I’ve been a little quiet on the forums, life has been a bit of a whirlwind the last month! Unfortunately my uncle (mom’s brother) passed away so young at only 47. He was an absolute car nut himself, however he didn’t own any classics besides his cherished 1974 Super Beetle. The family couldn’t think of selling his pride and joy, so my mom and sister decided we should restore it. I’m the only one who can drive stick so I’ve been having an absolute blast driving this little Bug around! As you can see, it was in an accident some time ago, so the body / shell is not so great. A LOT of bondo and rust. Since it’s a 74 (a super beetle at that) I told my mom that maybe it’s best we just get an older beetle (Pre ‘73 at least, like a ‘68-‘71) and swap the drivetrain into a more solid shell. That way the car will still be a tribute to him!
She’s a 1600cc 4 speed manual. Such a blast to drive (but so so SO slow.) We laid my uncle to rest with this little die cast I found that was so close to his!
Guess I never acknowledged it, but as a little kid I was OBSESSED with VW’s. I wanted a Karmann Ghia or a Bus real bad. Feels cool to reconnect with what is probably my first love of old cars
As for the New Yorker, I’ve been waiting to dial some things in as well as make more progress on the interior.
New U Joints!
Also finished up the interior floor pans. No, it’s not “perfect” and I wasn’t able to source out the “correct” floor pans, but I made it work. No one will ever see it anyways!
My seats (1966 Chrysler 300 front buckets + 1968 Chrysler rear bench) are getting reupholstered as we speak. New foam cores being made as well as the seat pattern which will mimic the factory 1966 300 pattern as close as we can get it. Don’t have any pics of that unfortunately.
I found a random flowmaster laying in the back seat of the Bug, 2.5” in and out so it’s perfect to mock up a temporary exhaust (at least for one side LOL) while we break the engine in. We have a glasspack + pipe from a 56 Olds for the other side. Very very redneck but hey, it gets the job done!!!
Next step would be to obviously get the car running, we need the 440 distributor which should be getting here soon. Dial it in, and then move onto the interior. Paint floor with black POR-15 rust inhibitor, lay Kilmat insulation and then finally install carpet, dash, seats, headliner etc etc. Super excited to be nearing this phase of my build. I can’t wait to hear the New Yorker fire up for the first time in 42 years!
Also, I was able to score this 1976 Plymouth Volare (F Body) disc brake setup for the 62. It will bolt right up to the upper and lower control arm with minimal modifications, much like how we C Body guys can swap our ‘65-‘68 brakes with ‘69-‘73 discs. They cleaned up REAL nice!
Whole lot of elbow grease required, but what’s new?
She’s a 1600cc 4 speed manual. Such a blast to drive (but so so SO slow.) We laid my uncle to rest with this little die cast I found that was so close to his!
Guess I never acknowledged it, but as a little kid I was OBSESSED with VW’s. I wanted a Karmann Ghia or a Bus real bad. Feels cool to reconnect with what is probably my first love of old cars
As for the New Yorker, I’ve been waiting to dial some things in as well as make more progress on the interior.
New U Joints!
Also finished up the interior floor pans. No, it’s not “perfect” and I wasn’t able to source out the “correct” floor pans, but I made it work. No one will ever see it anyways!
My seats (1966 Chrysler 300 front buckets + 1968 Chrysler rear bench) are getting reupholstered as we speak. New foam cores being made as well as the seat pattern which will mimic the factory 1966 300 pattern as close as we can get it. Don’t have any pics of that unfortunately.
I found a random flowmaster laying in the back seat of the Bug, 2.5” in and out so it’s perfect to mock up a temporary exhaust (at least for one side LOL) while we break the engine in. We have a glasspack + pipe from a 56 Olds for the other side. Very very redneck but hey, it gets the job done!!!
Next step would be to obviously get the car running, we need the 440 distributor which should be getting here soon. Dial it in, and then move onto the interior. Paint floor with black POR-15 rust inhibitor, lay Kilmat insulation and then finally install carpet, dash, seats, headliner etc etc. Super excited to be nearing this phase of my build. I can’t wait to hear the New Yorker fire up for the first time in 42 years!
Also, I was able to score this 1976 Plymouth Volare (F Body) disc brake setup for the 62. It will bolt right up to the upper and lower control arm with minimal modifications, much like how we C Body guys can swap our ‘65-‘68 brakes with ‘69-‘73 discs. They cleaned up REAL nice!
Whole lot of elbow grease required, but what’s new?
