The best car in the world: It's back!

[beet1e]

My bug is back!  A few months ago I agonised over what to do with it. The inner panels were badly corroded, as were the heater channels. There were other corrosion problems too but mechanically the car is all right.

I could not allow myself to have the car broken for spares. That's the option that would have made the most economic sense. I discussed other options with Henley Beetles, the company near here that specialises in VW air cooled restorations and repairs, including buying a different bug and trading in my own. But the option which suited us both the best was for mine to be restored. I've had to pay quite a lot - more than I paid for the car to begin with, but this was offset to some degree by money I received from a TV company, who used my Bug in a DAZ commercial which is aired between segments of Emmerdale.

And here he is - Jacob, as I call him, because the orange and black colour scheme is like the Jacobs cream cracker wrapper!

[beet1e]

... and here’s another of the interior. Have any of you guys ever driven a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side?

Note the new carpets etc.

[BUG_EAF322]

Excellent pics very nice


There is nothing like driving the bug

WTG!!

[CyranoAH]

Hey, it's the clockwork orange!

Daniel

[lazs2]

beetle... in double ought... Hooligan and I drove a fiat about 1200 miles in england and Scotland.   we drove it on those crappy, narrow, rainsoaked roads and did our best to figure out all the symbols and roundabouts.   Worse thing for me was tryuing to shift the "stick in two week old jello" shifter with my left hand while entering a "roundabout" and trying to figure out why none of the cutsie signs matched the map.

in the U.S. every smelly hippie and weekend love child worth his beads had a "bug" for about a decade there.   Every town was full of "restoration" shops and any decent one bragged about being able to "change out your VW engine during your lunch hour"  and they did.   A trip to lake Tahoe would kill any VW bus halfway up.   every ten years people forget how bad those cars were and reserect em for a few years.
lazs

[Eagler]

very nice

what exactly did the restoration include?

were they able to remove ALL the rust

seems everywhere I look I'm finding rust coming through the paint or rust damaged metal

Did they cut out the really bad stuff and weld new metal or just sand as much rust away and bondo the heck out of it?

[AKDejaVu]

Next time you take it in to have any serious restoration work done on it, make sure they put the steering wheel back on the correct side of the car.

AKDejaVu

[Wlfgng]

eww.. Bronco orange....

[midnight Target]

LOL, fondly remember loading 8 people into a VW bus and trying to drive to Lake Arrowhead (thats a climb up a mountain from 1000ft to about 7000ft elevation).

Made it 1/2 way. Wouldn't even move in 1st gear. Had to drop off 3 people on the side of the road, then go back for them later.

And BTW, that bug's steering wheel is on the wrong side

[beet1e]

Lazs -

Ah, glad you had fun driving to Scotland. I've done plenty of driving in America in left hand drive cars (all automatic) - no problems. I've done a fair amount of driving in Europe in manual left hand drive rental cars - not too bad, but feels weird to have to push the stick away when changing from 4th to 5th. Driving my own car in Europe is even more weird! Prefer LHD for that.  Our highway signs were completely changed in the 1960s so that all European countries would have a standard set. As you know, there are currently 15 European Union member states, and there are almost as many languages. So it was deemed more appropriate, for example,  for speed limits to be depicted as a number in a red circle, instead of "SPEED LIMIT 55". The ride up to Tahoe would not kill my Bug. The British weather nearly did.

LOL! AKdejavu - steering wheel

Eagler - the Bug is a rust free zone. I told the engineers I wanted no bodged up bondo crap. Here's a pic showing a new section being cut in. Somewhere in this car's life, someone decided to bodge this section with filler.

[beet1e]

The main cause for concern had been these inner panels. They are made of mild steel, and therefore rust easily. That's why modern cars have all this galvinising and rust prevention treatment. Of course, if I lived near Lazs, corrosion wouldn't be a problem.

[senna]

Galvanizing and anti-rust protection wasnt implimented in auto manufacturing until the early 70s. Its a thing that most auto manufactures caught onto as standard throughout the 70s.

[beet1e]

senna - that's right, and at about that time, the cars that had been built c1965 were in a VERY sorry state. My brother had a 1965 Austin A40 (his first car) and by 1970 it had been eaten out by rust. The trouble here is the salt that's put down on the roads during the winter months, and the grit (mixed with salt) that's put down to give extra grip.  I asked my Beetle engineers about the inner panels, and they told me that they had been treated with a rust inhibitor.

[Eagler]

more pictures please (b4, during and after)

changed out the window  u channel felt thingies on both windows, relubed the window regulators, removed/cleaned windows, replaced both front door panels & window cranks (gotta get more clips and grommets for the back two), installed a rear deck thingy for the speakers - now that they are out of the doors, installed neat chrome thingies that went under the door handle-they are chromed brass 20 year old german made got off ebay for probably too much .

Any suggestions on running boards? heard better to go with german than brazilian made, easier to install-last longer  = true? Still have to tackle the reverse lights - got a floor jack & stands so I can get under the bug and look for the sensor on the transmission...

btwn the bug, weekend yard work and one flight in BOB  - killed entire weekend

[Puke]

This may be a stupid question, but never having driven anything with the wheel on the right side, I'm curious if the pedals are reversed as well or is the gas pedal still on the right side and the brake and clutch both to the left of the gas pedal.  ?