76 Super Convertible

[Gerb]

So here's my first VW project...a fuel injected 1976 Super Beetle (don't laugh) convertible that has seen better days. It's been sitting in a barn for a few years and before that, I gotta believe it was sitting outside somewhere. It 's been in the greater Battle Creek for many years.

A fellow GoodVolks guy originally acquired this a couple months ago, kept the motor and windshield, then after some prodding, I gave in to peer pressure and brought it home. It's basically a complete car, though it's a few pounds lighter from rust.



At this point, my plan is to hopefully dig into to it to see for sure what's needed, then get it back on the road. It will not be a show car, just something fun to drive - hopefully. I might need some help from you as I work through this.

Since this is my first VW, I'll have to make sure I don't get in over my head. It does have bad heater channels and the floors are shot. I'll get some photos posted later. I've taken a ton!

Todd

[Gerb]

Here's a few more before pics:











This is the only bad spot so far inside the trunk.


And the drivers floor pan:

[Gerb]

Heres how it looks in the trunk area now. I wish the rest of the car cleaned up this easily.



The front seats cleaned up nicely. Too bad there's two small tears in the drivers seat. Also, both seats have the seat back release wire broken inside.

[ed]

Be very careful about that passenger side strut tower in front. It's a critical part of the structure... imagine hitting a pothole and that cracked area letting go. I'd personally have a top-notch welder weld in a brand new full replacement piece there.

I hope I didn't rain on your parade too much... but safe is good.

[bren]

Nice progress Todd.
Cool that the wiring appears to be in good shape.
Is the mouse smell going away yet?

[Gerb]

Jul 7, 2012 10:14:25 GMT -5 ed said:

Be very careful about that passenger side strut tower in front. It's a critical part of the structure... imagine hitting a pothole and that cracked area letting go. I'd personally have a top-notch welder weld in a brand new full replacement piece there.

I hope I didn't rain on your parade too much... but safe is good.

Thanks for the comment Ed - I'll keep that in mind. I haven't poked around that strut tower yet to see how deep the rot really is. Maybe now that the temps are a bit more reasonable, I can get back to it.

[Gerb]

It's been way to hot to do much this past week. The LF fender is now off reveling some of the rot up front. Nasty.



The old rusty sheet metal "pan" was cut out of the the drivers side. It looks like it's been fixed at least once before. I don't believe pop rivets were original equipment.

[Gerb]

The temps finally allowed me to work on the bug a little today. Got the bumpers and fenders off. Finally was able to get a better look at what I have to work with. Unfortunately, many areas are worse that I originally thought.




Here's a pic from under the front showing the underside of the front frame head.



And another angle...



I may need to have a more experienced VW person take a look at what I've got here.

Todd

[Gerb]

The support rail on the drive side is almost ready to fall off the car. Passenger side is much better, but still not rust fee. This car was originally rustproofed and I wonder if that's helped cause some of the rust problems. Some of the rust has formed between the rust proofing and the metal surface. Sitting outside didn't help either.

[Dustin]

You got some work ahead of you but it will be worth it after your done

[Gerb]

Well at this point, I've decided to put this project on hold. It really needs significant work and resources that I'm not in the position to do right now. As with many car projects, it didn't look nearly as bad until I really dug into it.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet. I probably should just strip the good parts and either sell or keep them, then scrap the rest. I just haven't been able to pull that trigger.

In the meantime though, I acquired another bug yesterday - oddly enough from the same GoodVolks member I got this one from. This new project is definitely a much better car, though it's not a convertible. It's a '74 Super with no rust underneath. It's still a project car, but it can be on the road in a fraction of the time as this one. Check out my other member project story.

Todd

[logan]

Good project