1954 VW Beetle Oval - The labour of madness!

[PASHN8]

My last '71 had a rear main leak for 2 years as a daily and never had a problem? Same engine is now in dads '74 L-bug and after rear main seal change is still running 8 years on! Definitely not concerned about the bottom end in this one


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[komori440]

What is it with the beetle sickness?? My first car was a 74 L bug, I learnt so much about cars just keeping it running, it was slow, fumey, rusty and loud.... But I loved that little yellow bastard with it's old school deep dish jelly bean mags and Kadron extractors with a fucked hot dog muffler. I would still kill to own a Karmann Ghia... Something about the people's car that won't let go...

Will be watching this with interest

[Biggus]

Nice oval. Now get yourself that Mendeola A-arm chassis and a big type 4 and win at life.

Here is some inspiration:

[Gammaboy]

That's fuckign awfull.
Oval window beetle deserves better than that sticker clad pos.

[Biggus]

That's fuckign awfull.
Oval window beetle deserves better than that sticker clad pos.

Different strokes for different folks. Specs in this link: http://www.remmele-motorsport.com/en/project2005.html

3 litre powerhouse. I give no fark for stickers.

[itsnotagsr]

I would paint it flat grey Luftwaffe style.

[SELfor50]

Nice one. One of my mates is a massive Vdub fan. He's got 2 kombis, 1 being an original factory built camper edition - mostly restored. The price for an end to end restoration is absolutely massive but that's if you're going concourse. You can also source plenty parts from other sources that alot of people don't know about.

Look forward to seeing the build of this unfold.

[thedude]

I would paint it flat grey Luftwaffe style.

Nah, needs more black with blackout headlight covers and nein bumpers. Hitler prototype style.

[tremolo]

[PASHN8]

Fan-fricken-tastic! Love it Trem

Update on the Oval, have bought a few more items for it including an Empi wide 5 disc kit with 2.5" dropped sprindles and a rear disc kit as well.
Have confirmed the electrical system is still 6v, so will have to gather some parts to convert it to 12v.
Options there are an early Porsche 356 12v small diameter generator or get the original 6v rewound to 12v. Haven't decided which way to go, and another old VW purchase is now probably going to push this resto to second place

[wagoner]

saw a '45 model being restored the other day. one of 2 in the country afaik.

[Euroboost]

Saw a later model with the Vintage VeeDubs aero guards, with Carrera whale tail, today and it sounded like it had more then a stocker under the lid. Still reckon Boris Ozrams(?) Oval is one of the best all round cars. Looked tough, went like a shower of shit and was just an all round good car. And probably still around!

[RNGTR]

Love this thing Dino. Ovals rock.

[Rona]

Some more inspiration, one of my mates picked this up about a 9-12 months ago.

[Monk]

Repost.

And I'm now looking through Carsales for Vdubs again... *sigh*

[PASHN8]

Wagoner - '45?? I didn't know there were any in the country, let alone that many alive still in the world??

Rona - That is VERY nice!

Rod - Always wanted one, great to see it tucked in the garage every morning patiently waiting its resto!

I picked up its stablemate albeit 7 years younger, I will start another thread for it, you guys will love it

[Stix Zadinia]

what are your doors like? pre 55 are shorter doors right? and rare?

[PASHN8]

Stix, doors are 'ribbed' doors on the inside on the early Ovals which mine has. They are in great condition bar a little rust on the bottom channel of the passenger door.

They have a few other little unique bits and pieces also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wagoner]

Wagoner - '45?? I didn't know there were any in the country, let alone that many alive still in the world??

it's one of two brought out after WW2 apparently to investigate producing them here. don't quote me on that though.
i'll be seeing the guy in the next weeks hopefully as he's doing some work for a good friend of mine. i'll get more details and maybe some pics if possible.

[PASHN8]

Update time

So we have finally launched the Oval resto officially as of the weekend! We moved the car from its storage and sent it to my Dad's garage where we have a double garage of space for the next two months, so we have to work smooth and quick.

Saturday and I managed to spend 2 hours on the Oval, but I made sure that it was as productive.
Everything went pretty smoothly bar the door hinges, lots of rusty door hinge screws that even gentle manipulation with a impact driver can't seem to budge Fun times ahead no doubt!

Plenty of WD40 on all the pan bolts before I left to soak overnight, hopefully not too much drama to undo.


As he sits at 6pm today:









Tomorrow, wiring comes out, shifter, unbolt steering column etc etc and pan off!
The fun begins

[itsnotagsr]

Would be criminal to modify it too much.

[PASHN8]

Won't be Chris

- Colour will be a period/year correct colour for the body
- Engine will remain the original 36HP
- Original split case gearbox
- Period correct interior retrim and window trims
- Correct bumpers and lights

Any retro fitted items of the current era will be hidden as best as possible and no metal will be cut in the lowering process

[itsnotagsr]

Perfect!

[uuheels]

Gee that's in good shape for its age.

[tremolo]

This is going to be a ripper, look forward to it!

[PASHN8]

Ok, body is going to the blasters tomorrow arvo, got the doors off finally!







Question for you guys.
The pan is very good and i'm sure it has been done at some point in its life. No structural rust whatsoever, no holes, and a little bit of surface rust underneath near the rear, but nothing with depth.

My original plans were to have the body blasted, wire wheel the pan back to metal, then POR15 it after prep.
Is it worth have the rolling pan blasted as well instead of wire wheeling? Engine will be removed from the pan and beam and gearbox/axles will remain to keep it mobile.

Curious to hear your thoughts on blasting a perfectly good pan, from those who have walked the road many times before.

[carcrazy]

Personally I'd blast it, you'll never ever be able to clean it as good as blasting will plus it'll be a better finish.

[turbo510]

Hey Dino,
It's looking good mate, who are you using to do the blasting?

[PASHN8]

Jake - Blast Off in Heidelberg, speak to Pete, nice guy!



Update time, the pics tell the story


Lots of old sound deadening, fun times to be had there!









Finally, body off after what seemed like a long time judging by the pan seal and rusted condition of the pan bolts. Didn't break any though, but some came close:








Beam and front end removed:






Ye Olde 36HP anchor



All the bits and pieces




Bare pan







Body pushed out onto the driveway waiting for the towie








Loaded up and ready to head to the sand blasters







Finally dropped off at the blasters ready for paint stripping





Been a good couple of weekends but glad its finally well on its way. Once blasted, body and parts will be 2k etch primed and delivered to my panel beaters for rust repair and painting

Hopefully there will still be some metal left after blasting!

[niggerjewz]

Fuck, I think i want one.

I love the idea of being able to rebuild it from the ground up literally like that!

I never had a lot of interest in these before - but being able to separate the shell from teh chassis is awesome!