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Topic: My 1975 1200 Beetle (Read 1326 times) previous topic - next topic

My 1975 1200 Beetle

Copied across from the old forum so hopefully ti reads properly!! ;D

And it begins again! after speaking to a friend who knew i was looking for a beetle i was put onto a 1200 in, what im assured is, Phoenix Red. The car is a northern ireland car from new, being sold in O'Hare's in Armagh which is now long closed. Its totally unmolested, still on its original steels, original radio, interior etc etc and comes with its original service book stamped all up to 1986.

It does need work down the passenger sill were it needs patching and possibly a little in the floor too but aside from that its ready to go. plans are simple at this stage - get it repaired and then MOT'd! Ill get photos on later, having problems with photobucket at the moment. itching to get it home but having to wait until saturday! seems like a lifetime away!

some photos -









absolutely dying to get at this!!!

Today is beetle day!! going to collect it after lunch and thoroughly excited. Rang the insurance company earlier and got it insured on my multi-car policy for only £50! genuinely chuffed at that, limited mileage to 3k and valued at 2.5k. once it gets all the tarting up treatment well about getting that upped. have also been going through the owners history folder and whilst there isnt a mass of old invoices, theres quite a few for the past 5 or 6 years with there having been thousands spent on it.

love this - the old service book, stamped to 1986 and tucked inside the cover were two documents. a 12 month warranty and then a certificate of conformity, not seen that before unless its an air cooled thing? also the original green tax book, havent seen one of those for years.



also theres old mots going back to 2003 which is nice, someone seems to have taken a lot of care with ti over the years. also, as far as i can see, im the fourth owner, the third being the fella i bought it from who has only had it for about 6 months.



once its home ill get some photos up if its still light outside.

Quote from: 8v_chris
well got some better photos this morning









The powerhouse that is the 1200



All in all im happy with it and figured this morning would be an opportunity to get a really good look around it.

first thing was to try and sort the headlight main beam. pulling back on the stalk just flashes the lights, the main beam wont engage. after doing some reading and speaking to a few people it would seem that the relay is at fault and figuring i cant make it worse i took it apart. seems to be pretty cheap to be honest, a non genuine generic part.



this is the mystery panel. It has three different switches, one a plunger type, a pull out switch that brings a light on and the other a light switch type.



the plunger type is for the windscreen washers. the other two though im not sure. The pull out one that brings a light on is, im guessing, for the rear window demister as i cant see a switch for it anywhere else. the flick switch i have no idea. ive tried to track it into the fuse box theres over spray over all the wires running to the back of the fuse box and they are all orange so the search stops there for now. the wires are one black and one yellow and red.

the main issue that the car has is rust. it wouldnt a 41 year old beetle without but there is quite a lot, compared to the mk2 anyway.







the entire floor pan is unsupported from the bottom of the a pillar to the c pillar along the sill and actually moves up and down if you wiggle it. had a poke with the screw driver, as you do, to see the extent to which it stretches and im not that happy to be honest. i knew it needed work but its pretty serious i think. also, the heater channel appears to loaded to the gills with expanding foam? you can see all white patches in the photos. my guess is that a previous owner found some rot and figured that would keep it bay, who knows! eitehr way it will need to be rectified and what concerns me is wether it can be repaired properly or not without separating the floor pan from the body. its going to the body shop on saturday so this has the potential to be very expensive.

my goal is to try and get it an mot before the new year, or even by the end of january but i think the limiting factor here will be my bank balance haha

just a quick photo of the sacrilege! Ford parts in the beetle!



tempted to try and remove all that and stick a standard washer bottle back in and get the washers running off the stalk again, want rid of the buttons up above.

when i got in from work i had to and have a fiddle so got the passenger seat out and was able to have a proper dig at the floor. as expected there was more rust but the good news is ive found where it stops, i think, and its right to the seat runner and runs right along the car. also, the running board was sounding pretty crunchy so i took it off and surprise, its rotten too.









you cant really see it the photos but you could pretty much fold it lengthways. the drivers is in far better shape but its still not great so both need to be replaced. also there was a litle rot in the sill on the runner side so thatl need sorted too.

had a proper head in hands moment again but itl be grand! well get there in the end!

this is the only photo i got when i was taking the beetle apart, was busy photographing the different electrical connections.



we now have the wings off (all four), bumpers off, interior out, petrol tank out, any bolts that were still in the floor have been undone and removed along with the bolts holding the body to chassis in the arches and in the front. in terms of surprise rot ive been very lucky. there doesnt seem to have been too much else found that i didnt know about already but theres been a few oddities. firstly, there are no bolts and the 'u' bend style washers down the drivers side. the bolt holes where they would ordinarily be arent there and i get the impression theyve been smoothed over. the whole drivers side has been extensively patched and im thinking it might be worth doing the drivers floor too. its solid but whilst the body is off i think it should be repaired properly and not left, we'll see how we get on. what really worries me is that if the bolts arent there, how has the floor been held on and once we get in behind and get a look i bet its been welded, ive just got that feeling. the other issue was the sill in behind the running board wasnt great either, but nothing serious. behind the arches themselves there were one or two bolts that just sat and spun as the captive nut had given up on the inside so they need put right too. all in all a little more work than i first thought but nothing terrifying either.

ok so little has really happened over christmas and the last month or so. the bug is in the body repair shop still and hasnt been touched, im currently waiting behind a mk4 escort of all things, but i suppose its better sitting there rather than in my driveway in the elements. with little going on at this end i started to get the interior ready.

after some looking around online i found a crowd in england who made mail order interiors for vws. there was some email ping pong and three weeks or so later, these appeared.













although the photos look blue, theyre dark grey vinyl with ivory piping and stitching with matching door cards. really, really impressed with these and cant wait to get them into the car.

ive also started to get the kick boards made up as the original ones are in poor shape



threw a few layers of outdoor varnish on them too to protect them. the rear side of the door cards will get the same treatment before they go into the car.



lastly, this is the carpet sample of anthracite that will see the kick boards covered and the floors of the beetle covered once the sound deadening goes in.



hopefully, it all comes together nicely. the next job on the list is to order that carpet and then to get the seat pads replaced. managed to source the pads needed for a later base spec car so once they arrive the seats will hopefully be sorted.

FINALLY!! we have movement!! The beetle actually feels like its getting somewhere!

firstly though, this. this really made me laugh. good value for money must be code for heartache and frustration!



the current view of the floor



the drivers side



the passenger side



the overall body



basically the shopping list consists of complete floor pans x2, heater channels and closing panels x2, complete frame head, nose and then other assorted bits and pieces. thats just the obvious stuff but there will be more. really happy to finally see some movement though. the floor should be out by the end of today and then once the front suspension is off the frame head can come out too!

Re: My 1975 1200 Beetle

Reply #1 –
called in this morning to see the beetle and its getting on. all the replacement panels arrived towards the end of last week, the rotten floor pans have been cut out leaving not a huge pile.



the new floor pans have then been trial fitted. there is a little needed in the way of alternation and 'massage' to get them to fit but hopefully they will be in over the course of today.



the fly in the ointment is the frame head and front beam. it looks rough in the photos because it is rough!! the new frame head came and needs fitted but it cant go on until the floors are at least tacked in.



this is another problem. i had hoped to simply collect the axle, take it away, get it powder coated and then renew all the bushed but it seems that now isnt possible as its rotten!



ill need to get a replacement one and reasonably quickly so that once the frame head and all is ready then the axle can go back on.

got a new front beam today and spent a few hours taking off the paint and surface rust.







Going to get rust inhibitor treated and then coated with stuff specific for restorations, metaflux zinc spray. meant to be the dogs.

the embodiment of persistence!! The small metal bush that secured the bottom of the shock to the trailing arm that got left behind when the old shocks were taken off and refused to budge!



the finished beam! still need to get it on the car all the same but for now im feeling rather accomplished!






if it doesnt kill me first!!

frame head came off today! it was repair over repair over repair. the bottom was one big plate that had been welded on the cover it all with a collar that slipped back over the chassis. took them nearly a day to get it off but after loads of cutting and prying it popped off.



theres not a huge amount to them once you start to take them apart.



with some luck the new frame head and floors should be going on over the coming days.

floors being lined up ready to be welded on, shouldnt be long now. been thinking, which did hurt a little, and im going to make a few changes whilst the car is being stripped down this far, namely a possible a colour change as well a few other potential aesthetic changes.



on another note, the beetle now has a floor! the heater channels arent ready just yeat but the frame head has been tacked on for first fit, the floors either side are the same and now everything lines up!







only issue is the heater channels are fouling on the jacking arms so they may go, need to have a look at that.





getting very excited at this stage. theres still loads to do, theres a quite a lot of work needing done around the base of the bulkhead and the likes but its getting there.

once the shell is welded up and the new heater channels are fitted then itl come off again and get media blasted. this bit makes me very nervous as you can imagine. the might not be much left.

some movement over the past two weeks. body off to help get the floors lined up





dash out along with everything else. loom out and away to be duplicated so ill have a new one.



love old stickers :D



more rot







so the plan is now to get the remainder of the floor pan welded in on the drivers side, get the heater channel welded into the shell and then the shell will go off to the blasters. teh heater channel needs to go in prior as there will be lots of it getting blown out by the blaster. its clean rotten down the drivers side.

on a positive note, the petrol tank is getting refurbed so at least something is being done! also picked a new colour, it wont be orange any longer.

work is getting rightly, now all the seam welding to hold the floors in has been done so the floorpan is now complete! Next the shell is up.



currently this is holding the shell together!



but it was held long enough together to get this done and trial fit a door. the metal work at the front arch bottom has since bene finished.





this is the bottom of the quarter behind the door, totally rotten so after hacking through the isopon to get at the metal, this was the result. fresh metal has since been welded in



so all in all the drivers side, which is the worst of the two by far, is coming on rightly, a lot of it has been done.

the scuttle was next of the hit list and its really not great.





ive had to buy a replacement panel but as they dont seem to make this part, not for my year anyways, ive had to buy a body cut from a scrap car. dreading to dee the state it arrives in but hopefully itll be ok.

at home then in the garage ive been making up brake pipes to replace the rotten ones that feed the master cylinder from the reservoir. its no wonder i had trouble stopping the car. this was under all the rust.



the rest wernt great, so they have been replaced. the top two that sat up under the reservoir were in great shape and cleaned up well so im going to keep them i think.

also been cleaning up the petrol tank, back to bare metal and then cleaned and brought up again using por15 petrol tank treatment on the inside and their top finish paint for the outside.



finish doesnt look great here because it still wet but the paint settled well and its lovely and smooth now.



just waiting on the tank hardening on the inside now before it get wrapped up and put away until its needed.

hard to think its taken nearly three years to get to this stage!!

next on the list - car is going to the media blasters to have the rot blown out of the shell. cross all the fingers and toes that it doesnt come back in a bag!

Re: My 1975 1200 Beetle

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Eddypeck on
Coming along great. I’d love another beetle but can’t see that happening. Just would have been nice if I’d managed to have had mine for longer.
Cheers, its still very slow and this bloody virus hasn't helped. it only needs a little welding now hopefully too so paint *shouldnt* be a million miles away. hard to believe ive had it as long as i have.

Re: My 1975 1200 Beetle

Reply #4 –
A wee update, these are some photos taken a few months ago and forgot to update them. Basically, work on the inner arches, the bulkhead and the new nose going on.

















The nose has been welded in place since these were taken too so its getting there. all the work on scuttle is done too.