1973 German Look.....?

zabo wrote:yep- theres so much i want to do to mine- but i know once i tear into it it will be off the road for a while.

Anybody got a loaner for me?

hey check out WWW.rent a bug.com lol!!!! Not a bad ideal for you guys with four or more Dubs at home.

Doing a nice job on the bug much better treatment than I did or was going to do for it.

What size are the new tires? 145/65/15s? Got them on the car yet?

Installed new wheel bearings and brakes on the front. No more side to side wobble on the passanger front. Got the tires on and just put a couple of bolts in the fender to check it out. The old tires were so big you couldn't even get the fender on. The new ones are 145/65R15 and the fit great. Almost couldn't get my floor jack out once I dropped it down with the new tires on.

Pics are kinda dark - I'll try to get some in better light tomorrow.



I'm painting everything flat white instead of the satin ivory. I liked the ivory and it was different than anyone else, but I can get the flat white duplicolor from work real cheap. Anyway I thought about spraying clear over the flat white, but I think it makes it look too glossy, kinda defeats the purpose of the flat. Here is a quick shot of the deck lid mounts with the clear on them not sure if you can see them well in the photos.



Cleaned up the scat shifter that was in the bug also, the base was rusted pretty bad, sanded it down and nailed it with some rust treatment stuff we sell at NAPA. Will hit it with some black tomorrow. Got everything working realy good with it, even found an old Hurst shift knob from my camaro days that fits perfectly. I'll get pics of it tomorrow once I have it in the car.

The new tires look good. Thats the same size I'm running on the front of my 71.

Shifter is installed. No engine in yet but just shifting through the gears reverse doesn't want to go in well. Hopefully it is just the feel of the scat shifter I'm not use to but won't know for sure until next weekend when I get the engine in. (as long as it's not snowing next weekend that is).

Also just came up from the garage, the other rear fender is in paint. Couple of spots were the paint dripped on the fender but heck it's not a show car, good enough. I'll get pics up tomorrow once everything is dry. Also beat on the front drivers fender some, it didn't line up at all, it's pretty close now. Hopefully once I bolt it on I can pull the rest of it to line up.

Trying to get something done each day. Even if it is something small.

Stripped the car down tonight. Hood is off, doors are off, dash is completely stripped down, steering column removed, pop-outs removed, windshield taped off, drivers rear quarter sanded down.

I'm off tomorrow to try and get some paint on this thing. Hoping to get the interior, pass rear quarter, roof, front apron, and front quarters sanded down, primed, and hopefully painted tomorrow.

Then if time allows I hope to get to the doors tomorrow, planning a trip to stockornaut to pick up door seals and engine seal. Engine is going in Saturday.

Pics tomorrow, to dark out tonight and getting cold out there. Plan is to make it to Reynolds in the '73.

sweet. we need more vw porn........err, pics

The sun was giving a glare this morning but here are a few pics.

Too many distractions today. Didn't get nearly as far along as I wanted. The car is sanded down and primed with self etching primer. I started sanding the primer with 800 grit but then it got too dark. Will finish that up in the morning and hopefully get some paint on it. A friend is coming over at noon to help pull the 1200 out of the '65 and stick it in the '73. Then the fun really begins, the wiring on this is a nightmare. More pics in the AM.

(Oh yeah - one of the distractions was pretty good. My son has been looking for work since he graduated last May and hasn't been able to find anything. Went with him up to NCR this morning and he got hired on the spot, starts next Monday. Too awesome, way better than the burger joint jobs he had been trying to get.)

Here are some pics after sanding before the primer.

Still have to finish the doors and hood, but the body is painted inside and out. Didn't get as far as I wanted today. Was hoping to get the engine from the '65 installed but ran into a couple of snags. First the clutch return spring was broken on the '73. After an hour of trying to get the clutch arm off the '73 to put the spring from the '65 on we figured out how to turn the spring like a keychain and get it on. Then when we went to put the throw out bearing on it wouldn't fit because I'm running a 6volt clutch and presure plate on the '65 even though it is 12v. So I'll pick up a 12v clutch kit and bearing from work Monday, already have a 12v flywheel cut and ready to install.

And here are some pics.





And a sneak peak at the interior.

Looking good Eric!

Oh yeah - I also cut the fender nuts out of the old '65 body I have in the back yard and got 6 of them welded into the '73. So the front fenders will bolt on now once I get them painted. I have 3 fender nuts to weld into the rear and then they are ready to bolt on. I think I'll make Reynolds, it's getting close.

Not such a productive day.

Cleaned the pop-outs. They had black over spray all over them. Got them put in, painted up some dash parts and got them installed. Headlight switch, speedo, and grill plates. Painted the steering column and got it installed. Also painted the wiper arms and got them installed.

Eric those Popouts look real good man. I hope ya get years more service from them!!! Project is coming along.

Slow last couple of days. Didn't get anything done on Monday. Today had a police officer come out and check the vin, got the '73 registered and tagged. Spent almost an hour cleaning paint off of the door window trim on the drivers side. Looks pretty good. Then started sanding the drivers door. Ran out of sandpaper so didn't get real far with that. Tomorrow I won't get anything done, so hopefully between Thursday and Friday nights I can get the doors sanded down and primed. Friend is coming over again on Saturday to try and get the engine in again. I have the correct throw out bearing now. I'll update with pics this weekend.

I have to start estimating my time better. Everything I do takes 10x longer than I think it should.

I got the new wheel cylinder on the pass rear last night, got brake fluid added and fluid through the rear cylinders. Right now I'm soaking the adjusters in some liquid wrench and marvel mystery lubricant to try and get them to turn easier. Hopefully tonight I can get that finished up and have 4 brakes instead of just fronts.

Continued work on the drivers door. WOW I don't get it, someone did a skim coat of filler over the entire door and once you get through the top 2 coats of paint the filler is cracked throughout the entire door.. After 2 hours of sanding I'm only 1/2 way done with 1 door.

Hopefully get the brakes rapped up tonight and the drivers door sanded and primed. Then tomorrow it's off to visit Digger and pick up some steering column parts before my friend comes over and we attempt the engine install again.

Looking good

Major difference. Good work man!

Engine is in, but I fried my hot spark electric points setup. Did get the engine to run on the gas dumped in the carb for a few seconds with the points and condenser put back in.

run a line from the fuel pump into a tank of lawnmower gas, that's what I do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJRLGp_ag4

you can see the gas can on the left of the video

probably not the safest thing to do, but what the heck, we're VW people after all

Grifspop wrote:run a line from the fuel pump into a tank of lawnmower gas, that's what I do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJRLGp_ag4

you can see the gas can on the left of the video

probably not the safest thing to do, but what the heck, we're VW people after all

Another slow day without much visible progress. Got a couple of more fender nuts welded in the rear, 2 more to go and the fenders go on. Checked the light switch and found the wires for the head lights and one tail light. Can't find the other, will have to work on that. Finished sanding the drivers door, have a little body filler to go on and final sand.

Sanded down the steering wheel and used some body filler in the cracks, will try to final sand it and paint it tomorrow.

Pics of the engine in:

how are you painting this?- looking good

zabo wrote:how are you painting this?- looking good

It's all rattle can. And believe it or not it actually looks as good in person as it does in the pics. I'm very pleased with how it is turning out. I did go through about 15 cans of paint just on the body and rear fenders. But at my cost of $1.25 a can so far I have about $25 in paint and primer. I think I have more in sandpaper than anything.