Righty, been meaning to start a thread about the car for a while, so here we are! ;D
Several months ago now I made a trip down to Essex to buy a 1303 from a chap named Paul, otherwise known as lard44 on these forums. Money and car changed hands and for remarkably little I got myself a tidy Beetle.
Not looking too bad, I think you'll agree. Body and chassis are remarkably sound, drives well and Paul had just changed a few odds and sods so mechanically it's pretty good too. Drives nicely and got be the 200-odd miles from Essex to Yorkshire with nary a problem so I was chuffed with that.
Still, it's an old Beetle and inevitably needed a few things doing to it. The electrics had a mind of their own and after closer inspection I've decided the wiring loom needs to go to the big electrical shrine in the sky rather than attempt to fix 37 years of bodging, so a new loom is in order.
Also, the body and chassis aren't perfect so I'll be repairing those, and the interior has seen better days so that'll see some work too.
So anyway, stripdown started a few months ago.
Body still looks good even after taking all the wings off. There's very little rust, a little evidence that someone has bumped into it at the back in the past, but generally pretty good.
Still, the wiring needs sorting...
And to do that, the dash really needed to come out. First bit off:
...And I've got a lot further than that, but to save this post being of War and Peace proportions, I'll update this in smaller chunks from now on.
I have very little practical experience working on cars, but part of the idea behind getting a Beetle is having something simple on which to learn...
Several months ago now I made a trip down to Essex to buy a 1303 from a chap named Paul, otherwise known as lard44 on these forums. Money and car changed hands and for remarkably little I got myself a tidy Beetle.
Not looking too bad, I think you'll agree. Body and chassis are remarkably sound, drives well and Paul had just changed a few odds and sods so mechanically it's pretty good too. Drives nicely and got be the 200-odd miles from Essex to Yorkshire with nary a problem so I was chuffed with that.
Still, it's an old Beetle and inevitably needed a few things doing to it. The electrics had a mind of their own and after closer inspection I've decided the wiring loom needs to go to the big electrical shrine in the sky rather than attempt to fix 37 years of bodging, so a new loom is in order.
Also, the body and chassis aren't perfect so I'll be repairing those, and the interior has seen better days so that'll see some work too.
So anyway, stripdown started a few months ago.
Body still looks good even after taking all the wings off. There's very little rust, a little evidence that someone has bumped into it at the back in the past, but generally pretty good.
Still, the wiring needs sorting...
And to do that, the dash really needed to come out. First bit off:
...And I've got a lot further than that, but to save this post being of War and Peace proportions, I'll update this in smaller chunks from now on.
I have very little practical experience working on cars, but part of the idea behind getting a Beetle is having something simple on which to learn...
