HFS's car thread | Fleet update

nineteen eighty something, amirite? I don't remember full well when Wolfsburg stopped producing the Bug.
 
Maybe for the German factories... but Brazil kept making the bug until the mid-00's.
 
niky
Maybe for the German factories... but Brazil kept making the bug until the mid-00's.
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January 1979, and VW's heritage car is a December 78 model :) And as Racedude says, it stopped in Mexico in 03, but the 78 models were the last German ones.
 
I've always wondered about buying a Brazilian Beetle. They're rare as hen's teeth here... only 20 indent ordered around 00', but a Classic Beetle with (crappy) fuel injection, climate control and a CD player? I'm sold.
 
niky
I've always wondered about buying a Brazilian Beetle. They're rare as hen's teeth here... only 20 indent ordered around 00', but a Classic Beetle with (crappy) fuel injection, climate control and a CD player? I'm sold.
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I've seen the engine bays of FI cars with aircon. I just wouldn't! The fuel-injected 1.6s barely make more power than my carb'd 1.3, and aircon must be a massive drain too.

I like the simplicity of the engine bay in mine! Will be even better once it's been tidied up a bit.
 
But I need to have a little fire in my life... :D

Still envy that you took the plunge... even after all these months (has it been over a year already?)... still working on my wife and softening her up.

"Honey, it can be a father-daughter art project... we'll paint the thing!" :lol:
 
Coming up to a year, as I've just got my insurance renewal through the post.

On that note, the insurer is taking the mick. Last year - for the whole year - I paid £89. The renewal came through at... wait for it... £554.

I've already rang up and cancelled. They mustn't have wanted my business anyway as they didn't even put up a fight - just cancelled it there and then. Guess I'm on the hunt for a new insurer then...

If I can get my Fiat sold then progress will be a lot quicker. Some of the money will go towards welding, and once welding is done it's all construction again from there on in. May send the odd bit off to be refurbished - like the carb, for example - but otherwise everything should be quite straightforward.

Still planning on doing a standard resto. Don't see many original 1303s, so that's what mine is becoming.
 
£554? That's pretty smack-face. At least the car isn't on the road yet. You need a Porsche 914 engine to be refurbished (:
 
That's about enough money to actually buy a 1303 here...

A really cruddy one, but it's possible. :P
 
It was over half the price I paid for mine!

I've sent the company responsible an email to erase all my details from their system too. They kept using a dialler to call me from a call centre, only for it to not connect. That's illegal in the UK and it's also irritating, so I threw the relevant laws at them and hopefully the calls will now stop...

Cano - no 914 engine for this one. At some point I'd like to get an actual 914 anyway, always liked those cars.

I like too many cars though. Already thinking about future projects and I've not got anywhere near finishing the Beetle yet.
 
Just been reading through this thread. Roland is going to be an amazing car when you finish it! I really like that you're so committed to this car. That'll pay off when you finally get it finished - I bet it'll be a blast to drive, and all the more so because you put so much effort in. Keep up the good stuff! 👍
 
AMCNUT
Just been reading through this thread. Roland is going to be an amazing car when you finish it! I really like that you're so committed to this car. That'll pay off when you finally get it finished - I bet it'll be a blast to drive, and all the more so because you put so much effort in. Keep up the good stuff! 👍
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Thanks! Here's hoping so.

I discovered a bit more about the 1977 Beetle from the other page. Or 78, or whatever year I said it was. It's a 1200, and makes 34bhp or thereabouts.

That would explain why, despite the pretty-much-perfection of it, it actually felt a bit gutless next to Roland - I cruised 200-odd miles after picking my car up at 65mph ish in Roland, and the 1200 was struggling to get to 50mph without a lot of effort. I'm no power freak really but 34bhp is pushing my limits! Even the 17bhp Renault Twizy I drove in Ibiza last week had more get-up-and-go.

It was dead useful driving the "as new" example actually, because it's a good way of telling how my car should feel.

It's not favoritism, but I reckon Roland overall is the better car to drive - more power, slightly slicker gearbox (albeit difficult to select reverse), and radials rather than crossplys (odd, as I was sure Beetles of that age came with radials anyway, and yet VW's 1200 was wearing crossplys - wandered around the road like a good'un...).

I will need to work on the brakes though. My car sort of... doesn't brake, much. VW's heritage car was pretty bad, but still better. I reckon a bit of adjustment, some new shoes and some new fluid would sort it.
 
A solitary photo. Not done anything else on the car since last time (I know, I know, it's been ages) but once I've sold my current daily then I really want to crack on with the Beetle.

1d10a46aca9311e1b2fe1231380205bf_7.jpg
 
The bonnet... well, trunk I guess... is up, because the lack of work on it recently means it's also being used for storage. It's a good place to throw old boxes. I'll just have to get rid of them properly when I start working on it again!
 
Ermahgerd, an update (of sorts)​

So it's been way too long since I did anything on the Beetle. This is extra at the moment since I don't have a car of any sort, and it's a bit boring being car-less when I've not got a press car to tool about in.

I don't want to tempt fate but the UK weather has improved a little in recent days and I've been able to venture into the garage for the first time without turning into a HFS-popsicle.

No pictures, but this is where I am in terms of what needs doing:

  1. Free the nearside rear drum brake. When I parked the car I put the handbrake on, and didn't release it for several months. So it seized. Currently waiting on a suitable socket and bar to free the rear nut.
  2. Remove the nasty underseal gunk and bitumen sound-damping pads from the interior, prior to media blasting
  3. Remove the gas tank and other odds and sods from the trunk area
  4. Separate the body from the chassis.
  5. Separate the engine from the chassis
  6. Send the chassis off to be blasted/repaired/primered
  7. Get chassis back, send the body off to be blasted/repaired/primered (company I'm dealing with says sending chassis and body separately is the easiest way to do things)
  8. Rebuild the engine. It's decent enough, but makes sense to tidy it up while it's out.
  9. Paint chassis while body is away, paint body when it comes back (I have plans for this)
  10. Stick everything back together
  11. Wire everything up and put the interior back in
  12. Try not to look at how much I've spent
  13. Drive

It looks like a massive undertaking but, with the correct tools, the first five points can theoretically be done in the next month or two. And I'll be able to get some great work done freshening up the chassis while the body is away being sorted, without all that metal getting in the way.

I'm not setting myself a deadline - I hate deadlines and I'd prefer to work at my own pace as and when I can. But if it's all done by the end of the year, I'll be chuffed.

And hopefully I'll have some more pics soon...
 
Roo
Galvanised?
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Nope. Not that I've checked the cost, but I assume it'd be quite expensive. Just a good set of repairs and a thoroughly-primered car should do it. May do a bit of wax injection too.

Fazerfan
I would love to have an Beetle. Such a cool car.
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Get one while you can, values are only ever gonna go up from here!
 
As far as rebuilding the motor, are you just going for stock parts or are you going to be bolting on any power adders?
 
Do you have any custom plans for it, or are you keeping it original?

I love Beetles, my dad build a speedster out of one and supercharged it. We still own the supercharger, which one day will find his way onto a new Beetle that I need to buy..
 
Slashfan
As far as rebuilding the motor, are you just going for stock parts or are you going to be bolting on any power adders?
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Sorta gonna decide that when the engine is out. Might go for some dress-up parts but I'm not too bothered about extra performance.

For a couple of reasons. First, they do cost a little more and really I'd need to upgrade other things to cope.

And two, mine is actually one of the more powerful (relative term) Beetles they ever made anyway. As a 1303 with (when new) 44 bhp only the 1303S with its 1.6 engine had more power, at about 50 bhp. As Beetles go it isn't too slow :lol: It'll cruise nicely at 60-65 and hit 70 with a long enough straight.

My '74 brochure claims a top speed of 78 mph. Can't help feeling that's a little optimistic, but you never know. Might find it develops the full 44 ponies after a rebuild...

Dennisch
Do you have any custom plans for it, or are you keeping it original?
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Mostly original, I think. 1303s tend to be butchered to make kit cars or other stuff as people don't like the shape of them as much as earlier Beetles, so it'd be quite nice to have a totally original one. I want to even keep the original paintwork which is Sahara Beige. It's all over the interior but the exterior has seen a couple of coats of different blues since 74. Should look like this:

R0010532.jpg


...except I'll probably paint the wheels beige too, as the black on the car above looks naff. My other concession to non-originality will be on the inside, which in theory should look like this:

R0010533.jpg


...but I'm considering more chocolate brown trim to go better with the beige, and because chocolate brown is a very 70s colour. Maybe just the carpet, because the dark grey looks a bit cheap.
 
That beige is an excellent color for a 70s Beetle.

And kudoos for keeping it original. I've seen so many butchered Beetles that just lost their appeal because of it.
 
Are you thinking about doing something with the brakes? I know you've commented on the fact that they barely exist, and I might suggest something along the lines of a front disk swap just for safety's sake more than anything.
 
Considering a disc swap as my one concession to modernity. But then, I'm gonna see what they're like simply after a rebuild. A new set of shoes and some new fluid and they might be usable enough. Let's face it, it's not a particularly quick car anyway and there's not a lot of lateral grip either. I'll be driving well within its limits!
 
This is such a good read. Beetles are such great cars - I hope your work goes as planned, and Roland gets on the road as soon as. ;)
 
Thanks :) Wouldn't go as far as saying it's a "great car" but it's certainly good to work on. It's cool just by dint of being an old car though - fun to drive even though it's not the most precise of vehicles!
 

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