Your advice please...novice in need

[aFFCn_fan]

Hi all

So it's been about three months since I first posted on here...and I've made a major step in becoming a weekend customising king....or drive around in a very unintentional rat rod of a beetle.

I've got no real engineering experience, but I've done some research on what I want my beetle ('72 I think) to become. I've looked through Volksrod sites, and various Max my ride magazines. So I need your advice on where I should start.

My car runs...I drove it from where I bought it in Roodepoort back to Sandton. It went ok down the highway - 120 was a bit jumpy, but 110 was fine. The chassis, brakes, bodywork, etc seem pretty good.

It's been painted yellow fairly recently I think, and I want to spray it a glossy black, adding decals at a later stage.
I've bought some adaptor plates so I can fit alloys.
It's basic inside, i.e. needs a bit of an overhaul. The front seats need replacing, the roof lining and carpet, etc need to be sorted. No stereo.
In time I think I'd like to start tuning and improving the engine, but I would like to get it more comfortable inside first and do a bit of a quick fix in terms of getting some wheels on it. I'm thinking to buy the easy stuff like wheels, steering wheel, seats and interior stuff first. I saw a post earlier on here (brakes and suspension 1st, but they seem ok).

It's not my main car, it's more of a project, but I want it as a bit of a run about town that isn't so heavy on petrol from time to time. So it can be in the garage for a while, if necessary. In my head I have all these plans, and my question to you bunch of V-dub gurus is where do I start? what advice would you offer a novice?

[MrT]

Maybe a good start will be to post a picture

[aFFCn_fan]

This is it so far. I need to get pics of inside, but not in too bad condition. Maybe a little rust down by the passenger door

[s-thang]

mmm ask yourself this...
what would you like to drive.... a rat, show car, customized cal look.....?
when I first got my car, I didn't want to change anything on it (cut for speakers etc...) so I did superficial stuff , like add stickers etc...
but first, I went into mechanical details, overhauled the engine, brakes, pipes etc....
safety first!
from there on, the possibilities are endless!
just my 2 cents

http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 37&t=23693

[MrT]

This is it so far. I need to get pics of inside, but not in too bad condition. Maybe a little rust down by the passenger door

It is such a nice car. I would restore it to showroom condition!