Silver '69
Hey everyone!!! This is my 1969 vw bug. This is how it looked when I bought it back in March 2003. I bought it off the second owner for $900. It sat in his garage for the last five years he owned it (since '98) and I've stored it in my garage ever since. No rust!!! It already had front disc brakes, drop spindles and adjustable front beam (adjusted all the way up in pics) with 15x6" Porsche cookie cutters wrapped in 195/50 front and 205/50-15 rear tires. The hood, decklid, taillights and bumpers had been changed over to a '67. This is what it looked like...
This is a pic with a 325i 17x8" wheel under the front fender to get an idea of what it would look like. The tire is a 225/45-17. A little too much tire for the front. A 205/40-17 is what's gonna be put on the front.
This is actually the look I am going for...
...with these wheels. Front rollers will be 17x7" Intro Pentia's with a 205/40-17 tire and 18x9" out back with a 255/35-18. Go big or go home!!! What do ya guys think of this matching Pentia steering wheel?
I am actually in the process right now of stripping the car down to a rolling shell and doing a pan off restoration. The pan and body will be acid dipped to bare metal and painted Porsche arctic silver. Creative Car Craft will be supplying stock width fenders in the front and 1.25" wider units out back to cover up the 9" wide wheels.
Brakes and suspension will be Airkewld's 2.5" drop spindles and four wheel disc brake kit. A 4" narrowed front beam from Airkewld is also on the list to make sure the front wheels tuck nicely.
As for ride heighth adjustment, I'm not sure if I am going to slam it or bag it. If I go with bags, I will install Airkewld's setup to set it on the ground. I will be updating pics step by step on the project so feel free to check back in.
This motor oughta get me to the store and back a little quicker!!! A turbocharged 2332cc or 2387cc (good enough for 300 hp on pump gas) should do the trick.
Or maybe a twin turbo rotary??? Well, I'll just save the motor for last, so we'll have plenty of time to figure that out!
TEARDOWN!!!
JAN. 2007 I pulled the 1600 out, making room for a Turbo Monster!!!
Drained and removed gas tank for better access to front beam.
I started ripping out the interior (seats, door panels, headliner, carpet and insulation). I discovered that the floor pan is in better shape than i thought. A little surface rust near the battery tray, but nothing cancerous.
I took the deck lid, fenders and running boards off today.
I also removed the body from the pan to get the nitty gritty!!!
Here's a few pics of the pan stripped of the suspension and ready to get acid dipped.
After getting dipped and off to FCC Autobody for paint.
just got my pan back from FCC Autobody in Milpitas. The top is gloss black and the bottom is undercoated to help keep out the road noise. Complete with shaved jack mounts and heater box cables. I'm gonna hate to cover this up with carpet!!!
BODYWORK:
Bare body ready for media blasting.
California Reflections in Livermore did an awesome job media blasting the body. Great attention to detail. Thanks Kevin!!! Now it's off to FCC Autobody in Milpitas, Ca.
I went to go check on the body at FCC today and everything looks great! The body work and shaving is all done and is already primered.
They did a great job on shaving the dash and firewall.
More pics with the body assembled to test fit everything.
I snapped some new photo's today at the bodyshop. I ended up going with a Porsche Arctic Silver. They applied three coat of base and three coats of clear. Not colorsanded yet so it has orange peel texture for now.
More pics now with fenders and hood on the body
Phat 18" Mustang wheel
Doors installed
Meanwhile on the pan...
I cleaned and installed the shift linkage with new poly bushings and put the Scat shifter and parking brake on. I also installed a new pan gasket.
I just got all my stuff from Airkewld. Four wheel Bad series disc brakes, drop spindles and four wheel air ride. BAD TO THE BONE!!! This kit comes with EVERYTHING!
Got my 5" narrowed front beam from Airkewld. I went a little narrower than originally planned to make sure i don't have any clearance issues. The beam is very nicely crafted- stars!
Installed new rear wheel bearings and discs. Little by little
Front beam, airshocks, drop spindles and front and rear brakes installed. I also modified the front control arm so the balljoints wouldn't bind up when the suspension is completely aired out. This modification allows another inch of drop (5" drop plus 2.5" through the spindles for a 7.5" drop).
I finally got the body back!!! Well worth the wait. The paint is like glass, no orangepeel texture.
The body went straight on the pan when I got it home.
First outing since paint. On my way back from the BLTN meet in San Jose.
Intro Pentia's ordered and being built. 18x7's in front and 20x8.5 out back. I went a little bigger than originally planned.
I Installed hood and door weather stripping, door and hood handles, mirrors, taillights and runningboards.
Door jam weather stripping and striker detail
Chrome hood hinges and struts Rear suspension detail
Front suspension detail. Could I go any lower? You can see in the left pic how the lower control arm has an angle instead of being straight. This mod makes it so I'll have an additional inch of drop in the front so it'll lay out (see right pic)
I got my tires. Bfgoodrich 215/35zr18 for the front and 255/30zr20 for the back. Look ma, no sidewalls! Badass tread design. Oops! one is backwards.
Bored, waiting on wheels now. Yes, this will fit
Alright, here's my newest pics of the wheels I just bought while I'm waiting for my other wheels to be built. Brand new porsche twists, never mounted on a car. Stashed away in storage for about 7 years. Bought them as a winter set from Porsche and never used them! Thanks Jamie!
17x7" front with a 205/50 (will be a 205/40-17) 17x8.5 rear with a 225/45 (will be a 245/40-17)
Look what the UPS gods brought me today! A set of Intro billet aluminum wheels built to my specs (width, backspacing, bolt pattern, etc.)
18x7" front 20x8.5" back with a deeper dish in the back
Here they are with the tires mounted and balanced and on the car. Suspension still needs alignment. Just put together to make sure everything fits. No problems!
Misaligned rearend, not for long! Fully polished hoop (including backside)
"Ride height" turn. Up about an inch from the bottom of the suspension. Of course at this height, I can't turn lock to lock, but I could probably manage a 50 point u-turn in front of my house!
My little Girl. Watch her presentation on the VW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OBIFXs7CKk
Alright, for those of you who like the front end up and ass on the ground, here ya go.
front tire back tire (get a grip!)
Sound deadening install. Rear package tray, floorpan, doors and quarters.
Sound deadening material installed with carpet padding on top. Double insulated to keep out the heat and noise.
Steering column and steering wheel install.
Alright you guys, I finally got the rear air suspension done. I had to notch and reinforce the trailing arms to make room for the bags, weld in the crossbar for the upper bag supports and paint all the bare metal. sorry for the bad pics of the arms.
Steve Curry behind the welder. Everything mocked up and trial fitted.
Trailing arm notched and ready for paint.
Painted arm. Painted crossbar and top bag mounts.
The pan is finally complete. Now it's time to bolt it back up to the body and finish the build.
Playing with the bags...
Here's some video's I uploaded of the VW.
Front suspension travel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5IUTTtpVxQ&autoplay=1
Rear suspension travel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIV46NbLASA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUU_aob_ihU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE6zLE5BinU
Check back soon on to see my progress. Thanks for looking!
Go to Page 2 for cool misc vw pics.
