Well new to the site here and new to air cooled cars. I have built and customized many cars and bikes but never a air cooled VW. So I may have some questions along the way, but Google is my friend.
We started off with someone else's project who had most of the parts (so we thought). He had tons of paperwork and a primarily rust free 68 Baja, including a beefier fiberglass kit. We are to the putting things back together stage and most of it is coming along nicely. I have learned quite a bit on this build and have gotten help from the Samba (who referred me here).
The motor is a 1776 with dual delorto carbs, fresh built with a new tranny as well. Pretty much everything going back into this car will be new. I won't get into too much but will let the pictures do the talking.

We had done quite a bit by this point but pretty much how we got it minus the tires and being crammed full of parts.


Cleaning up front and rear end, new seals, brakes, ghia disc swap, bushings etc. and por15



My son and father in law attacking the body work and paint





And some time later we are on to the interior, while I go back and forth on many other things since I get frustrated with stuff and move on to something else, that or ADHD.





The rear speaker wall since there will be no back seat went through a few design stages before I decided with this one and even then I changed it a few more times. Yes the battery is stuffed back behind that panel, but its just a overlay and comes off with 6 screws that I still need to paint black. I will be putting in a battery cut off switch and remote jumper cables somewhere in the engine bay. Not sure if the battery will need more air flow, may install a small 12v fan somewhere back there (hidden of course) to get some air flow in that area. Also still need to install the battery bracket, and still build the floor which will have a raised edge to hold stuff.







Some exterior shots, I have it jammed in the corner of my 3 car garage so I can still work on other projects.

Very nice work. Keep the pics coming.

Thanks! Well I am into the wiring now and still have to paint the trunk area with por15. Wont be much work today since I am working on getting 208 ran for the minisplit getting installed in the garage this week. Something I have been wanting for a long time. Cant wait to have AC and heat in the garage.

Light bar wired and installed. Silicon should keep the water out. Don't mind the wire color, I am way over my budget on this build and am using what I have available.





Switches installed and still have to glue the panel on the glove box.



Audio wiring. Optima specific tie down bracket on back order.





PO did some crazy wiring and I'm not sure what is what. Not only because I am in unfamiliar territory with this old bug but also because nothing was labeled, and OEM wire color wasn't used. PO ran wiring all over and I'm not quite sure why. Was going to buy a new harness but budget is blown and I do okay with wiring. But with all this crap I may be kicking myself later. But I was able to get all the new gauges wired up minus the sensors and one vac line, and some of the wiring that I know for sure what it is labeled.







Under the dashed was missed with good paint coverage, so I will most likely paint with por15 or just carpet it, haven't decided yet. My son decided to opt out of wet sanding and polishing the paint so its not perfect. Teenagers, jeez. But its his car.

Well I now have A/C and heat in my garage. Something that's been a long time coming and will help a ton while working out here. Didn't get to much done this weekend either, car show and family stuff kept it at a minimum. But as usual I moved away from the wiring sort of. While I was running wire I noticed a little rust on the floor pans so I pulled the tar mats and found some surface rust. I wanted to cut out the factory seat mounts anyway so this all worked out. I wish I would have done this before paint but oh well.



Floor after tar mats removed.



Cut out the seat mounts and welded up old seat holes, then sealed with Loctite rust neutralizer. Will paint with Por15 after 24 hours as recommended.



Also found this red (orange?) wire that ran along the break line. Anyone know what this is for, or was for?



And finished one door and mounted up these cool armrest with speaker and cup holder. I don't think the cup holder will have much use though.



One last question, are those tubes near the rear seat on the floor for the heater controls?

New Optima battery hold down and rugged ridge LED light (using it for reverse light) came in from 4 wheel parts finally. The tie down was on back order. A few coats of primer and paint and the tie down is in. It was a tight fit for the battery so I had to bend the bracket out a little bit.

Hey this looks great! Good taste in detail! Any updates?

Thanks Yellow, yeah a few more things done. I stopped posting here because the site seems pretty dead overall.

Por15 on the pans


Fat Mat on the floors and insulation on the firewall, same insulation used on the rear fire wall area. Also painted under the dash with Por15 and will carpet it somehow.



Insulation and padding on the floor


Got the carpet kit out to see how it all fit because just looking at it I wasn't sure how it would all piece together. Come to find out we are missing the two corner pieces for the fire wall ugh. So I am going to have to make some up and get them over to my mother in law to put welt on the edges or may buy the 5 piece kit, not sure yet.



I didn't realize the carpet kits were made around the seat rails so I have to get some pieces made for that area as well.

Under dash LED lights since we got rid of the dome light, I put one of these LED bolt lights from oznium.com on each side and one in the glove box. Will be adding some lighting to the console and rear area as well.



Playing around with a console idea. Final console will sit up on the center hump, have a cup holder, pocket and cell phone shelf with USB connection to radio. I will also make the final shelf out of PVC not wood. Seats mocked up as well. Passenger side only tilts so I am making sure it will sit even with the drivers seat with my son driving, and have to be sure they don't bump into the arm rests.






Rubber mallet on the sills to hold the carpet in chipped the paint, good thing the PO bought some aluminum door sill covers. Will get those in soon, still have some things to work out. Also mounted the front bumper and passenger side fenders (not pictured). We are going to re paint the fenders since he doesn't like his original idea of black fenders.

Looks great. Good to know on carpet...but overall seems like it's Coming along nicely. Is your son enjoying it? I'd like to do the same thing with my boy in a few years. Seems like a good time.

yellowchev wrote:

Looks great. Good to know on carpet...but overall seems like it's Coming along nicely. Is your son enjoying it? I'd like to do the same thing with my boy in a few years. Seems like a good time.

Thanks man. Yea I guess it makes sense about the carpet, I just didn't think about it. It would be nice if someone made a one piece kit for the center areas.
I think the more it starts to look like a normal car he is excited. He is just more of a thinker than a hands on kinda guy, he is trying but I still spend more time working on it by myself. I can live on 5 hours of sleep so I have a tendency to get things done while most are sleeping.
I am going to start busting but on this baja so I can get my C10 in and started. Plus I think he is tired of driving his moms car lol.
I have been having him invest his money lately in this build. He needs to know how much work it takes in a job to pay for so little in a build. I hope it will help him appreciate it more.

Man aren't you lucky! What year is your c10? I use to have an 1980 chevy Cheyenne short box. Wish I never got rid of it.

Keep the pics coming! It is lookin awesome from start to finish. Good call on havin your son pitch some money in. Nothing beats learning sacrifice and work at a young age. I'm glad I learned it from my dad.

yellowchev wrote:

Man aren't you lucky! What year is your c10? I use to have an 1980 chevy Cheyenne short box. Wish I never got rid of it. Keep the pics coming! It is lookin awesome from start to finish. Good call on havin your son pitch some money in. Nothing beats learning sacrifice and work at a young age. I'm glad I learned it from my dad.

Would be luckier if it was done already lol. Its a 65 short fleet side. Its a driver right now but I'm doing a frame off on it. The worst part is starring at all the boxes of parts waiting to go in. Yeah I have had a few rides I wish I would have kept.

Thanks, yep it should be good for him. He just started working a few months ago and is gearing up to enlist to the air force. That is another reason to get this build done. I will update as we go but most of what I have been doing is trying to get all the wiring figured out, but will post up pics as I bounce back and forth.

Air force. Right on. Lots of respect for military.

Yes sir, me too. Most of my family is military but he will be the first in the Air Force. So he has been getting plenty of crap for doing so lol.

Haha awesome. Kudos and gratitude to your family.

Haha yeah cant wait for future family parties, it will for sure make them that much more interesting. Thanks man.