'71 Super, "Hope"

A few years ago I bought a Vanagon from a mechanic I had known for about 20 years. He rebuilt the engine, I watched, and we got it rolling. I found out about the first Y U Buggin and after the show knew I wanted something aircooled!

Got the '71 Super cheap and settled on the name Hope because the Vanagon was a former church van and had a keyring that said "Faith", so that became its name...and "Hope" seemed like a good fit. (Over the years it would take on differrent meaning! )

Long story short...I gave money for a restoration up front, it didn't happen, there was no way I was going to see the cash or any work, my fault for trusting the guy.

I did assemble the engine with his help. The first one ran for about 30 seconds. Wrong oil pump.

Got someone elses help on the rebuild, which seems fine other than leaking a bit. Hopefully I'll know in a few weeks...which is why I decided to post this thread...to motivate myself to get finished!

A brief photo history, and reminder to myself of what I've done so far...

The car as I got it...I had stripped a fair amt. of stuff in prep for paint and picked up/and repaired a used hood because the other one was trashed. I realized 2 things at about this point. 1. I really didn't want a Super Beetle. 2. Some Super Beetle parts are really freakin' hard to find.


New pans, new brakes, new axles, new shocks, new bushings for the front end, 2 engines built 1 installed, bondo removal, rust repair... I realized a few more things at this part. 1. I really wish my Mom hadn't convinced me to take Spanish instead of Auto Shop like I wanted to do. 2. My welding skills suck. 3. Bondo sucks. 4. Rust sucks.









Little projects to keep me busy when I couldn't get to the shop...the guy who was supposed to do the work on it did let me use both shops he was eventually thrown out of. On days that I felt like punching him, I worked on stuff at home.






Finally, 2 years later, paint. Dash was stripped of the crappy pad and in order to be cheap I welded fillers in the dash vents and went with a metal dash. Sometimes cheap looks better.



My buddy Mark let me have a spot in his warehouse to work on final assembly. Which is where I am now. Slowly making progress. I have a few weeks before school starts, I hope to have it finished by then...




I'll post daily progress...that should help motivate me to get going!

(Just in case it doesn't, PM me if you have a phone # for Chip Foose.)

Looking really good, you have come a long way with her. I "hope" to see it on the road soon!

BTW, is that the same hood you got from me a few years ago?

looking great man. I didn't even know it was at that same shop on Saturday or else I would have gone to take a peek at it.

post up some more recent pics. It looks like its pretty much ready to roll now. all that work will be totally worth it once you finish, and take it for that first drive .

DiggerD wrote:Looking really good, you have come a long way with her. I "hope" to see it on the road soon!

BTW, is that the same hood you got from me a few years ago?

That is, in fact, the same hood! (I added a dent while moving it to the painter and didn't notice...it was really straight after the little dings were worked out before that...)

fluxcap wrote:looking great man. I didn't even know it was at that same shop on Saturday or else I would have gone to take a peek at it.

Stop by to look at it anytime since you know where it is...bring tools.

Finally got back to the shop today. Painted the bottoms of the running boards...


Finished the Quick roof on the pans...


Completed the dash... (other than picking up a radio for the hole the PO hacked
into the dash.)


-Modified the vents from the air box since I no longer have the vents on the front of the dash.
-Prepped the headliner for vinyl paint tomorrow.
-Painted the backs of the bumpers.
-Got started on rebuilding passenger side door.
-Painted/installed glove box.

It was HOT in the warehouse today. How hot? "Hotter than 2 mice F'ing in a wool sock!"

Ya might want to consider using rubberized undercoating under those running boards. Definately help them last a lot longer. i think the undercoating is like $4 a can. But carefull, its like that window sealant stuff your using, it doesn't wash off your hands. you hands will have black spots for a few days, i learned that the hard way

Bugman114 wrote:Ya might want to consider using rubberized undercoating under those running boards. Definately help them last a lot longer. i think the undercoating is like $4 a can. But carefull, its like that window sealant stuff your using, it doesn't wash off your hands. you hands will have black spots for a few days, i learned that the hard way

Good idea, thanks. I was planning to do the pans with it and have a couple of cans already!

Today was pain in the ass day. Everything took longer and more steps than expected.
Rewired and installed turn signal. Some of the wires under the dash were about 1/2 inch long, before I stripped them to be soldered! Cleaned up the wiring mess on the column.



Put the rear bumper and tail lights on. Tail lights were the real pain today! Painted wiring, the gasket that goes under the housing was REALLY tight! (Thanks to Jason at IAS for the advice!) And the trim rings that go between the housing and the lens were too small. Oh well, silicone sealer makes it all better...


Also cleaned off the overspray and repainted the bar that goes under the rear seat, taped and masked for vinyl spraying the headliner tomorrow...

sorry i couldn't make it today. work had me go in early, and leave late. If your their tomorrow i'll try to head on over around 4pm ish (assuming they don't have me leave late again ), lol

Cleaned and tried to polish tail light lenses, changed to correct narrow trim on running boards, dremeled dust cap to fit better, cleaned and straightened to get a little better organized, looked at what's involved in installing fresh air box and the spaghetti of gas tank vent hoses I'm going to do tomorrow.

Had leftover wide trim from the running boards and had an idea. What do you think?

I'm diggin it.

Getting closer...got the airbox hooked up, did some grinding to make the new tank fit better, put the hood on and installed the front bumper. (Which I had already installed on the rear. Doh!)





Yeah, that's a full size can of Pledge, I know it needs to come down a little in the front...but I just want to drive it first!

we'll toss some topline stuff on their as soon as you get her rollin

So whats left to do?

seats. he told me he was doing the carpet today, i think he still needs to install the glass. i also think he need to do a little wiring, but i don't remember. Ask gordon how he was able to get all brand new carpet in his bug for $16 . I won't ruin the story, but i'm definately gonna do that, lol.

Attorney Isaiah Loophole wrote:So whats left to do?

Still need to put in the front and rear glass, get the pedal cluster hooked up and work on the interior. I ordered a new cluster but I'm missing the part that goes into the cylinder from the pedal, the boot for the master cylinder and a few other odds and ends. Got this coming week and next weekend to get it on the road. I may be asking for volunteers next weekend if I don't get it all buttoned up. I need to get the rest of the hardware, latches and 1 mounting bar, for the pop-outs too. Is anyone going to knoxville? I can get the parts from someone there, but I'm not going.

Carpet took longer than expected, cut almost all of the pieces then decided that since this is going to be my daily driver I need something more durable so picked up some TMI from Herrells. Also got a few other things that I need in order to finish up while I was there. Great prices, same as the internet or less when you add shipping, great advice, and I got to see the "Fast and Furious" cars while I was there...I was expecting slammed beasts with turbos or NOS, but they just wanted std Beetles. They looked great. Sounds like working with movie guys is a pain!

Pedal cluster nearly rebuilt, waiting for one part. Need to get the glass in in the next few days, headed to Canton to get the pop-out hardware today.

Update, a little more done today...

Carpet finally done.

Speakers wired...

Door panels...

Pop-outs and trim...

Tool kit (Old Snap-on box)...



Installed door seals, aligned decklid (Always support that when you're removing the spring...OUCH!), had a great day!

I wish i could have been there. Work called me in early. what can ya do? . I'll definately try to stop by and give ya a hand sometime this week.

Two weeks Gordon....

rpm750 wrote:Two weeks Gordon....

I know, it's getting there. Thanks to Bryce for stopping by yesterday! Got the pedal cluster in and hooked up!

Nice!! Looks good!

You are driving it home tomorrow right?