I missed my bugs ......

[GMendoza]

From my last build thread, (seen here) I could not decide what bug to keep and which to sell. Well, that decision was made for me. A VW guy walking down the street saw my 66 parked, sent pics to his buddy, offered to buy and we made a deal. Awesome, I'm keeping the oval!!! ..... or so I thought.

A few months later, while at the LetsTalkDubs show in Vegas, I get a message from someone looking to buy my oval. I thought about it and assumed I'd be OK selling the oval. I had just bought a speedster replica so I figured the 356 replica and the Notch would keep my VW addiction satisfied. Plus, maybe now I could FINALLY build the Ghia .... boy was I wrong!

I missed having a bug!! As awesome as a notch and speedster are, they are not bugs!! So the hunt began. I knew I wanted the next one to be and early oval or older and preferably ragtop. As we all know, not easy to find. I had notifications set on most sites, I'd check them almost daily. I'd see so many cars that "looked" good but upon closer look had wrong fenders, wrong hood, wrong decklid, wrong aprons, wrong placement of the tail lights, added turns signals, wrong pan, etc etc etc.

One day, I get notification that a 54 rag on an auction site was ending soon; as in ending in a couple minutes. So as my wife is waiting for me, to take me out to lunch for my birthday, I place a bid. Alright! High bidder! Clock winds down...I got out bid. What do I do? Bid again. I'm high bidder again! Clock winds down, auction ends, I won! I don't believe it, I refresh several times, I check email, emails says I won! I'm a bit in shock. I just bought a car! I call the seller, make arrangements and a few days later wife and I hit the road to pick up our new car.

Now, the car didn't look that great in the pics. The colors were funky, pictures weren't that great, front seats and patterns for seats & door panels are late 50s but I could still see the car had potential. As we arrive, I'm overcome by an emotional rollercoaster. Like most car ads, some minor things weren't disclosed, some things were a little worse than advertised but some things were better than expected. The car appears to have original fenders, hood, decklid, aprons, lots of original parts. So I hand over the money and make the deal.

On the first drive I could tell shifter was out of adjustment, brakes were out of adjustment, engine was out of tune. So, the next morning I adjust the brakes, and tune the engine. I was pleased to see a brand new 1600. Valves were perfect but timing was way off, carb misadjusted and vacuum advance was not working. Also, adjusted the rear bumper. After sorting all that, car runs great. Now to focus on aesthetics.

First order of business, rip out the red carpet. I wanted something that matched the gray on the door panels. Importunely no one had anything like that. So I had a custom carpet kit made. Installed carpet, seatbelts & shifter and a retrosound HU and replaced the dry rotted dash speaker.

Now that interior is as good as its going to get for now, I figured the wheels needed some attention. After a little paint and chrome bits, the end result.

I still have a couple more bits to install, I have a set of baby dells that would be perfect for this car. I'll also clean up the engine compartment. I may even give it a little bit of an attitude adjustment (1-2" lower). Undecided what direction to go with this one, all I know is that I'm enjoying this one very much.
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'54 Bug, '59 Speedster replica, '65 Ghia (in pieces), '66 Notch, '80 930, '85 C10, '89 928, '96 LT4 'Vette, '03.5 Esprit, '05 Elise, '06 Murcielago

[markendee]

As soon as I see ribbed doors I smile.

Lovely car congratulations on finding such a ripper, now no selling it!
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Member # 145244

[VW_Jimbo]

Nice score!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[tehillah1]

That's a beauty

[scottyrocks]

Man, I love ovals. That one is beautiful.
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“If you care for a thing long enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn't it? Mending old things, preserving them, looking after them – on some level there's no rational grounds for it.”
– D. Tartt, 'The Goldfinch'

[heimlich]

That's a nice one. You can never have too many VWs or VW parts.
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[lardawge]

Congrats. I followed the auction. Great buy.
I would replace the 67 rear bumper. If it’s original, you may get a premium from a 67 owner looking for one. Possibly enough to purchase a good quality new one from WW.

Can’t say I agree with lowering it. It looks great as is and probably rides nice as well. However, it’s your car so make it into what you want.

Enjoy!
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11/2/54 L227 Strato Silver Ragtop - Soon to be L41 Black - Build Thread
1/7/55 L275 Light Beige

[GMendoza]

Thanks guys!!

Here are some "before" shots:

[GMendoza]

Latest round of changes ... ivory radio knobs, bamboo tray and door sill plates.

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'54 Bug, '59 Speedster replica, '65 Ghia (in pieces), '66 Notch, '80 930, '85 C10, '89 928, '96 LT4 'Vette, '03.5 Esprit, '05 Elise, '06 Murcielago

[Costa66]

You're turning into a true thing of beauty! Very nice!

One thing I saw Vintage Classic Specialists do is paint the mesh behind the speaker grill and ivory color as well. Looked AMAZING!!

Josh

[GMendoza]