1974 Beetle

[doctorblack]

Bought this Beetle a few weeks ago. He was parked locally to me, slowly returning to the soil. Then just by chance I saw it on the back of a low loader being taken away. Soon after he appeared on Facebook Marketplace. It was my birthday that week so I bit the bullet.

I'm going to test the RR uploader:

[doctorblack]

[Stiff]

Nice. What's your plans for it? Restore or mod? Please say mod.

[Duggy]

Chassis off, body on a spit, bit of welding and jobs a good 'un!

[75swb]

Wow that's brave! Good on ya

[glenanderson]

Looks like it's suffering from the usual 70s Beetle gutter, rear quarter, a-pillar and channel rot.

There's a lot of work there to sort that out properly. Best of luck.

[Duggy]

Feb 16, 2022 13:45:37 GMT glenanderson said:

Looks like it's suffering from the usual 70s Beetle gutter, rear quarter, a-pillar and channel rot.

There's a lot of work there to sort that out properly. Best of luck.

All eminently doable once the body's off the pan, and lots of parts and advice available though.

I mean, even I managed to change an entire front end of one on my drive in a day once, so anything is possible.

[93fxdl]

Feb 16, 2022 15:52:41 GMT Duggy said:

Feb 16, 2022 13:45:37 GMT glenanderson said:

Looks like it's suffering from the usual 70s Beetle gutter, rear quarter, a-pillar and channel rot.

There's a lot of work there to sort that out properly. Best of luck.

All eminently doable once the body's off the pan, and lots of parts and advice available though.

I mean, even I managed to change an entire front end of one on my drive in a day once, so anything is possible.

Beach buggy?
Ttfn Glenn

[glenanderson]

The worst thing VW did with that era of bug was to use the expanding foam instead of the sewn padded cushion style stuffing in the rear corners to stop the engine noise coming into the cabin. “Death foam” has literally been the end of many a bug.

That and the peely lacquer that the metallics back then were coated with.

Be good to see how you get on. I do have a big soft spot for Beetles.

[Duggy]

Feb 16, 2022 15:55:25 GMT 93fxdl said:

Feb 16, 2022 15:52:41 GMT Duggy said:

All eminently doable once the body's off the pan, and lots of parts and advice available though.

I mean, even I managed to change an entire front end of one on my drive in a day once, so anything is possible.

Beach buggy?
Ttfn Glenn

No, a '72 1300 Bug.  Only thing I had to do was muck about with the fuel tank rails on the copy part.  Everything else lined up OK iirc

[93fxdl]

Feb 17, 2022 17:20:50 GMT Duggy said:

Feb 16, 2022 15:55:25 GMT 93fxdl said:

Beach buggy?
Ttfn Glenn

No, a '72 1300 Bug.  Only thing I had to do was muck about with the fuel tank rails on the copy part.  Everything else lined up OK iirc

Sorry crossed wires, I meant build this one into a buggy, saves having to do all the bodywork
Ttfn Glenn

[doctorblack]

Some quick and dirty spray jobs etc. In response to earlier questions this car is pretty rough so I'm not returning it to showroom condition, the plan is to get it to a stage where I can roll to the shops in it and whatnot. Make it safe(ish). Keep the character. That kind of deal. I'm not into hacking it up so no Baja. Anyway some progress of sorts has been made over the last few weeks. It runs, drives, stops. I rebuilt the carb, put in new rubber fuel line etc. That was all rotten. Worked on the steel wheels. Bought a welder but I've yet to spark that up. I'm not in a rush. What I didn't want to do is take it apart and then lose interest like so many I have seen advertised ...




















This is a more recent shot with wheels refurbed and 'new' tyres.
Need to weld the A posts and some other bits. I've got a passenger side door in better condition. Still need a driver's side door. They are really bad.

He's insured and I've been out on the road. No indicators, not much brakes. Still work to be done ...

[doctorblack]

The front as it stands now more or less. I put the trim back on. Those pepperpots are a spare set of wheels I picked up for £50.

[doctorblack]

The flipping carb. It was leaking everywhere so rebuilt it but I'm suspicious of it still. No doubt I made a poor, not very thorough job of it. It's hard to tune because I didn't change the jets possibly. It bogs down on acceleration, well you know, it could be a number of things. Still to be expolored.

[doctorblack]

Got underneath and cleaned all the crud off within reason. Used a mixture and black spray paint, Lanoguard and chain oil to arrest the decay any further.

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

I had a 67 bug once upon a time, after seeing that pic of the carb I glanced across my office to the windowsill where the carb is that came off my old Beetle, best thing I ever did was ditch it and buy a new replacement, spent no end of hours messing about rebuilding it haha

Keen to see how you get on with this, keep at it!

[doctorblack]

Apr 7, 2022 13:27:13 GMT Ralph.Wrecked.It said:

I had a 67 bug once upon a time, after seeing that pic of the carb I glanced across my office to the windowsill where the carb is that came off my old Beetle, best thing I ever did was ditch it and buy a new replacement, spent no end of hours messing about rebuilding it haha

Keen to see how you get on with this, keep at it!

Hi, thanks, yes that carb is a pain. I do have a new repro carb to try out, yet to fit it. Of course is nice to keep the original carb if possible but I really want to get him running well. Then I can put this carb on the shelf if the repro does the trick!

[doctorblack]

One of the rare occasions he left the driveway

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Apr 7, 2022 14:10:51 GMT doctorblack said:

Apr 7, 2022 13:27:13 GMT Ralph.Wrecked.It said:

I had a 67 bug once upon a time, after seeing that pic of the carb I glanced across my office to the windowsill where the carb is that came off my old Beetle, best thing I ever did was ditch it and buy a new replacement, spent no end of hours messing about rebuilding it haha

Keen to see how you get on with this, keep at it!

Hi, thanks, yes that carb is a pain. I do have a new repro carb to try out, yet to fit it. Of course is nice to keep the original carb if possible but I really want to get him running well. Then I can put this carb on the shelf if the repro does the trick!

Yeah, I kept the original, but on the shelf haha 

[doctorblack]

Tiny bubbles of rust on the bottoms of the doors.