Sunburn Bug
2 posters
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Sunburn Bug
I picked this car up from a buddy about a year ago. He had changed directions on his project and offered it to me. The body was just a bare shell, hood, decklid, doors, a couple pieces of glass and one fender. The chassis had been swapped for another 74 chassis that had 70 and earlier pans welded in. Front end had been cleaned up and painted with new ball joints and dropped disc brakes. I did get a transaxle but no engine.
Bringing it home!
Bringing it home!
Re: Sunburn Bug
I am all about the wheels on a car and usually build around what wheels I want to run. As much as I love sprint stars I didnt want to run them on this beetle. I wanted to go a little different route than I would normally. I have had these 15x7 porsche 5 on 130 bolt pattern enkei wheels in the garage for a while. I tried them on Pat but they just wouldn't tuck in the front with its current setup.
First up was a little mock up.
Then I swapped the rotors and drums for 5×130 units and got the wheels mounted. The front beam ends up getting narrowed a good bit to get the wheels under the fenders...more on that later
First up was a little mock up.
Then I swapped the rotors and drums for 5×130 units and got the wheels mounted. The front beam ends up getting narrowed a good bit to get the wheels under the fenders...more on that later
Re: Sunburn Bug
Since the car was sitting outside at the time I wanted to start plugging holes as soon as possible. I dug around in the garage and found a set of used pop out windows. I pulled these windows out of a 68 beetle I got in a 3 car package deal out of Barnesville. I ended up cutting up the 68 as it was badly rusted after being parked for 40 years after an accident but I was able to salvage some parts off of it.
The windows were decent so I kept them stored for a future need. I gave them a quick refresh and installed
The windows were decent so I kept them stored for a future need. I gave them a quick refresh and installed
Re: Sunburn Bug
I have been thinking about building a later beetle for a number of years to use as my daily. I figured I would come across the right looking car at the right price and I think i did with this one. Now I will say I do prefer 64 and earlier cars with their smaller windows, metal dash, early lights and bumpers. I know I can swap some of that stuff and make this car something its not but I thought just some minor touches might do the trick for me.
I do have a list of modifications I wanted to make by using some older beetle parts plus adding some more modern comforts but more on that later
First I wanted to ditch the cracked dash pad and see what I could do about having a metal dash. A few bolts and a little glue and the pad was gone. Next I went thru my parts stash and found some grill panels from a 61, a radio delete, chrome speedometer trim ring and an early globe box....I was never able to figure out how to mount the glove box door. Next I stripped them down and started testing some rattle can for a close enough match. First paint was a little dark
It took a couple tries but I found something pretty close. Ended up going with the krylon for the best match. Its not perfect but its good enough for me. In this picture I had repainted the radio delete only and you can see how it matches better than the grill. Also I did a little wet sanding to get the glue off around the radio delete. Ended up losing a little paint but not bad
Before
After...ended up drilling the original glove box door for early trim
I do have a list of modifications I wanted to make by using some older beetle parts plus adding some more modern comforts but more on that later
First I wanted to ditch the cracked dash pad and see what I could do about having a metal dash. A few bolts and a little glue and the pad was gone. Next I went thru my parts stash and found some grill panels from a 61, a radio delete, chrome speedometer trim ring and an early globe box....I was never able to figure out how to mount the glove box door. Next I stripped them down and started testing some rattle can for a close enough match. First paint was a little dark
It took a couple tries but I found something pretty close. Ended up going with the krylon for the best match. Its not perfect but its good enough for me. In this picture I had repainted the radio delete only and you can see how it matches better than the grill. Also I did a little wet sanding to get the glue off around the radio delete. Ended up losing a little paint but not bad
Before
After...ended up drilling the original glove box door for early trim
Re: Sunburn Bug
Continuing on backdating the dash brings me to the steering column. I wanted a dash mounted ignition switch and wiper switch so I opted for an early column. I stripped the column down, sanded and painted everything. I had a couple of used turn signal switches so I pulled the best one apart, cleaned it up and painted the outside. I picked up this empi wheel from my buddy Brent a few years back and I am planning to use it. To mount the column I had to use both the early bracket clamp and the later bracket...
Re: Sunburn Bug
Added early stainless trim. I ended up using 63 to 66 hood trim but after mounting it I still had a little room so I added a hood crest as well. Also ended up buying 4 gold fenders off a couple pics. When I picked them up they were rougher than I thought and I ended up throwing the two rear fenders away. Both front fenders need work on the mounting flanges and one bucket is rusted out.
Re: Sunburn Bug
Now that I have front fenders I bolted them on to see how much I needed to narrow the beam. After some measuring and thinking I decided on narrowing it 7". The wheels are 15x7 all the way around and I want the car to sit down
Re: Sunburn Bug
I decided to ditch the fender mounted turn signals and run mk3 side marker lights and led halo headlights for turn signals. Also my buddy Rob hooked me up with a windshield so I bought some new rubber and added new trim and got it installed
Re: Sunburn Bug
Finally it came time to try and salvage the front fenders I picked up. Both had rust in the mounting flange area and the drivers side fender headlight bucket was rusted out. I ended up just cutting out the major rust and welding some pieces back in. I also removed the rusted out headlight bucket while looking for a replacement. I bolted up the fenders and added shock mounts and the front bumper. I had 3 out of the 4 bumper shocks in the garage....I can't remember where I got the front bumper from
Re: Sunburn Bug
The body needed to come back off the pan to do a body seal so it was the perfect opportunity to do brake lines, brakes, shifter coupler and refresh the pedals
Re: Sunburn Bug
I put the body back on and bolted it down. Then I added some new running boards. I have always wanted a set of these and finally pulled the trigger
Also I picked up a set of tie rods from Clyde and narrowed them up and got them installed
Also I picked up a set of tie rods from Clyde and narrowed them up and got them installed
Re: Sunburn Bug
With the new trim, running boards, pop outs and wheels the rusty vent window frames in the car were not going to cut it. I dug around in the garage and found a pair of aluminum frame vent windows. Out with the rusty frames and in with the aluminum ones. Also the drivers side window had came off the window sash plus both it and the passenger side windows were scratched so I swapped them out as well.
Re: Sunburn Bug
I ended up lowering the rear one spline. You can't really tell in the pics as there is no engine. My buddy Jeffrey came over and helped me lower it
Re: Sunburn Bug
My buddy Rob came thru again with a junk fender that had a good headlight bucket. I cut the fender so I could easily remove the bucket and drill out the spot welds. Popped it in for mock up before removing and blasting. Welded it in and painted it to match the fender. My buddy Alan traded me two good trim rings and I was able to get bucket mounts from Duck so I could get my LED headlights installed
Re: Sunburn Bug
While digging around over at my buddy Ducks I found the correct tag bracket and a correct year of make plate. I had to cut the bolts that held the old tag to the bracket then I sand blasted it and got it installed. The yom plate cleaned up nicely and I was able to remove the 75 sticker so I was left with a 1974 stickered plate.
Months prior while at Bugapaluza I picked up this nice rear bumper from my buddy Pat for a good price. I was able to find the missing bumper shock while picking some vw parts with James. The bumper had been laying around so I decided to install it even though I was still missing the passenger rear fender
Months prior while at Bugapaluza I picked up this nice rear bumper from my buddy Pat for a good price. I was able to find the missing bumper shock while picking some vw parts with James. The bumper had been laying around so I decided to install it even though I was still missing the passenger rear fender
Re: Sunburn Bug
Recently I decided to visit a local junk yard. I knew they usually have beetles so I was hopeful to find a rear fender. After walking all around the yard and even going thru most of the vws i hadn't found anything. I decided in the way back to the office I would walk back thru on a different path. After getting to the bottom of the hill I saw gold....well a gold beetle. Unfortunately the only fender bolted to the car was a front and it was in bad shape. I decided to look in and around the car....not having much hope for a good passenger rear fender since the rear apron was cut off....but thru the briar and under the back seat and random other junk was one fender. I could tell it was a rear but until I removed the seat I didn't realize it was the side I needed. It is a little rough but still solid enough to use. Cost me $20
Re: Sunburn Bug
I picked up a rusty thing project a while back. I knew I wouldn't use the stock tail lights on it so I pulled them for this project. The housings are in really good shape but the lenses are weathered. I figured I could use them until I find some better lenses. Well my buddy Bart went to a show a couple weeks ago and found me two after market lenses. They dont fit as good as stock lenses but they look alot better than the ones I have.
Re: Sunburn Bug
I wanted to come up with a solution to covering the turn signal holes in the fender. i could have welded them up but I was trying to be a little creative. I also had some cool mirrors I picked up off ebay a while back that I kind of wanted to run and mount on top of the fenders. I ended up cutting some tear drop shapes of aluminum, polishing them and using them to mount over the holes in the fender while mounting the mirrors. I think they turned out pretty good. I would probably make them a little bigger if I make another set
Re: Sunburn Bug
Decided to tackle a wiper motor next. I had 4 or 5 wiper motors in the garage but I was only able to get one working. Cracked open a Bosch unit and it was rusty. Ended up being able to use an swf unit. I did have to swap the gear on it though as it had a rough spot and was making the motor slow down. I grabbed the most complete frame I had and blasted and painted it. I was also able to dig out a good set of wiper arms, new blades and a good two speed dash switch from all my vw junk in the garage.
Re: Sunburn Bug
Love seeing ground up restorations like this Encourages my to post a bit more of my endeavors. Looking forward to seeing your future progress.
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