Can it be fixed? VW Beetle BUDGET Restoration (EP2)

I commend you for taking on the project. Don’t jump in too deep and try to restore the car. Imo, floor pans, patch the tunnel, engine, brakes, patch the wiring for now and put it around. Then once you’re driving it you can prioritize what needs to be done next and budget accordingly. Reach out if you have any questions, the VW community is awesome.

To keep from being too overwhelmed, I suggest you purchase the best quality (thickness gauge metal) floor pans, transfer those seat pedestals over to them, and weld them in (after carefully removing what's left of the old ones). I think you will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel if you do that right off the bat. The car has "good bones", and just needs someone to give it some TLC.

$350.00 for that car was a nice score! That’s the kind of money we were paying for a solid yet very needy, usually not or barely running VW Bug when I first got into them back in the late 1980s! Old VWs definitely had their shortcomings but, since there are only two types of people in this world; those who love old VWs and fools, the shortcomings are just part of life and you learn to deal with it! Welcome to VW engine align bore issue! The evil monster that eats up VW engine rebuild budgets! It’s all downhill after the case gets cut and you find yourself back on track again! You’ll get through it, your drive it, you’ll make memories with it, and life will be better in an old VW! Just keep and you won’t have to regret selling it later and you won’t have to go out and find another one later in your life and pay 20 times more for it!

Welcome to the VW family! I've just watched both of the videos about the Beetle and read some of the comments, and I agree, you've got a long way to go. Engine first. The dual port engine is the better one of the two to rebuild. It may be rusty inside but the case is magnesium, so that wont matter, and its got a better oiling system than the H case. The dual port heads are far better too, but what you described as head bolts are actualy head studs and should stay in the case. The other reason for rebuilding the dual port is that it looks like its never been apart, meaning nobody has messed with it, unlike the H case one! Floorpan next - yikes. I've owned well over a dozen Beetles but I've never seen a spine rot like that! Its seriously thick metal so not an easy repair. As someone else said, get the best floorpan halves you can - I've used the new Taiwanese ones that Heritage Parts Centre here in the UK are selling, and they're nice and solid. Get a load of box section and make up some jigs - you will end up taking the body off, I'm sure, so when you do, make an inverse jig to replicate the position of the heater channels and their bolt holes so you can get the new floorpans lined up properly, trust me on this! If you can, do one for the body too, it'll make doing the heater channels easier... Good luck!

Makes me happy to see you're getting into the VW lifestyle it's not a hobby it's a lifestyle now I am not a fan of anything 71 or newer but I don't discriminate I love all of you W's I've been doing them for 27 years if you got any questions feel free ask, I sell parts for international air-cooled parts so if you got questions about what's good what's not fire away buddy, but I got to say it would be better off getting another pan from somewhere and putting a new heater channels the problem is the resale value on the car isn't much but my question is where are you located?? The harsh reality is you have a parts car you'd be money ahead finding another one , but if you're passionate and got people giving you money why not save it

@8:00 passing the knowledge down to a new generation. Great to see!

Great video, I just wish it was longer.

I've completely restored 2 VWs and know what's involved. You are braver than me to tackle this job.

The good thing is, you CAN weld! I've been kicking around the idea of getting a Bug myself. I've never owned a VW Bug or even been in one but there has always been something about them that I liked. My wife might not like the idea but when she was a kid her families daily driver was a VW Bug so maybe nostalgia might win her over, maybe?

I would keep the original fenders and leave the patina . The earlier tail lights do look better but matching patina is perfect on that car

I would recommend trying to find the John Muir, “The Compleat Idiot” book on keeping your Volkswagen Alive.

You can pretty much put any year tail lights on them. Might have to do a little filling first.

You could most likely find another rolling pan or full pan setup. It would be more economical than the time invested to repair the current pan/tunnel and front section.

Welcome to the VW community. I am in the minority, as I prefer the 73' and up because of the larger tail lights (elephants foot). Good luck with the build!

Nothing on a bug is not repairable. All I can tell you is take your time and have fun. I have a 73 Standard and a 73 Super. I love them both. I chose 70's bugs because neither is getting restored to original. One will be me street car and the 70 standard I'm turning into an off road / on road pickup set up for off-road. Significant Ground Clearance .

You do have your work cut out for you, but I will be watching to see how it goes, as I have 5 project VWs to work on in the near future! Good luck!

That's an ambitious project, but anything is possible as long as you have the time and money to back the project. Good luck, will be following this project.. :)

A class 10 or 11 beetle would be great for that model year. IRS rear end and ball joint from beam is perfect for off-road driving

Been there, done it - several times. 👍🏼

Nice, congratulations with your project, im 22yo from Mexico, i started searching some info like you 3 years ago, today I own a VW bug restoring shop