Back from Vacation

I recently came back from vacation. My girlfriend and I took a long drive from Massachusetts to Northern Virginia. to visit an old high school friend we hadn't seen in decades. Coincidently it was also the first major heatwave to hit the region. Despite this we visited a bunch historic sites and caught up with our classmate.

Of course this tore me away from my beloved Bug who has been starving for attention. I did miss it and took it out for a short drive when I finally came home. I sense it missed me as much as I missed her. Even in a short drive around the neighborhood manages bring a smile to my face. I'm sure the Bug would smile too if it could.

My goal in the next coming weeks is to finish patching a couple of rust holes and troubleshooting the horn and fuel gauge and finally go for that illusive state inspection sticker. My timeline is to get it by August 19 so I can bring it to a local VW show in nearby Cumberland, Rhode Island called VW's on the Hill. I went to it last year but the Bug wasn't ready. It gives me a goal to shoot for.

Drive safe out there.

11 Months....

Boy have I slacked in posting here since buying my Bug. You'd think I'd be posting VW stuff all the time after driving home with my orange Bug last summer. Today I check the blog and realized it's almost been a year since my last posting. I feel a bit ashamed I haven't shared whats happened over the past year. 

 

The first car wash last summer.

At first driving home was the initial excitement at my set of wheels.  My brother loved it. To my mother it was just an old car. Her big concern was that her sister was killed in one in 70's. Not much I could do about that I guess. It certainly got a lot of looks and comments when I went out. Almost every time I've gone out it's gotten comments from people. It's usually "What year is it?" or "I had one of those" or some variant. It certainly gets attention and smiles. 

I spent the next month or so cleaning, assessing and repairing what I could do myself. Then my daily driver needed attention to pass state inspection which tore into my time, energy and money that I'd rather be lavishing on the Beetle. Then I got back with my girlfriend, who had ditched me earlier just before summer started, which inevitably took my time and energy elsewhere. We did attend one VW show in the late summer and made an amusing observation that I had found my people as I blended in with the crowd there. I'm happy to be among my people.

Back in the Bug again

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. Since then I've become a Bug owner once again. I'm not sure where to start. It's a bright orange 1974 Volkswagen Bug. I wasn't sure about the color at first but I've grown to love it. It had been sitting since around 2004. It was being sold by a friend of the actual owner. 

The orange VW has just over 112000 miles and rough but drivable condition. The it ran very rough and had a tough time idling. Over the last six weeks I've been working on stuff to get it at least in state inspection ready. The body was solid but had dings, scratches and one minor dent on the trunk. The paint was oxidized and dull from sitting around. Other than some rust through behind the driver side floor pan the rest were in good shape. 

After some thought I plunked down the cash for it and it was mine. I was a bit rusty driving a standard but I made it home. Then the adventure begins......

I've Got The Bug Again

Recently I've gotten the itch to purchase another Beetle. It may seem odd hat I run a blog about VW Beetles yet I don't own own one. I did several years ago but sold it after some life changes and the fact it became a full blown restoration that I couldn't finish(or wasn't able to).

Despite the set back I learned to go about owning and driving my future VW Beetle a little differently than the first time. The first one was 71 Super Beetle which was priced under a $1000 which I thought was a great deal. It did run but had no brakes so I had to have it towed home where it sat in my garage.

 

Over the years I've read countless stories in car magazines and online of those who have restored barn finds and diamonds in the rough. It all seems so easy and has a touch of romance in a wrench turner type of way. I thought I'd be able to with this one. All I need is some wrenches and paint right?

So what were those obstacles? Probably the same ones that trouble many.....time, money, patience, money, ability and money. Did I mention money?

The Volkswagen Beetle has a phenomenal following being one of the most iconic automobiles in history. Although they may be cheaper than some classic cars they still cost money to restore and repair. 

Time

At the same time I bought this I was also starting a family. Although my wife had liked the idea of buying the Beetle between family and working full-time didn't leave a lot of time to pay attention to the Beetle. It's a no brainer that family should be a priority in your life. You also need to work to pay the mortgage to have the roof over your head and food for kids to eat.

Money

At first it didn't seem like it'd be a big deal getting our VW on the road. Fix the brakes and patch a few rust holes and we'll be golden. Boy was I wrong although it took awhile to realize it. Parts are in abundance for restoration or repair for VW as they enjoy a phenomenal following even decades after they stopped making them. Almost any part you can imagine is out there somewhere. Compared to other classic cars they aren't as expensive but they are still not cheap and they do add up. Especially when you're paying a mortgage, feeding kids and begging for some money from your spouse for a hobby. 

Patience

I grew up reading car magazines about the joys of restoring a classic car buried in a barn or on the way the junkyard only to be lovingly restored to show car quality just like that. What sometimes gets glossed over is the time involved. Between work and family I'd be lucky to get an hour or two of time of actual garage time. It also depended on weather cause despite being garaged there was no heat and I'm not a fan of working in an unheated garage in a New England winter.There was also lots of time researching parts online. Being a Super Beetle made part's search a little more challenging. The big focus in the air-cooled Beetles parts and restoration is the pre-68 model's. Add that the Super Beetle was made only for about 5 years made it a little tougher. 

Ability

I'm sure many of us have seen those reality shows of those restoring and rebuilding cars all in about 45 minutes or a whole season depending on the show. You have to realize many of them doing this have an incredible amount of skill, knowledge and access to tools that most auto technicians only drool over. In short they are professional with a bigger budget than your normal do-it-yourselfer tinkering with their hobby car in the garage in the odd hour they might sneak away when their spouses or significant other wasn't looking. 

I have some mechanical ability and understanding. I can do brakes, oil changes, exhausts and other basic mechanic. A simple as an air-cooled Beetle there is still a bit of a learning curve going from your traditional liquid cooled front engine vehicle to an air cooled rear engine vehicle. I had to hone up on my knowledge with books, video(I highly recommend the "Bug Me" video series)  and of course dirt covered hands on experienced. 

Like I said restoring a classic air-cooled Beetle can be a challenge. Try to be aware of and be realistic of the time, money, patience and ability needed to restore a classic Bug.  I'll cover what happened to our Super Beetle at another time. I'm going to look at another Super Beetle tomorrow so my VW saga is not finished yet. Take care.

1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle (VW 1303) Start Up, Exhaust, In Depth Revie...

A nice close up look at a 1973 Super Beetle.