Beetle

My good friend Matt has a 1966 Beetle that was hit in the front and was in need of a little repair work similar to the last front end I did on the 1957 Rag.

This is how I received the body. I used my raised pan that is used for painting as a work platform.

Matt had already removed the front apron for the work that needed to be done on the tire carrier.

The horn mount was removed as well for better access on the repair.

The bottom of the tire carrier was wrinkled good and the passenger side was pushed back a couple inches.

I did the fender mount nuts as well in the repair work. (The ones that were missing)

The passenger side bumper mount was ripped loose and the driver side had a bolt broken off in it.

The passenger side quarter had to be moved back out a bit to line up with the hood.

I new pieces that are to be fit.

I had some new fenders laying around that were used as reference on the fit.

Everything sitting in the initial alignment process. I had to get everything straight before welding it in place.

All the pieces are looking a lot better for fit and almost ready for welding.

Straightened sides and fender nuts welded in place.

Holes are drilled in the apron for spot welding.

The front apron and horn bracket welded in place.

Grind down the welds a bit . . .

. . . and make sure the hood lines up like it should.

The gaps and over lap on the hood looks a lot better.

The completed tire carrier.

From mid-February through June I have been working on a 1981 Camaro Z28 and an early Audi TT. I haven’t had a chance to do much work on the vintage VW’s for a while and haven’t had any post to add to the site here in a bit. The 1957 Ragtop was listed in late-June and sold to a guy in CA in early-July.

I was finally able to make a deal, that I had been working on for the last two years, on a couple hardtops. Here are some pictures of the two 50’s cars I picked up mid-July. 1956 VW Beetle This car is sitting on a 1959 pan with 1970 tail lights. The deck lid had been swapped over to the 1957. The front clip is from a 1960 as the number plate was still on it. It was spliced mid gas tank area and appeared to have been used for racing at some point. There were some widened 13″ wheels on it with bias ply tires. This is the plate that was on the floor in the car and matches the last registration that was in the glove box. High-back seats from a late 60’s car. Over-all not to much rust on the car, but it has several pieces from various years to make the car whole. One of the bullet signals was used in the lower driver foot area for a oil pressure gauge. 1957 VW Beetle. With the 1956 rear deck lid. Numbers matching body and pan except it has a 1960 engine under the lid. There is some faint lettering on the door from a machine shop. I found some mint condition Cabela’s and boat show catalogs and from 1972 tucked under the rear seat.   Where ever this car was parked it ended up as a target for some golfers and they broke out the windshield and put a couple good marks in the top. This car has some rust in the door jam areas and floor pans as the windshield had been broken out for some time, but is not beyond repair.