I was taking the panels off. Don't have the cojones to do something that wild though. Would be a lot more engineering than I'm comfortable with...

Well, that's not too hard, as there is - or will be - a LOT of green already in the car, due to exposed sheetmetal. XD

I still think you need build up a 1600 Dual Port for this thing. If nothing else, you can keep the stock engine and swap both out within 30 minutes. Dad could. XD

My thinking with the interior is maybe do something a little unique. This will sound worse than it appears in my mind, but I'm thinking along the lines of a mint green-based tartan for either the headlining, or the door cards. One or the other so it isn't too much.

Figuring out how best to do it though because whatever I choose, the black vinyl currently trimming the interior wouldn't work. The seats need re-trimming anyway and the colour of one item dictates the colour of everything else.

Things like the carpets I'm planning to do myself rather than buying a set. It's cheaper to buy a few meters from a carpet shop and trim it to fit. Also means more choice with material. Not thinking shagpile exactly but again, maybe something interesting.

As for the engine, I'd love to twin port it and all that jazz but I'm trying to limit my budget and engine bits are a bit more of an investment, even on an exchange basis.

Looks like it's coming together quite nicely, keep up the good work! 👍

Thanks 👍 Updates are a bit slow at the mo as I've been very busy, but hopefully I'll start work on it again soon.

 

[Highlandor]

Thanks Had a look for "peppermint dream" and a few different Dubs come up, but I love the colour. Also love how easily Beetles can be transformed by a simple colour change. So much room for doing something unique with them.

I think (about 90% sure, but not 100%) the original "peppermint dream" that started the mint green cal look explosion had a polished half roll cage in the back of it, it was slammed with polished empi 5 spokes and I think was a '65, but not totally sure that year is correct.

It was built by a couple of guys who had a car or bodywork shop, to do the rounds of the VW shows, but they had no idea the legacy that car would leave over the next decade.

It was first featured in Volksworld magazine and then that was it, it spawned a huge number of look-a-likes, some were actually 'better' technically and in terms of materials used (for both exterior and interior) but there was only one original car that started it all.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head about being unique, there are so many different ways to restore or modify a bug, so many diffierent styles or trends to choose from, that was one of the things that made them so special, your car was always 'yours' and no-one could replicate it exactly.

Here's a link to a Splitty with the turquoise paint, it's darker than what you're looking for but it's still an awesome colour, for any Vdub.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1137182

Apologies, got no idea how to upload images - sorry, not being lazy, just haven't a clue how.

Best of luck with your project, and most of all, enjoy the feeling (when at petrol stations etc) of having many old ladies and men walk up to you with stories of what they got up to in their 'bugs' back in the 50's and 60's and the happy memories it gave them.

It's crazy the attention a nice 'dub gets you from ordinary members of the public, all bound by the happy feelings and memories of the little ol' bug

Old people love them , kids go crazy for them, people wave at you, take pictures.....just for a little ol' dub!

Enjoy...!!

👍

 

[homeforsummer]

It's crazy the attention a nice 'dub gets you from ordinary members of the public, all bound by the happy feelings and memories of the little ol' bug

Driving it back from Essex stuck in traffic a bunch of people in the car in front all turned around to look at the car. They certainly raise a smile!

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Nice little Bug you have there. There's a lot of crazy motor conversions out there, have you considered something like that? Perhaps boxer motor from some Subaru or such..?

 

[homeforsummer]

Not that interested really. Can't afford it for one thing, don't have the skill for another, and finally I'm quite happy with a low output in a car with 1970s safety standards, or even earlier!

Main plan for the Beetle is get the bulk of the work done for next Spring, re-tax it for the road, have a bit of fun, take it to some shows, see how I feel at the end of the summer and maybe then flip it for my next project at a profit. I bought the Bug cheaply and my aim is to use money as wisely as possible to restore it and make a healthy profit on its sale.

 

[daan]

Not a Beetle...

Go on. You know you want to...

 

[homeforsummer]

I wouldn't wish that upon any car...

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

I think he should keep the interior rather oldschool.

 

[homeforsummer]

That's the plan. I have ideas afoot for some typically German and typically VW tartan, too.

In other news, I decided last night, after prodding a few holes in the body, that I'm going to get the thing chemically dipped, taken back to bare metal. May as well see where I am to start with before getting stuck into any work, and I was going to weld a few bits and repaint the whole lot anyway so I may as well shell out the extra for a full dip and do the job properly.

If it's worth doing... etc.

 

[E28]

I'll be watching this thread! It'll be interesting to see how rowland turns out. My dad had a beetle before I was born, apparently the rust on his was so bad you could see the road from the passenger seat... Through the floor.

 

[Cano]

I'll have to chime in greatly worried to say that the colour you've chosen for the car is horrid, an Oreo-and-tequila binge throwback to the early 90s. Please don't.

the ideas for the interior are even worse. Look, if you're not gonna do anything extreme with the car, just resto-mod it keeping all the nice stuff stock, just lower it and add a nice set of wheels and you're done, or lower it over the stock wheels, and it'll still look good. If you wanna go with a custom color, go with a 70s flavour, maybe a really dark green or a grayish blue would work well. But please refrain from painting it mint.

 

[niky]

I like mint green, but my personal favorite on an old Beetle is bright orange.

I don't understand all the hate for Super Beetles, either. I love the bigger rear window. About the only thing I'd add, and I've seen quite a few Supers with this, is some older style tail-lights. They add quite a lot of class to the look of the car.

 

[VEXD]

I'll have to chime in greatly worried to say that the colour you've chosen for the car is horrid, an Oreo-and-tequila binge throwback to the early 90s. Please don't.

the ideas for the interior are even worse. Look, if you're not gonna do anything extreme with the car, just resto-mod it keeping all the nice stuff stock, just lower it and add a nice set of wheels and you're done, or lower it over the stock wheels, and it'll still look good. If you wanna go with a custom color, go with a 70s flavour, maybe a really dark green or a grayish blue would work well. But please refrain from painting it mint.

Though your points are valid, and to some, possibly convincing, I know for sure that if Hfs wants a mint green car, it's because he's spent a long time deciding he wants a mint green car, and he will have a mint green car.

Unless you offer to go over there and drop an eco-electric motor in it, and paint it for him, for free.

Just sayin.....

Nice one Ant, I just don't know where you get the time.....

👍

 

[Spacegoat]

Best of luck on your progress with Roland. (Great name by the way)

I have a '64 Beetle that I'll get around to restoring one of these days.👍

 

[panjandrum]

Might I humbly suggest a relatively rare stock VW Beetle color: "Royal Red". IMHO the single best color VW ever used, and maybe one of the best reds ever in the automotive world.

If you will be autocrossing your beetle, let me know. I know a reasonable amount about tuning beetle suspensions for motorsports.

There are a lot of people who only see the VW Beetle as "cute", and thus tend to choose amusing, fun, or wild colors. To each his own of course, but a lot of people seem to forget that a properly done beetle can be beautiful, not just cute. It's an option though, so maybe keep it in mind. Of course I've seen a lot of wonderfully done custom beetles; cute, wild, rat-rodded etc., however, and the beetle is a very "flexible" car when it comes to this type of thing. So if that's where you are headed then I'm sure you'll still have a great car in the end. (Oh, another quick thing to consider; Classic Beetles are now starting to go up in value fairly quickly, and if you don't modify it too much you'll preserve more resale value. Look at what happened to Ghia prices about 4-6 years ago...)

I can honestly say that my Beetle gets a ton of attention at car and motorsport events. People just love it. I think a lot of that has to do the number off Beetles that have been "hot-rodded" or "slammed" or made into "cute little things", whereas mine just looks properly sorted and classy. Even when I lowered the car, put on wider-wheels (stock-look painted steel) and grippy rubber, added stiffness, disc brakes etc., I was very careful to keep a stock look. I even drive the car most of the time with a beautiful stock VW steering wheel, only swapping it out for a crappy "custom" wheel for autocross events.

Good luck with your beetle, whether you go "fun" or "classic" you'll have a great time in the car. It's hard to find a car that's more sheer fun to drive.

More about my beetle:

http://web.me.com/panjandrum/Beetle/Home.html

 

[homeforsummer]

Your Beetle looks great 👍

I think I am going to go for an original colour now - perhaps even the original colour the car was sold in. Wouldn't normally pick beige ("Sahara beige") but the rest of the car will be essentially standard, so hey, why not the rest of it?

Anyway, I've not made a great deal more progress since the last update. Still stripping the car down - since last time it now has no window glass, the headlining is half out, there's no trim in the back of the car, I've started draining the fuel tank ready for it to come out and I've started stripping down the engine, ready for that to come out:

By chance I found there's actually a VW specialist only a few miles from where I live, so I'm going to have a chat with them to see what they think the best route for sorting out the body is. I was planning an acid dip for it, but the cost of that and getting it primered alone is almost £2k, so I might just settle for soda-blasting the bad bits and leaving the rest of the body and floorpan, which are basically sound, alone.

I've still not found anything too drastic, rust-wise. There's a hole in the body at the nearside rear, near the wheel arch, and a hole below it. The floorpan itself seems fine save for a dodgy repair that I want re-doing.

 

[Boffin]

Sooo I stumbled on this, looked at everything, looked up beetles in the classified and found this in my price range.

Thanks so much....

Wantness

That is as tempting as all hell.

 

[the_stig_1]

Sooo I stumbled on this, looked at everything, looked up beetles in the classified and found this in my price range.

Thanks so much....

Wantness

That is as tempting as all hell.

Do It!
I've seen that Beetle and considered buying it.

 

[homeforsummer]

Yup, won't get me stopping you. If looked after, Beetles will go on forever. That one looks like it's had plenty of attention.

Won't be as quick as whatever you're driving at the moment, but they're fun in different ways. Definitely a case of "doesn't have to be fast to be fun".

Incidentally, I've not made a lot of progress on my own over the last month or so thanks to the Christmas period. However, I've found a VW specialist nearby who I'll be getting the necessary welding work done with - ideally I want to sell the Fiat beforehand to get a bit of cash in my pocket, continue stripping the VW down, and then it'll be ready for welding and primer.

After that, it's all up to me

 

[Boffin]

Do It!
I've seen that Beetle and considered buying it.

Yup, won't get me stopping you. If looked after, Beetles will go on forever. That one looks like it's had plenty of attention.

Won't be as quick as whatever you're driving at the moment, but they're fun in different ways. Definitely a case of "doesn't have to be fast to be fun".

I drive my own (suprisingly because most on P platers driving them are their parents') '05 Holden SV6. So thats a 4-door car on the same platform as the Monaro/GTS/whatever it is oversees with a ~260hp V6 and a paddleshift auto. I bought it because I have to lug a lot of junk to and from uni (6.5hrs drive away). Couldn't really ask for anything more and it does the things I bought it for very well indeed. Economy on the highways is spectacular.
Strangely I feel a Beetle with 220hp less and much less room wouldn't be so fun on my treks to and from uni.
Still dying for it though. Perhaps when uni is finished I will find it again or build my own project car...

Looking upon this thread with great interest. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

Strangely I feel a Beetle with 220hp less and much less room wouldn't be so fun on my treks to and from uni.

Yeah, you're not wrong. My 200-odd mile drive from the South to North of England when I picked up the car wasn't so bad... just pretty slow. Seat was actually very comfortable, nice and springy.

Performance less special, managed about 70mph flat out with a bit of a run-up and going slightly down-hill. Was happy to cruise at 60-65.

Luggage space not really suitable for uni moves - enough space for a medium suitcase behind the rear seat and a couple of soft bags in the front. Though rear seat is completely removable (as is the passenger seat actually, if you have a spanner handy) so luggage space potentially not bad

But yeah, it's more of a weekend car or local daily driver than it is a car for long distances. That said, when it's finished I intend to tour some of Europe in it...

 

[Boffin]

But yeah, it's more of a weekend car or local daily driver than it is a car for long distances. That said, when it's finished I intend to tour some of Europe in it...

Thought as much. I was trying to talk myself how I didn't need the beast but really I do. Having nursed an 850 estate that was way beyond on its last legs for sometime, I can probably grasp how slow the highway trip would be. That Beetle would be awesome though. Might be a strange move but if I was going to get it I'd clad the seats in potato sack material instead of the grey they have now. It would suit the colour scheme somehow...

Terribly jealous of the prospect of a tour in Europe. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

Well current colour choice for mine is probably something along the lines of the original beige for paint (visible in some photos), brown carpets, black vinyl trim as the passenger seat and rear bench trim is basically fine, and it'd be pointless to waste money replacing them when they're ok.

It'll basically remain pretty much standard. Few alterations here and there maybe, but I'm doing the whole thing on a low-ish budget. I want a usable car rather than a show queen.

 

[homeforsummer]

I'd forgotten I had this thread until just now. Rest assured I have been working on the car, albeit in tiny bits. I've now vacuumed all the nastiness from the floor (dust, grime and god knows what else) but there's still a lot of underbody sealant on the inside of the car that needs removing. Then I still have to drain the fuel tank and remove it, and remove the engine.

After all that's done I'll be prepping the whole body for welding.

In the meantime, here's a pic of the headlining-less roof.

It was nasty anyway, so it's getting entirely replaced. The dark spots aren't rust, they're the remnants of the sound-deadening fluff.

Oh, and a treat - drove the brand new Beetle recently. Nice car. Stock wheels on "Design"-spec cars are awesome - easily the best wheel design I've seen in years:

And as a final treat, but mainly to me, I was lucky enough to have a go in Volkswagen UK's own classic Beetle, one of the last ever produced in Wolfsburg. It's only done 26k miles, and rumour has it that it's insured for £50k.

Volkswagen Beetle by Vitesse Photography, on Flickr


Volkswagen Beetle by Vitesse Photography, on Flickr​

 

[niky]

Holy Guacamoley... that's a beautiful old bug...