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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:49 pm Post subject: 1956 silver oval window bug restoration |
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hey so ive been on this site for awhile and we recently got my fathers volkswagen out of the garage after it was sitting there for 6 years he built it in the 1990s out of 9 different cars. it was able to get an article in an issue of vw trends
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my father Kevin Potter drove this car quite a bit and in the early 2000s a kid drove his corvette straight into the front end and it had to be repaired. it fell on some hard times after that once he fixed it and kept driving. in 2010 he parked it in the garage and left it there to pursue other projects. i am now old enough to drive and so about two hours ago me and him pulled it out of the garage to begin fixing it and i figured it would be neat to document the restoration. it doesn't need too much it needs a new interior a new clutch a new front left fender which we have and a good wash
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Wiggy Samba Member
Joined: April 17, 2003 Posts: 6601 Location: Downingtown, PA
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56bugdan Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2008 Posts: 250 Location: NEW JERSEY
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:00 am Post subject: |
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Very cool! It doesn't look like it needs much to be a driver. Does it have a Gene Berg trans or just a shifter? I think your fender is fixable as long as it solid. Find a good hammer and dolly guy in your area and they can get that banged out enough to get by with minimal filler. Well unless ya have another fender already or would rather just hunt down a good one but it is fixable. Are you gonna repaint it? I like the color that's on it so I hope ya keep it if you do. Good luck with it and enjoy it. |
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silvertonguedevil Samba Member
Joined: September 26, 2010 Posts: 1692 Location: Vale, OR
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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Sweet!! I'll be watching this one for sure!! _________________ -Greg |
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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Hi dan no it's not a gene berg transmission just the shifter the transmission is a swing axle with a super dif and a k style ring and pinion 437. And yes the fender is definitely fixable and we have all of the tools necessary. This isn't the typical guy in his garage situation because my father owns a machine shop and we will be fixing the fenders with the machinery there. And don't worry it's gonna stay the silver color but the paint will need some touch ups on a few fenders. |
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56bugdan Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2008 Posts: 250 Location: NEW JERSEY
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Nice! It's good to see a father son project. It's how I got started years ago and unfortunately due to his health issues we can't do it together anymore. I definitely miss it so I hope you both enjoy the project and I look forward to seeing it. Good luck |
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RareAir Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2002 Posts: 14577 Location: 18 miles North of the border
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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Here's some photos of the interior it's pretty clapped out from being driven daily for so long. You can see some of the repair welds put on it after the accident. we're gonna wash the car down take out the fuel filter and put on new tires on Friday
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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So I've got some bad news. We are having one hell of a storm right now and it's done some pretty gnarly damage to the rag top. I've covered it with a towel but it's too late so we are gonna need a new one |
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EverettB Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000 Posts: 69823 Location: Phoenix Metro
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BulliBill Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2004 Posts: 4572 Location: St Charles, MO
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 3:18 am Post subject: |
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You're gonna need to remove, dis-assemble and deep clean and then rebuild (with a gasket rebuild kit) that carburetor. It looks filthy, caked with dirt, etc. How long has it been since the brakes had any kind of servicing?
Looks like a fun project car to get back in shape and back on the road!
Bill _________________ I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton
Thanks for any help! |
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:37 am Post subject: |
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The brakes haven't had any service in 6 years or so. I tried the brake pedal and was able to easily bring it all the way to the floor. So there's no brakes |
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:16 am Post subject: |
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On some good news we've just bought a new electrical system and tires |
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:05 am Post subject: |
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So today we headed over to a place called chirco automotive which is basically the local Volkswagen place. My fathers car is on the catalog there. While buying some bumper parts and gaskets the owner and several employees there recognized Kevin and was excited to hear that the car was gonna be running again
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:38 am Post subject: |
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We've got the wheels off and are going to discount tire to replace the bald ones. We've also got the battery out and are gonna take it to get recharged
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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So today was rather exciting. We put on all new tires and cleaned out the pack rat crap out of the engine compartment with a hose. We decided to put some carb choke cleaner in the carbourater and try to turn it over. It wasn't doing anything so we checked the starter and followed the wire and it seemed fine so we walked to the engine and were checking around it for anything and suddenly a pack rat pops out and we had to squirt him out with a hose. From what we can see they've built a nest in the fan shroud and eaten some wiring. So we will have to pull the motor. |
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Ladies and gentlemen I'm very happy right now. So I know lots of people on here love old vw merchandise and I've got a lot. So I had heard my dad mention he had some receipts from the 50s for his bug and he never really looked at them. So I decided to have a look. And here's what I discovered in a yellow folder. Now keep in mind by the time my father got this car it was a bare hull cut in two pieces. But somehow this paperwork stayed with it.
It was the size of a Harry Potter book filled with everything that had ever been done to the car. Here's a few of my favorite things I found
Just one of the crazy amount of receipts
This is a news brochure from a vintage Volkswagen club and if you look closely you can see that someone brought a hebmuller #13 to one of they're meetings
Most of the receipts came from this place now on to the good stuff
a hand written letter in the 80s saying that the bug was worth $4,000
This is another handwritten letter which actually shows the selling of the car INCLUDING the exact time and date it happened!
Now my favorite. A closed envelope. What's in it? Idk I'm not gonna open it. Well that's all for tonight I'll see ya later |
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EverettB Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000 Posts: 69823 Location: Phoenix Metro
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thevinster Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2015 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:23 am Post subject: |
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So we've stripped out the horribly disgusting interior and the horribly greasy motor and we are gonna replace the clutch and fix the starter since the rats ate the wires connecting it to the engine
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Zwitterkafer Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2007 Posts: 879 Location: Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Good call on pulling the motor.....there could be all kinds of mouse nests under the cooling tin, better safe than sorry. Looks like something was accumulating inside the air intake grille too?
Is that a pre-58 rear brake drum in the pile of Chirco parts? I thought those were hard to find? Good luck with the car! _________________ "Criticism comes easier than Craftsmanship"
- Zeuxius, 400 BC |
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