Been a bit....

[bosco 13,026]

Been a bit absent lately..... but for a good reason!!

 

Ever since I can remember, my dad has been bringing home cars to tinker with in the hopes that I would take a project on with him. When I was younger, I always seemed to have a million other things to do other than hanging out with my dad.  Of course as you get older in life you realize that each day that you have with your parents is a gift. 
 

My dad has always loved muscle cars, however, we both seem to love Classic VWs.  My dad has brought home at least a dozen.  When I was 15 we had 2 1974 super beetles and I really thought that I would get involved. Money and time never permitted and my dad let them go.  
 

10 years ago my dad found a hidden gem.  An original owner 1968 convertible from California. Some guy that my dad new drove it back to Canada and began restoring it.  Before he passed away, he completed a full restoration of the frame.  He did a body off restoration on the chassis.  My dad ended up being able to buy it from another person that took over the garage. 
 

This car had a special place in my dads heart. He buys and sells everything and never seems to keep anything for himself.  Well this lasted a decade.  He recently sold his 74 Dodge Dart swinger slant six and figured that it was time to jump in on the VW with both feet.  
 

in my early 40s now I figured it was time that I too fulfilled his 30 year request to help tackle a restoration project.  
 

sorry long winded I know....

 

 

for the past 10 years this beetle has gone up and down the driveway.  It runs great but a total eyesore.  The original colour was Yukon yellow and someone sprayed it black after what we now know to be a result of some bad body work from a collision prior to the 90s.  
 

We are not body work people and we found an excellent body shop to bring my dads dream back to life!!  

 

And after 10 years of this sitting it was officially off for a new start....

Turns out that we had more rot than we had expected and we found out that the front end was caved in from a collision and never repaired.  
 

our fenders were rotted as well as the hood and front apron.  So we had to replace a bunch of parts.  We sourced New old stock items and were able to find 35-40 year old brand new parts. 
 

 

 

 

 

after a month getting body just right and lots of metal added to some shady spots we are just at the painting stage.  
 

The body shop messaged me yesterday to show me a teaser.....

 

 

we went with royal red over the original Yukon yellow.  My dads favourite colour and quite frankly maybe mine too now lol.  
 

We are going sometime next week to see the progress.  Can’t wait to see how this looks all corrected and brought back to life.  
 

Still have a long road ahead of us to get this back to life, however, spending this time with my dad has been an amazing experience for me.  

 

 

 

[Vanole 91]

Great story...BUT...an even better way to spend your time.

[ckreef 19,643]

Good project. Looks like it's coming along nicely. 

 

[philpom 7,284]

Looking great and even better that it comes with all of those memories.  I have been wanting a beetle for along time.  At one point I had a couple of Opel GT's, I want another of those to tinker with also.

[TKOBBQ 5,562]

Nice, hope you continue to take us along on this journey, enjoy the memories you are making. 

[retfr8flyr 1,569]

Great project, nice to be able to do it with your dad. Dave Kendig started his business doing VW bugs and still has a soft spot in his heart for them.

[bosco 13,026]

Thanks all... this is more an opportunity of creating memories with my dad now.  I feel blessed!!  
 

A few updates ...

 

 

 

 

[lnarngr 207]

That is great. 

Time with Dad is priceless! 

You are lucky he was patient; I bet he's a great father! 

Kule car as well!

[bel4_20 312]

That is amazing @bosco I love seeing this from one standpoint being a former Mechanic and also being in my mid forties i've unfortunately lost both my parents within the last 4 years so this hits home spend as much time as you can because a blink of the eyes and there gone. I wish I had more time with them. Love the VW love the colour! looking forward to seeing it finished!

[bosco 13,026]

Paint was finished today.  Now they will start sanding and buffing.  Should get it back in two weeks I am guessing.  Then our work begins again 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[keeperovdeflame 9,973]

Very touching story, Bosco, and those are truly classic California Cars. Had a friend in college that had one painted bright yellow. We drove  the wheels off the thing. Now in the neighborhood there is a retired lady that has one painted red with white pin striping that says "Gramma's Buggy" (her son in law bought and restored it for her. She loads it up with grand kids and is always driving it all over the neighborhood, kids love it. Just saw them yesterday out looking for Deer in the neighborhood.  Great way to spend some quality time with your dad. Nothing like doing a project together to bring people closer together. 

[daninpd 1,876]

Man, @bosco, you are bringing that thing back from nearly being dead.  You and your Dad are going to be proud driving that.

[Brick Pig 468]

This is awesome!

[bosco 13,026]

I haven’t updated this post in a while.  We completed the body and paint work a few months ago. 

 

put on a new windshield and reinstalled all of our glass.  

 

fenders and running boards installed. 
 

 

we will have our hands filled with re-wiring the car.  My dad has his electrical ticket so we plan on doing this ourselves.  As you can see the wiring looks like a birds nest right now. 
 

 

[bosco 13,026]

So we have been busy over the past few months since we got her home.  
 

first thing we added all of our exterior trim, emblems, bumpers, mirrors, a second antenna as the first one was installed incorrect and we broke it.  
 

this car did not come with a stereo when it was built in 68 so we added an original 68 stereo and speaker.  
 

the wiring was a total mess.  We ended up with a new panel, switches and relays and we were chasing wires for weeks until everything was finally sorted out.  
 

We had alignment issues with the front hood as it was after market and we spent a great deal of time getting it set. Still a work in progress, however; it locks now and latches.  
 

installed the dashboard and all components and we have a working radio finally. 
 

we added tar sound proofing kit to the floor and trunk.  And this week we started putting the interior trunk together.  
 

we should have all of the carpet installed shortly  and we will be installing the seats.  They could be resorted, however; dad wants to keep them as is for now.   We have an appointment with an interior upholstery guy in a few weeks to patch a few parts.  
 

we spent the past two weeks looking for a passenger foot rest that needed to be installed prior to the carpet installation.  We found one finally so we can proceed with the rest of the carpet kit.