sixty two bug : 62bug : VW beetle diary

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The following is a posting from Restowagenuk. it will explain a little of the situation and the plan to complete the car.

That’s right we are planning to put the car back together over a 48-hour period (American chopper style). Larry Da’fandango has kindly offered to help in the careful planning of the project and act as technical mediator between OCC and restowagen in order to co-ordinate teams and initially asses the work needed in order that we make the build as smooth as possible ensuring that we roll out the best looking car possible after the 48 hours. We will plan this well enough so that we have a fully painted shell (in house of kolor pearlesant cocoa) to bolt onto a fully painted pan. Rebuild the breaks, wiring, fit the interior (already built) and bolt all trim on. Fit the engine, narrowed beam etc…

All fiddly and major time consuming jobs will be completed in the pre build prior to the event ensuring success over the slim time period 0f 48 hours.

The best bit about this project, and the reason it will give so much credit to those involved is that Paul K has agreed to feature the rebuild in ultra VW! I am sure ou will also agree that the building of a truly full on west coast resto-cal in 48 hours by some of the best resto builders in the UK is of course a great scoop for Ultra too!

These are the ramblings of a very VERY pi**ed off person.

Went down to orange county connection again last night - allready for the final build and all night session only to find an unpainted bodyshell...STILL

to say I was dissapointed and pissed off was an understatement. I was trying not to get my hopes up as I knew it would be a tight shedule - I think we all knew that, but this car has been at occ since last may. I missed the whole of last year and the volksworld show was the ultimate for me personally and a dream missed.

I am not going to go into the conversation last night as I understand the reasons that the car has not been finished (again) and am assured (again) that the car will be finished by the end of next week (again). however I am of course not holding my breath...

I would like to stress that the work that HAS been done on the car is impecable - It needed SO much more than we originally thought and every bit of welding and work is of the highest quality. The car is now STRAIGHTER than an arrow and when the final colour hits it it will look amazing. I also respect adams skills and balls to not tackle a paint job at the last minuite and risk ruining a lot of hard work and expensive paint. Once the paint is on it is an easier job as all the componenet are virtually built up so the build SHOULD not take long...however I feel dissillusioned with time in general and the feeling of being constantly let down is just about killing me.

Those that know me will know that I am a very chilled out person who does not generally go about shouting and screaming. I dont get angry and hate confrontations of any kind (although you dont want to be around when I DO kick off) . I also can always see others point of view and understand exactly how this situatuion has happened.

It is with serious regret that the car will not be at volksworld - After much deliberation I am still going to attend and look forward to meeting up with you all on saturday night. I will probably be steaming as I need the alcohol SO much.

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Well it's 2005 and nearly 10 months since the bug first rolled into Orange County Connection. I have visited it on occasion and saw the sad state the car was in. Having"done a bit of a deal" with Adam I know that my car has been left till last on many occaision so I missed all of last seasons shows, but HEY that was part of the course and when I look at the time and effort OCC have put into the body of 62bug I can see why they produce fantastic machines.

Although I am not really going to update this news between now and April the 4th (Volksworld show - where we make our debut - I hope to god this time) I thought I would relate just one of the stories that has made this project such a character building expierience..

I was down at OCC this weekend and was telling the guys about how I got my MINT popouts. the story is as follows...I had arranged to meet the guy selling a pair of early pop out windows after seeing his advert on ebay - the pops looked really nice with mint catches and after missing out on a few sets previously I was buggered if I was going to let these babies slip away so arranged a price and a meeting date for the following weeek. this was on a thoursday and arranged to meet on the monday night in Buxton Derbyshire - (about an hour away from my house through the country side.) I had been feeling a little "peaky" on the friday but by saturday i had flu and a temprature above 90 (I kid you not). I stayed in bed all day and woke up about 6pm having arranged to meet the guy at 8pm outside Buxton Opera House. Dragging my body out of bed I then noticed the sound of driving rain hammering against the window and thunder sounding as if it was placed about 3 ft above my house roof. The weather should not really have supprised me, With it being the british summer time. Needless to say the weather followwd me through the countyrside and I could not see a
thing! feeling really unwell and wet and cold I sped into buxton about 30 mins late hoping to god that the guy was still there. luckilly I called him as I arrived on the outskirts of buxton and he was running later than I was. Feeling a little more relieved I sped into town towards the opera house and as I approached the meetingplace I failed to nosice, with my steamed windscreen and bleery catagh filled eyes the newly installed gatso cammera and set it of doing 50 in the 30 zone...FLASH.....SHIT.....BUGGER!

I pulled up outside the opera house and wondered if the guy was here yet. He was, or else it was someone else flashing me through the rain. Braving the torrents I ran over the street and introduced ourselves. Opening the bopot he showed me the most intricately wrapped parcels I have ever seen, or at least I would have seen if it wasnt pitch black and the only light was coming from the 2 wt bulb of a fiesta boot light"!
There wss more bubble wrap on these things than... well... a lot of bubble wrap.I inspected the rim of one of the windows through a small hol;e I managed to make in the 8 layers of wrapping and Was satified with at least one of the windows.

I then opened the small plastic see-through bag containing the catches - It was like the scene from "raiders of the lost ark" when indies face is reflected with gold! These things were mint. Mirror finshed and shiny. by this time I didnt care whether they were NOS (as described) or not I was gonna have them and feeling worse than ever I counted out the respective, damp notes......I drove home. I dont even remember the trip back. I didnt inspect the windows when I got back. I just fell into bed. It was about 2am I think. It taking me nearly 4 hours to get back with the weather and my state of wellness...they sat under my bed for a few days until I remembered I had them and was feeling a little better. I unwrapped them expecting to find a nice tiny bit of polished serface surrounded by pock marks and rust...I didnt...these things are the dogs. rubbers looked worn - but intact and plyable. shiny metal greeted me on every surface. glass clean and mark free... job done. it was even worth the fine I got 3 weeks later for speeding.. although not the 3 points I got also...

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Heater channels are on, the majority of the welding seems to have been completed. Adam is just welding up tiny holes and straightening everything out.

We missed action. its just taking so much longer than we first thought but the idea is to get everything ready for next year.. another reason for this is that my cash has run out.. I am penniless and cant afford any more parts at the moment.. interior...headliner..anything..

on a lighter note.. the paint has arrived. House of kolor pearl cocoa and even in the tin it looks awsome.. will have the right amount of retro/modern look once its on.. highlighted components and additional paint in tan..

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Well the body is still on as we are still awaitin ght arrival of the heaterchannels, but the shell is maremetalled and the finding show just how good the 62 is.. Apart from the heater channels the body and roof are fine. The front wings, bulk head, doors and things are fine! the only bit that really needs attention is the parcel area which (must be due to a leek) is like cardboard! doh! Still were geting there.

Once the channels are on, the body will be removed and sent for blasting. Then adam will narow the beam, and do the rest of the repairs needed on the body. then he can start to prep for the spraying..

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Well I dropped the bug in to Adam at Orange County Connection this morning for work to begin. Having seen his own car, "foreplay" an old school gasser style race car I can see the quality and skill of his work and paint technique.

Having discussed the car to great lengths I now we are on the same wave length as far as the car is concerned. Resto cal a la "german folks" as best as we can - house of colour paint (swaying towards pealesent cocoa) tank and beam in comp colour.

narrowed and detailed front beam, loads of chrome. The triple plated 5 spoke empis. As many hard to get bits as I can get ... albert mirrors..

Adam is goig to lift the bady from the chasis. Blast the chasis and paint it. bare metal the body in order to repair and straighten it. There will be new heater channels I know but until the rest comes off its hard to say what is needed...whatch this space.

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I had a board between the metal springs of the old "sagging" seat and the battery terminals. but unfortunately it must have slipped off down.

I don't use the back seat much and if so I always get the passenger to sit on the left opposite the battery (even with the board in place I was scared as I know these things can happen)

My wife used the bug yesterday and took my 2 young kinds and my mum to the park. My mum sat over the battery and 2 minutes later smoke was pouring out from under the seat. Luckily the fire brigade was called and everyone was ok....

Not much damage to the car also - new battery needed and that was it - it didn't even come through the seat!! (oh and the battery still works although it is a little bit melted on the original swiss casing - I think it was a battery from das boot!!!)

Anyway if you have the same sort of thing...get it checked before you go out please pleased please. I was so upset when she called me to tell me as i could have been missing a mum, 2 kids and a wife yesterday!

please note this. I know it is a well known problem on older cars but check it again.. I am going to create a bottom for my back seat out of thick wood and make it go the full length of the seat so it can't move.

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Got all my mot fixes done a couple of weeks ago. Mark at Terry Wilson in Chesterfield did me proud (as he is over cautious and such..) Took them about a week to do it though..

Got the car back and it feels awesome. handles great and feels so secure. got the link pins fixed (they were MOVING) new steering damper, some welding and horn fix ed...!

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Suddenly realized that my MOT was due in January.. So I called Mark at Terry wilson's to book it in for an MOT and to check the brakes as there is a knocking on the drivers rear wheel when I brake.

Just checked in an Mark read me list of the failures including welding (sills -shit that will be the heater channels then!), steering damper, link pins etc..

It's goin in on tues and Wed to be done...

After 5 days and a few phone calls my wheels have arrived from the states. CIP in Washington were fab! the wheels are...

tripple plated CHROME empi 5 spokes by American Eagle wheels. With the exchange rate they still cost the same as buyin here for shite single plated wheels.

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