66 Bug restoration. Complete factory. Thoughts?

[Kolbys66]

My son bought this car when he was 10 years old. Will be 16 in a few months. Hoping it will be done before his birthday. My son is an old soul who wants the car completely factory. Only upgrades will be 12 volt, 1500cc motor and 4 wheel disc brake conversion. Advice on making improvements to the safety of the car?

[Busstom]

Wow, awesome. I 'spect you already have it covered, but dual-circuit master cylinder.
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[Kolbys66]

Thank you, I will verify that is on the endless list of parts needed still. 😀

[67rustavenger]

Nice start, hopefully it'll get done before his birthday.

Curious, who did the body work on the car. Not many locally want to tackle a bug. The shop complaints are "too many curves."
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[Kolbys66]

[EVfun]

You might consider high backs seats and/or shoulder belts. Unfortunately headrests would eliminate stock looking front seats (stock ‘68 to early ‘70’s seats could be used). Shoulder belts should keep heads off the windshield in a frontal accident.
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[cricketseed]

Safety: Drive as if you're riding a motorcycle. You're not quite that vulnerable, but as others have pointed out, by modern standards these cars are far from safe.
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[Glenn]

rear disc are a waste, stick with drums.

Go 1600SP, no one will be able to the the difference between a 1500 and 1600.
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[bcferrini]

Collapsible steering column?
There was a very detailed thread here recently covering this.

That said, not that safe a car. My 1st car was a '61 Bug. My only car for 4 years. But in 1969, things on the roads were a bit different. I survived it somehow, as did millions of other.

Now our '67 and '79 only get occasional club tours or coffee shows.
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[Dusty1]

Add a Chenowth style "Class 11" roll cage kit. Add four extra tubes to tie the front beam to the cage and to protect the footbox.

Then drive like you're riding a motorcycle.

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[EVfun]

One simple thing to help with safety — make sure you have an inflated spare tire in front of the gas tank. That helps absorb and spread a frontal impact. For a design that originated in 1939 these were reasonably safe. That means by today’s standards they are very vulnerable!

That said, my first car was a 1960 Bug, with small dim lights and no seat belts. I survived. I kept buying and driving old Bugs. I still have my Mini-T beach buggy. That is less safe than a Bug. Driving defensively should always be first on your mind when driving any car. Drive attentively, watch everyone around you, and anticipate the most stupid move they could make.

Shoulder belts would be a good upgrade to keep front seat occupants off the steel dashboard and windshield in the event of an accident.
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[theastronaut]

Doing a few autocross events with a driving instructor on board to learn car control and how to push the car to its limits in a save environment will be a huge help in driving defensively on the street. Knowing how to swerve and get the most out of the brakes without locking them up can be the difference between a crash and making a calculated maneuver to avoid contact with idiot drivers. Making a few mods to the suspension so the car is more tossable and controllable will increase safety- a camber compensator and bigger front sway bar will make a swingaxle bug much safer and easier to handle near the limit of grip. I know yall want it to be factory, but vintage rally style mods will not detract from the car and will make it a lot safer to drive.

Do not add a roll cage unless you're also adding a containment seat, helmet, and hans device. A roll cage on the street is really dangerous- it will turn a minor fender bender into major head trauma or death, even if it's padded. I have friends with friends that died in very light crashes because of head trauma due to hitting their head on a roll cage.

Watch dash cam crash vids on youtube to learn how to spot the common ways other people have wrecks. 90% of the wrecks in those vids are avoidable if the cam car was paying attention- use their vids to look for the warning signs/"body language" of the surrounding cars so you can spot potential accidents on the road. Paying attention to avoid a possible crash is the best way to avoid a crash- an early reaction along with knowing car control will keep you out of 90% of the wrecks on those youtube vids.

Disc brakes do not stop the car better compared to good working drums, tires with better grip stop the car shorter. Practicing stopping as hard as possible without locking up the tires and skidding is a very important skill to learn in a car without abs- it doesn't think for you, you have to do that. Autocrossing is a good way to learn this, or on an abandoned/empty road. Practice this often to develop muscle memory, you want to be able to avoid lockup as second nature so you don't panic and stomp the pedal as hard as possible in an emergency.
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[zerotofifty]

Dual circuit master brake cylinder and associated reservoir and piping give a huge safety improvement over the stock single circuit system.

A collapsable steering column is another big safety future that can be easily and discretely added, there are threads on the Samba on how this is done.

Three point seat belts are another huge safety upgrade.

High mount brake light(s) inside the rear window will greatly reduce the risk of being rear ended, as will be the addition of bright LED light bulbs for better visibility, seeing and being seen. Also the upgrade to a pedal arm activated brake light switch rather than the stock pressure switch will help as it allows the brake lights to come on sooner, as soon as the pedal is slightly depressed, rather than until after the brake pressure has built up. this can give a good extra margin in warning other driver you are stopping, amounting to several car lengths of extra stopping distance for the driver behind your Bug.

Good quality new radial tires give you an edge in stopping, and handling to avoid crashes verses old, worn or bias ply tires.

There might be accessory head rests from that 1960's era that can help prevent whiplash, low back seats are dangerous in that regard. or install later high back seats. I know Porche had head rests as an accessory back for the old 356 cars. maybe an aftermarket unit?

Of course extensive defensive driver training is of upmost importance. Dont tail gate, dont speed, slow down a lot in wet conditions, low visibility conditions, dont get distracted, and have situational awareness. keep large distances between your Bug and other cars. Dont drive drunk or stoned! Stay off the roads when the bars close in the wee early hours of the morning.
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[Coreymillia42]

Nice job. I just got a '66 that is all stock. I don't really plan on driving it much.
Apparently the 1300 is one of the things that is still a big deal about the car.

So, since he is putting a 1500 in it and probably plans on driving it regularly, it would not hurt to put an electronic distributor. Saves from breaking down changing points on the side of the road. I also upgraded my other bug with dual carbs. While it may not sound like a safety feature, I feel a lot better going up hills.

Plus, always carry a fire extinguisher.
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