78Beetle .. up, up and away

[spca999]

Front.jpg

As she looks now ...

Have purchased a compressor ... some paint ... some MS ... was gonna kee psilver ... but apparently that is a bad idea for a first attempt ...

[spca999]

Paint sanded off... and back fenders ... ( Oh, with the after effect of me going to sleep with a wax on wax off dream, and a serious aftermath of painful limbs - wonder why?)

[Tony Z]

lots of hard work ahead of you.
Car looks good already.... good luck

[Matt]

are u sure thats a 78? the indicators on the front fenders and tombstone shape tail-lights indicate
a 70's model. lotsa air-vents on engine lid indicate mid to late 70's.

nice project tho....good luck!!!!!

[lowlight]

Look like a S to me curved wind screen.

[Matt]

i second that...the windscreen definitely looks curved.

correct me if im wrong, the 78 was the last beetle produced in south africa?

[spca999]

If I remember correctly the original papers say first registered in 78. The indicators look like recently items (Not even VW ... and definatly on the radar to change). The windscreen is curved, and the dash is not a flat dash ... I cant find anywhere that references the dash chages so dont know if that was also a post purchase alteration. I will post a pic and ask for the general thoughts on this. Looking forward to a productive weekend ... and hope that given the weather conditions, some new pics will go up by Monday ... perhaps even a different colour ...

[Chris]

The S did have the curved windscreen and the round "rubber" dash.Most likely a 77/78.

[spca999]

Found a pic of the current dash ...

Also needs a little work ...

[spca999]

So she started to change her identity ...

rhtred.jpg

bkred.jpg

The red devil is developing ...

[dubster]

Thats looking good!moi in rooi!

p.s do you use your phone to take pics (nokia) turn the phone side ways when taking a pic it will literally give us a better picture of the car...

[Bad Ass Bob]

Great work ! keep it up ! and yes it is an S bug !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[spca999]

Thanks for the moral support! I cant wait to start replacing the parts that I stripped. I am removing all signs of chrome, and going black. With the leather roof being black when the car was silver it looked OK with the chrome finishes, but the red and black does not leave much room for the chrome, so am colouring all the chrome silver. Awaiting the final results, and will keep all posted.

[spca999]

Post initial "1500 sanding" and a buffing phase 1:

post1.jpg

post2.jpg

post3.jpg

Now where did I put all of those bolts?

[spca999]

The windsceen is now in ... found a rather helpful individual at a glass fitting company to assist in this process ... Now at least I do not need to push the car down the road into a garage when that precipitation from the sky occurs ...

However, this did mean that I made my way to the next component of the make-over ... the interior. Now this was SUPPOSED to be the easy bit ... then I looked a little too deep ... anybody know where a good place is to get a floor pan changed. It appears that I will possibly be chair skying, whilst holding the sterring wheel ... very soon !! ouch ! this was a dent in the revival process. Amittedly now I am looking at purhcasing a welding machine ... this is becoming a "Pimp my Garage" not a "Pimp my Car" lol

Thanks also to the guys that were at the Stellenbosch market on Saturday. You have done me a huge favour, and am now in the market for ... yep ... you guessed it ... a Split Screen Bus !!

If there are any around, drop me a message.

Will upload the latest pics of "Quarra" in the next few days.

Quarra: Definition : An ex-silver cabrio (Now Red) named affectionately after its owner's nick name. The owner, for those who may have thought otherwise, is my 2 year old daughter who honestly believes that the car is hers. In fact, she would sleep in it if she could.