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The Up-Fixing a '65 VW thread
I've been fixing up my 1965 VW Bug and I thought I would post the project's progress here as I go along. I'm hoping it will help with motivation, as I've been a real slacker on this project so far.
In 2019 I bought a 1965 VW bug with the idea of fixing it up mechanically and driving it as a beater. Over the course of a couple of years the torn up interior and crappy paint began to get to me. I really, really hate fake patina, but it turns out I’m not real fond of the real thing either. I decided it needed a repaint and new interior, plus tidying up the ugly-ass engine. I started work on the remake in August of 2021 but the first event of a relentless string of life challenges hit me almost immediately. After being rocked with one hit after another I lost the will to do much of anything. So the car sat. This summer Vicki told me I needed to get busy do something or I was going to die on the vine, so I started back into the VW project. When I first got the car in 2019 it had been the victim of a dedicated follower of fashion who did his best to make this car look like all the other pimped-out “California look” VW bugs. It was lowered front and rear and had a matte white paint job and skinny 145 tires. Fortunately he ran out of money before he completely destroyed it. As soon as I got the car I rebuilt the suspension, put on decent wheels and new tires, and began sorting the engine out. I had the car running and handling pretty good by August of 2021, when I started taking it apart. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666027578.jpg The moron PO tried to give the poor car the "California look" that I guess is how all VWs look in California. It looks like crap. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666027578.jpg A suspension rebuild and getting the car raised up to the normal stance was first on the list. The guy had wrecked the torsion bars, but fortunately I had a set I took out of a '65 Porsche SC years ago. They aren't identical, but they work. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666027578.jpg The right stance and a set of wheels and tires and it wasn't looking too bad from 30 feet away. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666027578.jpg The interior was in tatters, but I thought I could live with it in an old VW beater. I couldn't. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666027578.jpg The engine is out of a '67 and I have the build sheet from when it was rebuilt about 10,000 miles ago. From the parts list it should be a good motor internally, but it had a mess of "upgrades" and mismatched parts that were efforts by the PO to make it go fast. It looked like hell and ran like crap. It looked even worse when I first got the car. I took this picture after I installed a proper carb and distributor and repainted the air filter. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666027578.jpg The VW "triangle of death." VWs are bullet proof if you don't modify them. If you DO decide to modify one, you need to do it right. The carburetor, fuel pump, and distributor have to be matched to each other to work together properly. This thing had a Brazilian-made aftermarket carb for an automatic stick shift car and a fuel pump and knockoff .009 distributor that were made in China. Plus, there is a plastic fuel filter in the engine bay. |
It's kind of cool that it has a alternator, so I assume all the 12v upgrades have been completed?
Good luck with the project; post often for motivation. edit/alternator, not generator |
Very cool. It's a bit of a shame that I didn't go through a bug stage when I was a youngster. My dad had a couple and rolled at least one of them. I'm guessing that may have been part of the reason he didn't go that route with me.
I've thought about getting one as a beater and to tinker on, but I don't need another time suck, and it's too darn hot around here for a car with no AC. Keep the posts coming so I can live vicariously through you. |
I never went thru a VW stage either. I found a really low mileage BMW 1600 when looking for a bug to buy way back when. It took me a lot of places I doubt I would have been willing to drive to in a bug.
That looks like an alternator in that one picture. I agree with Steve, keep posting so I can live vicariously too. I try to get my brother to take pics so I can live thru his car adventures but he's a little lax when it comes to taking pics. I think he feels he's too busy to bother with taking them. |
Had a couple in highschool in the early 80's.... It would be fun to take one for a spin again for nostalgia purposes, but I have too many other projects that I will likely never get to. I dont think my old '72 superbeetle would even do 80 IIRC. I had an old propane equipment heater in the back seat for winter driving as the heat exchangers were completely rusted off.... Bought that as my first car for $50. I could have the engine out all by myself in my parents garage in 15 minutes flat. :)
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Looking good so far!
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My first car…’58 beetle with fabric sunroof. $75 for the car with no motor and $25 to another guy for a motor that didn’t run. $7.95 for a book on VWs. Parents didn’t have a garage so I put the motor on an upside down trash can next to the back porch stairs. Rebuilt the motor and had my first set of wheels. I’ve probably had 20 or so over the years, including a Ghia, a notch back and at least 2 ovals. I have rebuilt many VW motors and you could get everything you needed (gasket set, push rod tubes, pistons and cylinders, etc.) back in the day for about $100. I’d love to have another oval with fabric sunroof, but like others have said…I need A/C and I don’t relish the idea of rolling around on the garage floor. I’m interested to see your progress and looking forward to it!
One of my ovals years ago that was “in the process”. At one point I put a 912 motor in this one. Now days old rusted out hulls bring big money! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666038552.jpg |
I love it.
I owned three, two bugs and a bus. Rebuilt the motors in all three. At one time in California both my sisters and I had bugs. Last air cooled model we owned was a Ghia. Enjoy. |
My first car ever was a 1960 Bug. 36 HP of sheer power. 0 to 60 of 72 seconds, only if there was no headwind, and it was dead flat ground. If there was a headwind or a slight uphill, 0 to 60 was infinite, as impossible as 100. A loaded 18 wheel semi was too fast to outrun from a dead stop.
Dad gave me a interest free loan, but I had to pay 100% of all costs except insurance. I put a set of 4 recap tires on it, mounted and balanced out the door was 25 bucks. Not per tire, for all 4. And they swapped the spare with the best of the old tires. I paid dad off in 6 months, and drove it until 1973 and I bought a brand new 1973 Super Bug $2,750. It was like a rocket with 60 HP. It could indeed hit 90 wound out going downhill. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666040850.jpg I paid that off in 12 months, and ordered my 1974 914 2.0. With a 0-60 of 10 seconds I thought I had a fast car! My brother's daily driver for the last 40 years is a 1954 Bug. Typical upgrades of 60 HP engine, and 4 wheel disk brakes, but not much else. |
I just sold my VW Type III fastback a few months ago. However, if I saw the right wagon come along I could certainly be tempted to buy it.
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I've been following this VW build. My wife makes me feel dirty when I watch. I like to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O957frlDx-4 |
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666059225.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666059225.jpg Nice bug! I thought this might be a good spot to post a pic of this toy bus I recently rescued from a pile of stuff slated for the dump at a house I worked on a few months ago. It's old, like from the 60's? Not one mark of origin on it. 12" long, 6" tall, 5"wide. It's heavy, 5 or 6 lbs. All steel, spot welded together and very well built. It reminds me of the early all steel Tonka trucks but even beefier. No way could you dent it anywhere with your hands only. My first thought was Japanese but I don't think so, the body metal is heavier gauge than those old metal toys. Heavier gauge than a real bus! Anyone know where it might have come from? |
Good what you are doing with the V-dub WD.
Yep, time for VW pictures :) This is my 1600 I had in South Africa. Note the five stud wheels. I've had three VW's, well, four if you include the 911SC. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666060904.jpg |
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Great find. If you're just going to throw it away, I'll take it off your hands. |
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666065659.jpg All original paint inside...original door panels too http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666065659.jpg Newer 1600cc motor makes it a bit more driveable in modern traffic, and 12V electrics provide decent lighting. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666065659.jpg |
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Looks great! My first car was a 63 Bug and I raced vintage FV for several years. I get the project creep. I bought a 1970 914 two years ago that had been sitting forever. What started as a "just get it running" project has snowballed into refreshing brakes, new fuel system, engine out last winter to address leaks, new 123ignition distributor, speedo sent out to fix odo, a bunch of other stuff. Just got the engine/trans back in and took it on a 30 miles shakedown yesterday. Next project is addressing the interior bits showing their age. I'll stop at the paint. It's a good 10 footer and will stay that way because I want to daily drive it spring/summer.
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It looks a little high in the front to me Patrick
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Part 2:
Taking the car apart is like an archaeological dig, I'm finding clues and putting together pieces of the car's past. One cool thing about this car is that it came with a pile of receipts from past owners. From the records I have put together a rough timeline of its life. 1965 – Purchased new from Everly Motors in Salem, Oregon July 1967 – purchased used from Everly Motors for $1295 July 1967 to Summer of 1988, owned by the same person, given regular service except for September 1977 – at 80,xxx miles, replace a broken piston with a used one (talk about a cheapskate) 1988 – New Owner, 1106xx miles on the odo, $850 Sept 1990 – new owner $1500 July 2003 – rebuilt 1967 1500 engine with 85.5 mm pistons (makes it a 1600) installed at somewhere between 110600 and 116587 miles on the ODO January 2012 the car is in Cincinnati with new owner 116587 on ODO July 2012 – New owner September 2012 – New owner in Brookville, Ohio. 120302 on ODO April 2013 – new brake system – complete January 2019 – purchased by me from Brookville owner $5000 http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666107708.jpg At some point the rear window had leaked, probably for months, and the rear package shelf rusted out. It was replaced with some flat steel sheet, don't know when. It's all be covered up so I'm not worrying about the crappy weld job. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666107832.JPG This sticker was inside the glove compartment door, obviously placed there by the selling dealer. I ask the painter to try to preserve it but the masking tape pulled it off when he unmasked it. I'm going to try to have a vinyl stick-on copy of it made. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666107832.jpg This sticker is on one of the rear quarter windows. I don't know what "Huckberry" is, but I like it so I'm going to keep it. EDIT: OK I googled it. Huckberry is a clothing company. Cool logo though. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666107832.jpg As I was taking the bumpers off this spare key holder fell out on the floor. It had been clipped onto a bumper bracket. It was such a glopped-up mess of rust and mud that I didn't recognize it at first. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666107832.jpg I threw it in the blasting cabinet and hit it with some glass bead, hoped it was an original VW key, but it's a steel repro so - useless. |
rcooled - that '63 ragtop is goreous!!
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666113951.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666112913.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666112913.jpg |
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A Karmann Ghia cabriolet would be my dream car. Has to be right hand drive though for me.
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Part 3:
Once I started looking critically at the car it was obvious, I was going to have to do a complete repaint, new interior, and do something about the ugly-ass engine. I was lucky enough to find a shop only 10 miles from here that does restorations. When I drove in with the VW they were thrilled. Their usual jobs were American muscle cars, but every one of the guys working there had owned a VW at some time and they were excited about working on mine. Every time I went to the shop to check on progress I got to listen to another, "My old VW" story. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900273.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900273.jpg The car was fairly sad, but some areas were just plain ugly. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900317.jpg Before sending it to the paint shop I removed the hood, engine lid, the fuel tank, engine, glass, and the interior. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900317.jpg When I bought the car I inspected all the usual places these cars rust out and those areas weren’t too bad. It’s not all that common for a car to have good door pillars and rocker panels and battery box, and have a rear floor pan rusted out, but unfortunately, I discovered that mine did. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900317.jpg New floor pans and pieces of floor pans are readily available and fairly cheap. I bought a right side rear quarter floor pan patch, stitch welded it in, and finished it off with seam sealer. The patch panel included the area under the battery, so I replaced it even though the original was relatively solid. I bought a lot of sound deadening mat to use on the floor, doors, and roof to try to make the car sound less "tinny" on the road. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900548.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900548.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666900951.jpg They said it would take about a month to do the car. I planned on two months because this isn't my first car restoration rodeo. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666901147.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666901147.jpg I was happily amazed when it was finished in five weeks. |
You sly boots! This whole time the car is in the shop getting a fresh restoration! Who knows what other surprises you have in store!
(And while I was in there I had a supercharged 1835 built by Ed Pink that puts out a relaxed 225 rwhp and returns 25 mpg on the highway) |
I saw this one yesterday. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666928135.jpg
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Hey Patrick, where did you put the lift pads under the bug? I want to use my Quickjack under my bug but nervous that it might puncture the floor.
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The strongest area in the rear is under the tube that surrounds the torsion bars. Other that that the rim of the floor pan is the strongest area under the car. The large arrows in the picture show where I put the jack pads when using the lift. The small arrows show the factory jack point where you are supposed to lift the entire side of the car. These jack points are not attached to any special hard points, just to the rim of the floor pan.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666962782.jpg |
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For example, I worked on the engine while the car was in the body shop until I got to the point where there were a few parts I needed for it. Placed the parts order and worked on the wiring for a while, then the body came back, I worked on assembling it until I racked up a decent sized parts order, went back to the engine, then to the electrics, back to the body, etc etc etc. Sorry to disappoint, but no, no supercharged engine. In fact, I'm doing my best to go back to bone stock on the engine. |
Thank you Patrick
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Very nice! That’s going to be fun putting it back together and watching it look better and better!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666966817.jpg |
I've posted this pic a couple of times before. It was my '65 that got stolen and gone forever back 30+years ago. I dearly loved getting in that car, cranking the sun roof open and taking off. I had a 1776 I was going to install, but it got stolen before I could do that. I bought another car later on & put the 1776 in it, but for some reason, that car never had the same feel. It had new paint, interior, & wheels, & purred like a kitten. I'd still have it if it hadn't been stolen.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666978393.jpg |
Evans, Marv, I love that car. Always enjoy seeing that picture.
It's funny isn't it, how the door weatherstripping always pooched out by the door handle. No amount of sorcery would get that rubber to fit 'correctly' on my 65 or my 68, and I noticed it on most Type 1's. Probably a feature, not a fault, because VW had 30 million chances to get it right. |
The door seal was basically a square strip of foam rubber except around the door latch, where there was a "flap" that stuck out. As far as the seal was concerned the door was 2 dimensional except at that kink at the belt line. The seal basically sits in the groove with a few spots of adhesive holding it in at the corners except at the door latch. You really had to glue the seal in hard at that point because of the change of direction. If it came out much at all the flap would show.
Also, VW's door mounts were notoriously flimsy, so the door could get out of alignment very easily. The door usually moved forward, which left a lot of room for the seal to escape. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1666992290.jpg |
And yet, you still need to crack the vent to close the door!
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Nice paint job!
Better than me. When I was a teenager I woke up one day and decided to paint the VW. I taped some newspaper over bits, ran an extension cord down from the house, and used an electric sprayer to paint the car. Surprisingly it came out looking amazing. |
Part 4
Catching up on progress since my last post. When I first bought the car it ran like crap, and for good reason. The engine had about the worst collection of cheap, mismatched parts on it imaginable. I spent a couple of years getting it to run well, except for an exhaust leak I could not find – then I took the car apart. While the car was out being painted, I turned my attention to the engine. A leakdown test showed less than 4% leakage on any cylinder, so a full rebuild wasn’t in the cards. I would have just cleaned it and repainted the sheet metal, but the pushrod tubes were so rusty I was afraid one would spring a leak, so I took the heads off and replaced the tubes. This is where I made a disappointing discovery about the engine. The paperwork that came with the car showed that the engine had been rebuilt, and from the invoice it looked like it had been done properly, with case savers, align bored, new heads – all the good stuff. Upon inspection it did have case savers and new heads, but it looked like it had been assembled by a monkey. The special cylinder head washers were mismatched, and some of them looked like plain old hardware store washers. The nut on one of the case studs was cross threaded and only held on the stud by a few threads, but he kept cranking on it and drove the stud clear through the case. Worst of all, some knucklehead had painted the crankcase. Most of the paint had flaked off, but what was left was on tight. None of this stuff was a game changer, but it undermined my confidence in the engine. By the time the car came back from the painter I still wasn’t finished with it. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668524462.jpg I don't have any pictures of the engine as it came with the car. Here I've already replaced the distributor and carburetor with proper German parts. It still has the corroded, ugly alternator. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668524462.jpg This is the original crap that was on the engine. Brazilian Brosol carburetor meant to be on an auto stickshift car, Brazilian knock-off of a German Bosch 009 distributor, Chinese knock-off of a Brazilian fuel pump, Empi coil, and a fuel filter in the engine bay. ALL WRONG. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668524462.jpg After removing the engine I gave it a good scrub down. When I replumbed the house I ran hot and cold soft water lines to the garage. I soaked the engine in grease remover and blasted it with 140 degree soft water. It took off all the grease and a lot of the paint. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668524462.jpg Then began the tedious task of scraping off the remaining paint on the case. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668524934.jpg I blasted the parts that would fit in the blasting cabinet with aluminum oxide. The rest had to be cleaned with wire brush. Coats of etching primer and primer sealer went on under the satin black paint. |
I discovered the source of the exhaust leak. The right hand heat exchanger outlet pipe was rusted through. Both heat exchanger outlet pipes were rusted pretty bad, so I repaired the both.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526552.jpg I had to use a round hacksaw blade to cut the aluminum collar back to expose good steel to weld to. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526552.jpg The repair pipes reduce the diameter of the exhaust pipe a bit, and might reduce horsepower a little. I'd trade a couple of horsepower for the difference in cost of $12 repair pipes and $500 new heat exchangers. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526552.jpg Heater box good as new and ready for another 50 years of service. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526814.jpg This really pissed me off. I don't know how anyone can be so careless. This clown cross threaded the nut on a case stud and just kept cranking on it until he drove the stud clear through the other side of the case. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526814.jpg It took some tweaking with needle nosed vice grips and I had to clean the threads of the stud, but finally put it right. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526947.jpg I had to do some rewiring on the charging system. This car is a '65 body with a '67 engine that someone had put a 1970s alternator on. The '65 came with a 90mm generator with the voltage regulator mounted on top. 67 VWs had a larger 120mm generator with the voltage regulator under the drivers side rear seat. This car had been modified to use an alternator with a built-in regulator. All three systems required different wiring. The alternator was old and corroded and looked like hell and didn't belong in a '65 VW anyway, so I trashed it an found a new, proper VW type 120mm Bosch generator. To integrate the generator wiring into the existing wiring, I decided to put a solid state regulator under the passenger side rear seat and add the required wiring. Whom ever owns this car after I sell it will have a real WTF?? moment when trying to figure out the charging system. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668526947.jpg Wires in the engine bay waiting to be finished. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668527589.jpg I couldn't help myself. With the engine painted and reassembled with original German fuel pump, coil, carburetor, distributor and that ugly ass alternator GONE I was so excited I plopped the air cleaner on it and stuck some old heater hoses in place while it was still on the engine stand just to admire it. It would all have to come back off when time to install the engine, but it was worth the effort just to see it. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668527589.jpg Getting close now. Tar boards are in place and the wiring is dressed and in place. I'll have to finish the ends of the generator wires once the engine is in place. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668527589.JPG ENGINE IN!! Just in time. I took the car to the winter shop a few days later. On to the interior! |
What a great thread. Sublime. Inspirational.
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