B'68 Bug
History


Bought from a mate  as a new daily driver as I sold the mk1 gti.
The engine was knackered (big end bearing) and it was fairly ratty with a few bits on the body needed here and there. The channels have been welded to the floor but it had been done well & it  had mot and tax for 5 months. It also had a 1 piece removable rear valance/ engine lid combo, some strange 14inch chrome wheels (later found out these were called interceptors or similar), pop out rear windows, recaro front seats, a new door & discs up front.

I set a budget of £100 to get it back up and running and looking a bit more respectable. Obviously it'll still be a scruffer but I'll gradually work  on it (replacing the heater channels etc) during the year rolling resto style.

What did it need?

2 front tyres
engine block
rear valance
rear bumper mount
engine lid
front valance (been dented in the front)
fix the bonnet so it locks
Front & rear bumpers

A lot of the bits I had stashed about the garage that I've accumulated over the years  inc a  1300 block so hopefully I'll be on target & reduce the pile of  'I might need that some day' bits.

Progress

Started on the rear valance/engine lid combo 1st. Done by the p.o. but not my cup of tea & wanted something a bit more stable, so I junked that bit. Replaced the d/s/r bumper mount as that was rotten (from stock). I wanted to keep some sort of removable valance, but still look standard so I used a standard one (from stock) and modified it so that it's held on by 2 bolts either side. To get it off you'll need to undo these 2 bolts and loosen the bottom 2 on each wing which only takes a couple of minutes. A stock engine lid was added too and painted with some red paint I had left over from the '72 bug.

One wing was still in carriage primer, so I rubbed down the surface rust and sprayed it red again. The missing headlamp rim was also replaced.

The front valance was then replaced as the one on there was badly buckled, meaning the bonnet wouldn't latch or lock. 1 bumper mount was recent, the other was ok, but will need some attention in the future. (I'll probably do a full front clip)  The p/s wing was replaced for a slightly better one.  The dents in the front of the bonnet were sorted out and the locking mechanism fixed so that the bonnet could be locked. There were 2 styles of headlight in use - 1 later mk1 golf style. The lense fell off the latter so it was replaced with the earlier style to match the other side.

Front tyres were quite worn, luckily a mate was wanting to change the front 2 on his buggy which were the same size, for something softer, so I got his old ones off him for £10 fitted.

A pair of europa bumpers from stock were added front & rear as it was going to be a daily. 4x 2/h bumper brackets were picked up from bvf for £8

When the engine was pulled I noticed the rear gearbox mounts were dead so replaced them £3ea

The engine itself was stripped to the block & the ancillaries fitted to the spare 1300 that had been sitting in the garage for a few years.  The original engine had a knackered big end bearing. This will be rebuilt at some point in time. A turbo-trip exhaust was added and an electronic ignition was donated by a mate.

Total £89

8 months on & it's still going ok (not bad for an engine that's sat unused for 4 years). Only time it's let me down so far was when the return spring on the carb snapped with age which is pretty minor.


  

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