70 Beetle Resto-Mod

[Matts70]

Greetings DVG members,
Its about time I started a thread here on my longterm project ( its been too long ) and i finaly figured out how easy it is to upload pics and transfer them here! . I have a page in place on the Samba so some of it will be repetative but needed to make this one official and to catch up to speed with some other pics thrown in. I hope to be back in the garage this winter. Hopefully life will calm down a bit. Thanks guys and gals!

Matt
It all started back in december 2006 I flat towed the 70 back from CT with my neighbor and brother. She was in need of some help! I knew what I was in for.


Rear with no back window and some crap chrome junk in the vents



Interior looks pretty shot



Nest of wires under the hood, looks like most of the items are in place.



Some hackery with a replacment fuel line back to the engine compartment. Got to love PO's and there impact hammers!

[Matts70]

Here some more shots of the interior being removed



My new drivers seat installed



Alook underneath at the pans, looksgood with all the undercoating covering the rust and rot up!





Nice OG paint underneath the turn signals. Seems everywhere else had about 4 coats of paint.



Pulled the pop-outs and getting ready to pull wheels and fenders



Drained the oil

[Kermit]

That's quite an interior!

What were the bungee chords holding?

[Big_kid]

Looks like a solid start. Keep at it!

[AoT]

Looks like it going to be a good resto project and you've got a great workspace to get it done. Love RED bugs!! Good luck and kept the posts coming!

[Matts70]

Thanks gang! Smurf, the bungee was for the flat tow. I had it from the steering wheel to under the seat. Soon as i left it started swerving back and fourth at low speed. Having the bungee attatched loosely helped it track straight. Aot, thanks, I love my garage, has to be my favorite room. Just wish I had a third bay!! I'll get some more pics up later.

[Raj]

'll get some more pics up later.

pls do! These pics dont even touch upon the skill and work you have shown in the pics posted on TS. Cant wait to see more and learn from this project. Thanks for sharing.

[Matts70]

Thanks Raj, appreciate the comment! Yeah I'm a little behind with the pics. It gets real deep!!
Heres some more, engine yanked. Never ran, had a Holley Bugspray carb on it with a different intake.



Engine out, here you can see where the PO seamed welded a new piece of a luggage section on top of the rotted one. The welds burned the paint.



Fenders, wheels, electrical harness etc out.





Braces welded in for heater channel removal, A pillar to B pillar and side to side. ( brought the welder in!! )





Then I was able to drive it for the first time, that is with 2 others pushing while I steer . Out to the backyard for the body to be stored while the floor pans get some attention





Turning back into the garage, pulled the wheels again and back on jack stands. Removed the pedal cluster, brake lines, master cylinder and started inspecting and taking measurments.

Removed the trans and axles.

[Matts70]

With the pan in the garage we started cutting out the floor pans. My neighbor was over helping me with the job. We first made an initial cut with the sawzall and then came in closer with a air body saw and then air chisel for the spot welds.



Here you can see the floor pan ( curled up ) after the air chisel. Worked great! Also you can see where the front of the pan halve sits on.



Drivers side totally removed, the tunnel lip cleaned and all leftover spot welds ground.



Passenger side gets the same treatment.





Heres some rot on the framehead side and bottom plate, probably from brake fluid all through the years.



Heres the two different spot weld drills I bought. I used the one on the right most, Blair brand ( Eastwood ). I've also bought S&G Tool Aid ( summit tools) ones, they were ok. They center point spring tension wasnt enough so I screwed off the cutter and used it on the Blair bit.



Heres where the pan meets the rear frame crossmember, held in by spot welds and plenty of drilling time!! Good times

[leo]

Damn!!! Your going all out full resto. Way to go. Keep up the good work. Great pics. Keep us up to date with the resto.

[Raj]

the devil is in the details.... these pics give me a chubby

[Matts70]

Thanks Leo!! I like to be a pefectionist with things I do almost to a fault though!! Here ya go Raj..

To remove diagnal arms I first used a punch that I ground flat to pry back the locking stop for the main bolt. And plenty of Lubricant, PB Blaster worked good but stunk up the place. I also used Penetrol.



Then used 17mm ( if I remeber correct ) allen wrench with breaker bar. On a side note the two large washer have to be on the outer sides.





Pulled the front beam and all the tie rods etc.

[Big_kid]

I can't thank you enough for posting this thread. While my blue buggy is now running, my yellow buggy project hasn't even been started yet. It is on a '70 pan, and I'll be doing exactly what you've done so far. Your pics & writeup are going to come in handy.

[volksbugusa]

super job...keeping the pictures coming...

matt

[Matts70]

I can't thank you enough for posting this thread

No problem Charlie!! Glad to here I could help out! I have tons of other pics if you need others. Good luck with your project!!

super job...keeping the pictures coming...

Thanks Matt!

[Matts70]

Heres a shot of the inside of the tunnel from inspection hole. Nice and dirty with a mouse nest behind the clutch bracket.



Pulling the shift rod out,normally has a bend in it.





Some new parts, aftermarket crap



Started cutting up some stock I had for the framehead jig, overkill but its all good





Picked up some 2" O.D. tubing to represent the beam and some angle iron.













Now that the jig is all set in place I unbolted it and flipped the tunnel over to start to remove the framehead. Surgery.



Started to drill the many spot weld and make the first cuts to pull off the bottom plate.





The rest of the bottom plate removed





Flipped it back over and made some cuts to remove the napolean hat.

[Glenn A]

Nice work. looks good.

[Raj]

these are awesome pics. i'm impressed

[Matts70]

Thanks fellas, I went crazy taking pics to document the project, prob too crazy ( may have over 2000).
Heres a couple more....

Some more new parts and some old ones



Cut the framehead off



Then cut the upper layer of the tunnel and peeled it off so the underneath portion would provide strength when it gets all welded back together. There will be some more braces in there for strength.

After some trimming and tweaking all fitted up.



Then I moved to cutting 2 openings in the side of the tunnel to run new fuel line and to repair clutch tube bracket.





Then I took the tunnel outside and sprayed it down with some degreaser. Removed the paint inside and outside!! Serious stuff.



After cleaning i found the a crack in the clutch tube bracket. More welding needed...



Heres the tunnel all cleaned out, mouse carcass and all.



All welded up



Started running the fuel line. I used 3/8' SS line



I attached the ss line to the clutch tube by slitting rubber fuel line down middle, sliding it over line and tie rapping.



Figured I would run the line out of the side of the tunnel. Since i had the framehead off i was able to do it this way, otherwise....



I added some 1/8" flat stock to the insides for some more plug welds. Also used some silver weld through primer, which doesnt tig weld too good.



Drillled a couple of 3/8" holes for plug welds and a notch for fuel line ( tab to be added later to fill extra hole ) and slid everything together. Also used stock german fuel line grommets.



Welded on SS 6AN ends on to both ends of the fuel line, pressure tested and capped



All welded up. Shouldnt be going anywhere



Then I started repairing the hole in the rear of the tunnel with a piece of metal cut from framhead area.

[Raj]

wow..... this is a great build

What do you do for a living if you dont mind me asking? ( i always like to know what funds these projects, more inspirationally than monetarily)

[AoT]

Serious tools, serious welding. Should be a real looker! Nice work.

[Matts70]

Thanks Audrey and Raj, it was some serious welding. Don't want to know what it would cost if I had to hire a welder. If I didn't know one I would be getting the hang of it one way or another!!

What do you do for a living if you dont mind me asking?

Yeah no problem, LIRR Electrician, and when I have the time, which is lately decreasing after the birth of my daughter , a side electrical business.

[Raj]

What do you do for a living if you dont mind me asking?

Yeah no problem, LIRR Electrician, and when I have the time, which is lately decreasing after the birth of my daughter , a side electrical business.[/quote]


nice. I need a 200amp service upgrade when you have some downtime. I'd rather put cash in a dvg pocket then some joe shmoe off the street.

Congrats on your daughter. My little Liam is 19 months and is a beast! But he rocks.

[Matts70]

Thanks Raj, kids definitely keep you on your toes!! My wife hasn't had a good nights sleep in 3 months. I appreciate the offer! It depends where you're located though because I'm only licensed in Suffolk County.

[Glenn A]

Don't want to know what it would cost if I had to hire a welder. If I didn't know one I would be getting the hang of it one way or another!!

So who is the man behind the mask? I see a phone number on the jig. You do the fab and he steps in with the machine. Or am I missing something.

What did you use for degreaser it did one hell of a job. There is another LIRR guy on here. Works in the Hillside shop if I remember right.