I realized today that it had been a ridiculous amount of time since I posted anything, so I decided it best to drop in a quick update!
The Beetle project is indeed alive and well with quite a bit of work done! I have a bevvy of pictures to upload in the coming days depicting the current state of affairs. Since Thanksgiving I have sourced parts (new fender, seats and bonnet from a '61) Workshop manual (and what a massive tome it is!) New heavy duty floors from Cip1.ca and 1 heater Dansk heater channel. I am patiently waiting my drivers side channel to arrive so it can be purchased, shipped and installed. I am told the boat from Denmark docks next Monday, we shall see.
Truly the biggest and most exciting news was captured in this video taken on December 24th. (see Below!)
With a new coil, HT leads, battery, distributor cap, rotor and ignition key our friend came alive!
What a wonderful Christmas gift!
Nothing can provide more motivation than hearing that project run for the first time.
A couple days later, I did an oil change and was very pleased that what came out looked pretty clean. It was evident that the PO had looked after the car (to a degree). Once I get a little further in I plan on reaching out to him and letting him know that the Beetle is being resurrected.
I had always heard that these cars were beautifully simple and joyful to work on. I can honestly say that having only had the Water-cooled VW experience with my Rabbit and Fox those whispered words ring true. This is a classic car for the everyman. With limited tools and skills anyone can enjoy and take pride of ownership. It is also the least expensive car project I have ever been involved with, parts are plentiful from various corners of the world both NOS and reproduction. It is very easy to understand how such a cult developed around these charming vehicles.
Please stay tuned for more long awaited updates! In the meantime here is video, enjoy!