Angel VW Club

I have had this 1969 beetle since August, and have been slowly doing bits and bobs on the car to make it more solid and mechanically sound...

This is the car before any repairs were made





Here is the LHS heater channel etc.



Here is the RHS heater channel....hold on, where's it gone?







Structurally sound bonnet too


This has been one huge learning curve![/img]

All hail the angle grinder! Now the car doesn't deposit a kilo of rust on the ground when you either hit it with a hammer, or even just look at it the wrong way.



This is part of the old heater channel (the bit between the A and B pillars.



More scrap metal from the floor / heater channel replacement



And replaced



It passed the "fat guy jumping around on it" test.

Pedals have since been refitted, and floor painted. I missed a bit, I know!



Front tidied up and painted over christmas, and suspension arms sent to local garage to get the ball joints replaced. Steering tie rods also removed. They still await refitting. Struggling with the tie rod ends at the minute.



Story with this car - 1-2 weekends to remove a component, 10 minutes to replace. Once returned, I fitted disc brakes to the front. Any improvement to the brakes has to be wise when I am driving!



My task last weekend was to get the RHS inner wings sorted. I replaced panels when I was doing the heater channel and floor. I repaired a couple of holes, replaced some captive nuts and removed enough tar to fix all of the pot holes in Northumberland.

What colour did the car start out in life, I wonder???




Bolt holes after the temp paint job put on. £2 per can on ebay, and an insanely good colour match.



Temp paint job is only going on until I am happy with everything else, and the car has an MOT, and finally decide what to do with it. Having been previously modified, it's not going back to original. I am bringing it closer to original condition, but keeping some of the custom features (the smooth dash in particular.) and adding a couple of tweaks myself.

I have been trying to do this well, but on a bit of a budget...new repair panels for structural items e.g. heater channel, inner wing bumper holder etc. but second hand where I can e.g. doors, wings, lights etc.

You seem to be doing ok, crack on and you'll be cruising for the summer

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Brenty

The plan is to get the steering back together, finish the rear inner wing (new repair panel for bumper mount due to genius welding bumper to it (not me).

When this is done, I will turn the car round and do the LHS floor, heater channel, inner wings... Then I think I will put the engine back in.

The engine runs really well (or did before I took it out). Just no clue what it is. I'm thinking twin port 1600 however it was sold to me as a 1200.



The engine code is no use - the short block is from a 1500 type 3!

Thanks, Brenty... I'm hoping for the turnaround to happen in 2 weeks, and to have a multi-coloured car MOTed in may (red front wings and red bonnet and doors). I still haven't decided on final finish or what to do about getting it painted (fancy giving it a go myself!).

Good stuff Ian, keep it going, hopefully soon see the beetle pottering around Whitley Bay

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.....If only Calsberg made women

Nice one.

A trip to work in it will certainly be on the cards when it's done. And with that exhaust, you will hear it coming. Probably from Berwick

In deep! Crack on fella!

More progress...

New rear bumper mount welded on.





Inner wings tidied, painted in red oxide (then stone chip for a little bit). Wheels mounted, steering put back together and put back on floor.








Car has since been turned around, the wiring loom removed ready for work to commence on the LHS floor pan and heater channel, both of which are past their best.

After 2 weeks of severe man-flu, i have finally made a start on the LHS floorpan and heater channel.

Took the door off (arse of a job) and cut giant hole in the floor.

Had to chip away at a huge thickness of underseal, which uncovered a lot of rust on the top of the floor, and a hideously bodged rear heater channel



Centre and front were as expected - solid but on their way to rustville:






Decided that I would investigate a couple of bulges on the rear quarter under the back window:



Someone saw some severe rot, and thought "filler time". Or in other words, more bodging!





Was considering just patching a couple of holes on this side but after today i am glad i decided to do a full replacement. next weekend am hoping to get the channel out and the new floor and channel in (have a 4 day weekend).

Had to stop since i nearly ran out of cutting discs. 4 day weekend next weekend so expect to get a lot more done!

Yabba dabba doo!

top work!

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in the real world my name is Grant.....

LHS now nearly as complete as rhs (just need to sort out the door!)

Not the tidiest skim with filler, but only temp for a few months, and looks not too bad

Front inner wing repaired. There were 5 knackered captive nuts to repair here. bastard!



New floor pan and heater channel in place, and for long enough to get a thick layer of dust!



Rear quarter - as I said, not the tidiest skim with filler, but when final paint job is done, a lot of prep work will be done, including this



Rear inner wing tidied up and painted. New bumper mount welded on.



Have spent some time this afternoon finishing off the renovations on the wings that were spotted on ebay by Mr 8urn. Good wings with a little surface rust here and there, but nothing that a little work couldn't solve.



The rest of the easter weekend is going to involve the brake drums on the back, painting the top of the new floor, and rewiring the electrics (to some extent).

Good stuff glad the wings worked out OK.

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.....If only Calsberg made women