My German Import RHD 58 - Updated

[Rudi02]

I've got 3 six volt beetle's running. My 58 KG is 12 Volt. The batteries last me round about three years. I try to use the cars at least once a week but sometimes I just dont get the time and drive one or the other only once a month. I've got a 6Volt charger and I try to keep the batteries charged. The 6 volt batteries that I've bought the last few years tend to be quite good quality. I cannot complain.

Personally I like my car's as original as possible. If this was my car, I would have kept it 6 Volt. To locate a battery is not that difficult. You must just keep your eyes peeled. The last battery, I bought from Greenbean. (He advertised it on this forum) It was virtualy brand new and the price was good. Think about this modification carefully, because once you have changed to 12 Volt, it is very difficult to go back to 6 Volt.

[karmakoma]

AAh Rudi, that is encouraging.
Makes me happy to think that I could stay with the 6V , if it doesn't work out, I can always switch to 12V later.
That just gives me an extra excuse to drive the car at least once a week!

[Rudi02]

Good excuse for me too. You have to drive them regularly, it's good for the brakes as well. Enjoy your car.

[lowlight]

The genny stand is fixed to the engine. How do you fit a 12v genny or do u modufy the 6V genny? Would tend to leave it 6v.

[karmakoma]

You rewire the genny. But I want to keep it stock.
Might have found a 6V Battery! Will know tomorrow.

[karmakoma]

Some body/paint questions for the experts.

I want to keep the paint as is, as it is original, but its needs a restore.
Do I just get some GOOD polish and go for it, should I use a paint "cleaner" first.
Like something from mcquires?
Any suggestions here would be appreciated.

There are a few rust spots, only surface, but enough to have made the paint chip (this is where the front accident was repaired), and obviously the panelbeater used cheap filler!

Do I sand only these localized areas down, prime and spray, or do you have to do to entire area, ie, rust spot on hood, respray hood, rust spot on fender,respray entire fender. How would I go about matching these repairs to the rest of the 51 year old paint?

Thanks for your inputs.

[buggyfan]

karma,regarding the battery ,have you tried phoning FIRST NATIONAL BATTERY directly to find out if they can supply you one?

[Tom Bishop]

To do a quick job, I would respray the bad body panels with 300 line. Eg hood, mudguard. The paint can be colour matched if you take it to a good auto paint shop. I would then use rubbing compound to get rid of the dead paint on the rest of the car. This then gets finish off with a polish with Rally Wax.

If the paint has small cracks and chip a tempory fix is to first polish it with a colour matched polish, then Rally Wax.

If you get stuck with a 6volt, there is a guy at our Crankhandel club that sell them. Just PM me.

[GavinHuart]

Karma, I used a brilliant polish/wax on mine and it brought the paint back to a marvelous shine. It's by Wynns and called Paint Revive. There are two steps: The one bottle is basically like a gentle rubbing compound that you'd apply first by hand with an applicator sponge in circular movements. (When the sales guy insisted I bought the special sponge, I thought he was just pulling my leg - I was SO wrong, it does a fantastic job). You let that dry for about half an hour or so (NEVER IN THE SUN) then, buff it off with a very soft cloth. Round number two is the Wynns Paint Revive Sealant which you apply in exactly the same way. I do mine often and tend to do a couple of applications of the compound first, one after the other letting them dry and be buffed off in-between, and finally finish it off with the Sealer. Each bottle is about R50 - R60 and the sponge was in the region of R40 all available from Autozone (guaranteed at Blitz Motor Spares, Rock Cottage)

[karmakoma]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
Gavin, does the Wynns product also fill small cracks and chips like a colour polish?

Tom please excuse my ignorance, what is 300 line? I know two things about spraypainting, "niks en F-all".

How would I prep the hood and mudguard for this paint, just sand them down or leave it all up to the panelbeater.

Anyone know of the almost impossible to find:a GOOD, RELIABLE, REASONABLY priced panelbeater in JHB with experience on classic cars to colour match and spray?

[ZeroAxe]

The most important thing that nobody has mentioned about a 12v conversion is the wiring. That car still has it's STOCK 6VOLT harness. And to those that says that it is not a problem, Almost started a fire in the Fastback(that is now stupidly converted to 12V) not too long after the conversion. Those wires are OLD, and the plastic insulation is BRITTLE. So think this over carefully 'ou maat' Rather 'sukkel jou gat af' to get a 6v battery, than sitting with a possible fire-damaged Beetle. BTW, I still have all the parts for the Fastback's 6v system. when I get the TIME, one day I will restore my Fastback to STOCK 6v!!!

[karmakoma]

I think I have found a 6V battery, just need to make time to fetch it!
Was also wondering about the wires, they are also metal and must also then oxidize with age?

Watched a video on youtube about things to look for when buying an old beetle. Saw some horrendous heater channel rot, and the car looked fine from the outside! Of course that had me checking my car again tonight after work and after re-inspection (at least without taking the running boards off) all looks OK!

[karmakoma]

Would dropped spindles be regarded as sacrilege on an original bug, it is a simpy bolt on and bolt off is it not ?
I think an OG ACVW with a slightly altered stance on vintage wheels looks the part, but thats just me.

[Chris]

Yes Karma,they are just bolt ons and would be better than a beam chop.

[Ron&Gill]

My answer is: Fine. I am doing the same with Gill's bus, anything I do, must be totally reversible, no cutting, no welding, bolt on, bolt off. I am modifying yet restoring to original.

Mods: Banjo steering wheel, gear shift, engine (kept original 1200cc), RGBs (have originals)
Restore: Replace bay window front suspension with splitty, re-instal semaphores, remove front indicators. etc.

My view is conservation, yet enjoyment. No sense in having a museum piece that you are not enjoying. But that's just me, I'm sure there are other opinions and folks are entitled to them.

Sometimes I don't understand people struggling with 6V-12V upgrades for example, but I admire their tenacity. Sometimes I get gooseflesh when I see a chopped up split-oval but at least it's still out there eating the road.