Engine in, bonnet and boot.

So last weekend was getting the engine in, A few jack and lot of work and eventually it was in. It was a much longer job and more work than expected to get it lined up and in. When it was in it started to become a bit clearer why. The engine is a cm of where it should be Slightly over and up from what is expected. We believe the car had a bump at some point and probably having been hit from behind has bent the floor back end supports a little so we will need to jog them slightly to get it to fit nicely as currently it is a bit close to one side and the tailpipes will rub the body work. However the engine is looking great with the powder coated tinware.

Powder coated tinware looking good

 This weekend we fitted the bonnet and boot. Both took a bit of time to adjust and sort to make sure they don't scrap the body work at all, once on they were looking great and it really does look like a car again.

So that is all the major work done, Lots of finishing touches to be added like sorting the engine, getting it running, bumpers and side skirts but really is starting to get there now. 

Visors!

I had recovered the original visors with some of the old roof lining but this was hard and they looked a bit saggy in places so i decided to buy some new ones. I ordered them and was excited to fit them when they arrived. However they were to short! A bit of back and forth with the suppliers and they even checked that they should fit a 1303 which they should but as you can see they are about 1-1.5cm to short. No idea why and no one has managed to figure it out yet which is a shame. Having to return them to the shop as they just don't fit but apparently they are the right ones for my car. Looks like i might have to have another go at recovering the originals. I might look for a different fabric that will be easier to sew then the plastic feel of the old headliner.

New visors are just to short

Windows, wings and doors.

As i am catching up on these posts i am not quite sure if i am doing it in quite the right order but it has started to come together nice and quickly now which is great and starting to look like a car again.

The fuel tank is painted and in the car, not completely fitted yet but ready to go. We spent a day putting the windows in the car, The first took a bit of time and was a pain but it was our learning curve and we soon got quicker with the others. All windows where fitted in a day

Fuel tank and windows in.

 Next to go on was the wings, this is something that really does give it the beetle look. I opted for a grey wing beading to work with the colour of the paint and this was a success. With the wings on it was time to wire in some lights, took a while to get them all working as they should be with testing them all out but all are working now.

Front wings on now, giving it that beetle look

Rear wings and lights on 

Lights working on the back and showing the back window in.

 Next to go on were the doors, I built up the windows on the doors first fitting in the quarter lights and getting the window winder mechanism in. The only think is i think i need to replace one as the teeth for the handle aren't grabbing it right, better to get it replaced now then trying to sort it later.
Also starting to get some chrome trim on as I work on polishing them up to make them nice and shiny after all the years of being on there. As with all beetles the door seal was a joy, it is like they make them as big and bouncy as possible so that the door can bounce back at you if it doesn't catch the lock. I remember the same with my first beetle. After a bit of adjusting and leveling the door went on ok.

Love the quarter lights on a beetle.

Rear side view. Looking like a car

Seats go in

It was time to get all the seats into the car. The rear seat sloted in nicely and looked great. I was nice at last to have a proper seat in the car and we sat there for a few minutes to admire it and try out the seatbelts 😃 

Rear seat fitted with door cards 

 So next where the front seats, after a quick check to make sure all the seat mechanism was in corrected the seat slotted in well. I am so pleased with how they look and they really compliment the interior of the car and work with the paint colour well. I did originally plan for denim fabric seats as this is something i always liked in the jeans car and also would work well with the denim paint colour. However i was concerned that the denim might wear a lot or even the colour come off onto light fabrics so when i found this woven blue fabric that gave a similar effect in the same colour as i wanted i opted for that. The grey piping sets it off nicely to. So what do you think of the seats i recovered from scratch?

Engine build

Hubby has been working hard on the engine rebuild. This is one part i have left up to him to do as he knows best with this and i know he will do a great job. He has put together the conrods and pistons and made sure everything is nicely balanced and all greased up just as it should be. 

 Moved it into his garage to build it together fitting it all into the engine casing and everything had a good clean before hand and all the bearing etc are new and a new clutch and fly wheel. Starting to come together really well

Interior continues

So after the headlining had gone in i continued with the interior fitting the carpets into the car. I bought simple black carpets to fit and with a bit of work they fitted really well and really pleased with the result. They didn't have a rubber edge strip across the doors like the last one did so i tool the strip from the old carpets and used them to fit the new carpets which worked really well.

Carpet all fitted into the car and looking really smart

New carpet fitted and looking smart.

As you can see from some of the earlier photos the interior is a dark denim blue colour fabric with accents of grey. I made the seat covers and covered the door cards myself. I even created piping to give a nice effect and did all the sewn panels and styling as the original were. I wanted a modern new take on the original seats in the colours and fabric that would work with the car and be a little different from the shop bought ones. I am so pleased with how they turned out, better than i could  have wished for and really proud i made them myself. I don't think people would be able to tell.

Rear seat and door cards in and seatbelts fitted.

Ended up getting some new seatbelts and the old ones were worn and the rear i hated the huge inertia bit being at the top in full view so i opted for static seatbelts so that they look nice and chances are they will have little use anyway.

The start of the interior

It was time for starting to fit some of the bigger interior parts. It is nice to be working on the car with all clean bits and pieces to put together. That said we fully waxoyled the car. All the bits and pieces inside the door panels, any nocks, heater channels etc. All to keep it going longer.

So the original felt and roof sound deadening in, time to start on the headlining. Having read lots on the internet and looked at pictures, one thing i learnt, they are really hard to fit! The door post went really well, Got it on nice and smooth with a really good spray glue that grabs instantly. Couldn't resist getting the grab handles on to.

 Next was the headlining itself. After getting the old rods in and all up on the roof i started at the front and moved it to the back to lay it out. Then i started from the front, gluing to the front and working my way back. It fitted really nicely around the door opening and looks really smooth a the front

 Moving back, as the instructions said it got a lot harder. Although i have the TMI headlining, turns out they aren't made the way they used to.  I soon realised that they don't taper the rear parts of the headlining like they used to and struggling to find any good fitted headliners online i decide to tailor the back part to try and get a better fit. A bit of unpicking and re-sowing i wished i had realised before starting to save doing it in the car. So after 2 whole days to get that far it was time for the big glue and fit around the back. I really took my time to get as smooth a finish as possible. There are a couple of little areas that i want to try and smooth out with the hairdryer but i'll wait and see if they settle first.
But all in all it looked good and the truth is, when everything is in you don't even look at the roof. I put the read door panels in that i have recovered, gives you a sneak peak at what my interior will look like. Put the old original part of carpet in the back to get a feel for what it will look like. Really pleased how it is coming together

Bits and pieces coming together

Next was getting some of the interior back in. The steering completed and the steering column back in. Might have took about 3 attempts to make sure we had all the bits and pieces in.
The the wiring loom went in. Luckily all marked up made it easier to work out what goes inside, to the front and to the rear.

 The wiring all in to the engine bay ready to go, Next i started to put some seals in, bonnet and boot seals fitted to the car.

 Then it was time to put some new sound deadening in. Some good quality matting to the floor doors, and boot to keep some of the rattles and drumming down. However i am not going over the top trying to block out all the nose as i think that is some of the charm of having a classic car.

The rebuild begins.

With the body back from the paint shop it was time to start to put it all back together. The front suspension started to go on, one of those jobs that are easier said than done to get it all together with the new bushes in, but with a bit of perseverance it was put back together. 

 At the other end the gear box was put on, Rear dampners, drive shafts and rear breaks. Already starting to look like a car is coming together, Everything is getting a good coating of the relevant grease or copper grease as it goes together.

Then it was time to call in the favours, time to lift the body onto the floorpan. Not wanting to risk any scratches we got in plenty on man power to lift and position and it went on lovely. So nice to see it back together after all this time.

 Front suspension then put back on. Springs, drums, etc all the original parts powder coated or painted up look as good as new. One thing i quickly learnt was that all the paint, especially the marine paint on the floor means tapping out the screw holes.

Then the wheels went on and it really started to look like a car again. Still loads to go but starting to feel like we are starting to make real progress. It has been a long time getting to this stage with moving house, renovating it, building garages and completing the garden but now the focus is back on the bug.

All painted and ready for rebuilding

So everything is now painted, all the wings, bonnet, boot, inside and out and the wheels painted body colour to. So pleased with the finished result. I love the colour and the standard of paint is amazing.

Also while the body was off to paint i got some of the suspension and breaking system powder coated in black and started to build it up ready for assembly. Brakes and suspension all built up and all the main parts are the original with just the usual brake pads etc bought new,

The the last prep job was putting a good coat of underseal onto the bottom of the floorpan to add extra protection and keeping it going for many more years.

Then it was time to pick up the body from the paint shop, looks amazing and now the rebuild can begin. Most the parts are ready to go back on. Rich has been working on getting all the engine parts ready and i have completed the reupholstery of the seats and covering of the door cards which are looking really good. Haven't taken any photos yet so will save that for another day.