Its now the winter of 2002, The
longer nights are with us and the restoration of the new Bug is still not
finished. I can't believe how long this project has taken- As its the 3rd
I should have rattled through it -"But No" I plod on and on and every
job takes 4 times longer then expected. Well next year I'm determined to have
the thing up and running and hopefully at a rally. (but don't hold me to it). This page is a follow up
from the previous article a 3rd continues the saga with a forth coming next
year that will cover the respray and the first major
drive. Some of the drivel below has previously appeared this year on my home
page but has been re written.
After the chassis was finished it was time to extricate it from the garden shed . This necessitated removing the engine and gearbox and then turning the whole chassis onto its side. The lump was then left on the drive while the engine was put back into place. The shock absorbers that came with the car seemed a little on the stiff side so I decided to go with a set of Spax Units.
There are 3 types of shocks currently available for the Bug- Spax, Avo and Hagon. The Hagon Shocks come complete with springs and work very well (The Round Britain Trip was done using them) but they look a bit on the thin side. Avo shocks I know very little about. Spax look the Business but need the old springs cleaned up and refitted using spring compressors.
BODY WORK
The
Next job embarked upon was the Body.. 
This had been languishing in my garage
for a while and at first glance looked to be in fair shape. It wasn't until I
started pocking around I realized how much work was needed. There was a bloody
great lump missing from the front (it looked like it had been eaten by a
hungry hippo) and the rear end had been involved in at least 2 accidents. At
some time during its life- I'm sure the car had been in a pretty bad prang.
There were signs of damage to both the rear end and one side and this had been
repaired to a fairly good standard. But I was still not happy so a lot was re done. The area
below the boot had also been shoddily repaired to such an extent
whole areas of glass fibre were removed and then braced and glassfibre'd back
into position. Fortunately the lump that had been eaten by the hippo was found
regurgitated on the garage floor and was glass fibred back into position. Body
work prep has to be done properly to ensure a good final finish but is so mind
numbingly tedious I sometimes felt like giving up. Eventually the job was
complete although I'm still not ecstatic with the result. Next year the plan is
to spray the whole car with high build primer and then a top coat of Vista
orange. Watch this Space...
During any restoration there are always moments
you look forward to whether its the running of the engine for the first time,
the completion of the respray, the first tentative drive after connecting the
brakes etc or the initial test drive after the car is completed. One of those
moments was the evening the body went back onto the chassis.
It was Wednesday 29th May - The first job was removing the body from the back garden into the front. The foremost obstacle was the gate- The Bug had to be turned onto its side and then manhandled using the banana like shape to get round the post. Once this was completed the body was laid to rest in the front garden while I contemplated the best way forward. I'm sure I had replaced a Bug's Body with the steering column in place but as it looked like it couldn't be done I unbolted it. It was then just a case of lowering the thing into place. The steering column was then fed up through the hole in the body ready to be bolted back. It was at this moment I knew something was not quite square as the column would not line up with the bolts. The problem was soon identified (the body was sitting on the T union where the brake switch should be). This was unscrewed and the body could then be made to line up.. The rear end was still not square having at one time been repaired from underneath where the top of the chassis meets the body. This was ground out and redone and would then allow the back end to sit square on the rear chassis rail. If your restoring a Bug its worth checking this area- its a known weak spot and is prone to bodgeing.
The next part for me is the best bit of any restoration- The bolting back of all those bits that had been laying up in the loft/shed/garage/kitchen/living room and under the mattress. Its a time when you can actually see the fruits of your efforts coming together. The brakes were added, the clutch fitted and all the bits to get it ready for its first test run.
FIRST ROAD TRIAL
The First road trial is always a bit of fun. Your never sure
if the clutch is going to work if the axle is going to whine and will the
brakes stop me before crashing into the nearest tree?. But the bullet had to
be bit-So the battery was whipped out of the VW Beatle and hot wired to the
engine. A gallon of fuel was placed into the tank and it it was time to see if
it would start for the first time since everything had been reconnected. The
starter motor had an extended cable fitted so it could be shorted onto the
battery. This had been wired up and was sitting in the passenger foot well. A couple of
touches on to the positive terminal had the Bug firing on all 4 cylinders and
pleading to be given a burn up the road. A lump of old foam was placed in the
seat well, the garden fence was removed and it was time for the off. 
The
car was eased into gear and then gently the clutch was released and away she
went like a bloody big go-cart up and down the village. A stupid grin appeared
as I flew down the road with Mick my neighbor being the chief camera
man. I must say she went pretty good although its hard to get a full
impression when your driving without the canopy. The brakes worked OK and
there didn't seem to be any untoward noises. The clutch needed to be adjusted
and the timing needed sorting out but apart from that I was very pleased.
For the Continuing saga see..