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Old March 28th 2020, 04:38
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owdlvr owdlvr is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
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I managed to get the car home this week, while maintaining a proper and socially acceptable 6+ feet from anyone.


Didn't snag any photos, but I'm pleased to say the car already has sway bars front and rear, and the undercarriage looks quite good. The rear brakes use the stamped caliper mount, but I'm pretty sure I have a pair of cast ones to swap out in my spare parts stash. Interestingly enough, the car came with all of the receipts since 1989. The holder on the right is all of the receipts, and the holder on the left is all of the 4x6 photos and all the negatives for the build of the car! I will have to scan some selections, because some of them are pretty interesting to have.


After many years of storage, it definitely needs a cleaning! The rear seat padding is on the cusp of needing to be replaced. It's not breaking up like front seats usually do, but the springs have worked their way deep into the padding. I may try pulling the rear seat apart to see if I can save the padding by putting canvas over the springs first. Hoping I can get away with saving it, since the rear seat is used very infrequently for passengers. I typically just end up with gear or event supplies back there.


Growing up, I always wanted a Formuling steering wheel. I either wanted the 4-spoke wheel in silver, or this wheel in black. Pretty crazy to finally own one in good shape, even if I did have to buy a whole car to get it. I think I will put this aside for use in my '75 Beetle, which has been in my family since I was 4. There is something about the collection of gauges which screams "80s" to me, but I can't place why. I mean, they aren't that far off from what I have in the Rally Bug. Alas, the dash pad is cracked and the vents are dry rotted. I wish I could remember if I put the "good" or "premium" dash cover into my white '69 Beetle. I'll have to order a dash pad for this one, it's really too bad Carbon Joe isn't around any longer



Okay...how did this thing win shows back in the day? And this was supposedly a professional installation!?! Geesh. Needless to say, it's coming out...


Uh oh. Well, this explains why the brake reservoir is empty.


The car has (apparently) never had a driver's side door panel installed. The original owner loved to show the car with no panel, to show how nice the paint was on the car. Included in the photos of the car displayed at a show, and yup! No door panel :P


Started playing with wheels. My plan, even before purchase, was to use the silver twists I have...but to be honest, I'm not a big fan of them with the silver. I pulled out a set of twist copies I have, simply to see if the Anthracite grey was a better choice. Then for fun I leaned one of my 16" speedlines against it. Now I have NO idea what to do for wheels. Do I powdercoat the silver twists a different colour? Run the gold speedlines? The speedlines are a rather rare 5.5" wide 16" wheel, originally used for winter rallies with the SubaruUSA team. Either Higgins or Pastrana did at least a stage on these, so they have some scuffs and a storyline. After seeing them on the red car, however, I am tempted to re-drill the Rally Bug.




Can't decide if I should do the single set of PIAA lights, like I had on my white '69, or perhaps this smaller set of PIAAs. Or, I could go without. Extra lights does seem to be a "thing" for me though. My Midget build last winter gave up the front bumper, just so I could mount two lights. I've made up some new brackets, and decided i would sleep on it before welding them to the bumper mounts.





From there, I stripped out the interior and started pulling out anything on the car I won't be using. Went through my storage shed to see what parts I might have that could be of use, and tomorrow I'll go through the two mezzanines I built in my shop. I have the VW pedals with my modifications from the Rally Bug, and a few other parts that might be handy. I think this car will end up with a stereo and speakers, if I can figure out where I'm going to mount front speakers. I ordered door panels with pockets, so that creates a bit of difficulty. Tomorrow I should start on both the interior and the drivetrain.

-Dave
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'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
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