Zenith blue 67, work in progress

[alex d]

So I found myself a Us-spec 67, as you know, not the easiest to come by in Europe

According to the story told to me by the seller, the car was originally bought brand new in 1967 in Germany by a Spanish immigrant working there, who might have been a worker at VW (this has not ben confirmed)

[in any case, the main mistery is why (and how!) would he get a US-spec model???  

The car currently has amber top tail-lights and 140kph speedo, my guess is they were probably in the car since almost new, since it was being used in european roads.

When I got the car it was clearly lacking power, compression test showed #2 cylinder dead, exhaust valve was burnt, so both heads were rebuilt with new guides and valves, and cylinders were reringed (not ideal I know, but splitting the case was out of the question at this point)

The car also had a hall effect distributor (from an Alfa Romeo it seems), that didn't seem to be very happy with the original PICT-1 carb, so I'm currently running a 019 I had in my stash.

Second gear synchro is on it's last legs and the ring and pinion howl on coast, but I'm gonna have to live with that for a while  

Now for some pictures, this is how I got the car, more on those white circles in a minute...
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[alex d]

#2 was low on compression....it was clear why

[alex d]

Once the car was up and running the first thing was to install this NOS period glasspack header I found....








now I understand why quiet-packs became so popular when they came out! This glasspack is LOUD

[modnrod]

This glasspack is LOUD

Great fun through tunnels late at night! 

[alex d]

Those white circles on the doors were stuck on, so the other day I finally got around to taking them off...then I discovered why they were there in the first place!

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all the way down to bare metal  

I guess some would just call this patina  and slam it on earlies

[alex d]

other things that kept me busy were finding the missing reverse light and a correct 67 bumper (no proper pictures of that yet)

and then when I find some time I'll make a good one out of these 3 (thanks Zach!)
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to go with this
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so a simple engine to get by for now

next steps will be dropping the front and getting some wheels, but I'm still not decided, I'm debating chromies, BRMs, 5-lug sprintstars...it's going to stay long axle so that limits my choices a little bit

[Nico86]

Sucks about the paint Hopefully you can cover it properly.

[beetletom]

Lovely original looking car!
Definitely think 5.5 chromies out back, without caps
4.5's upfront with nipple caps

[alex d]

I found a painter willing to deal with the door, now waiting for him to have some time for it!

Meanwhile I located the missing reverse light and a proper 67 back bumper

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[alex d]

not much progress lately, finally the painter had time to fix the door, he did a great job!
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zenith carb is next in the agenda

[Zach Gomulka]

Cool. I loved my car when it was Zenith powered

[alex d]

Little by little  
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Next in the agenda is dropping the front

[Jim Ratto]

You know to be honest with you, I think it looks absolutely awesome stock height with the BRM's etc. I would leave it as it!
Nice car

 

[alex d]

Thanks Jim!

Actually with 165s all around and stock height doesn't look all that bad, it's kinda growing on me. On the other hand you can't go wrong with 145s on the front a and a dropped nose  The BRMs are actually a  loan from a friend and came with those 165s mounted,  so we'll see how things evolve from here.
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[alex d]

5 years since the last update, not a lot of progress but there's been some advances

The paint was looking pretty bad, with some bubbling on the driprails, so in the end I got it resprayed
I returned the loaned BRMs to my friend, and meanwhile I got a deal on these rims, I got the spokes refinished in a more correct-looking shade of gray, then mounted 165s and 145s
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I'm waiting to drop the front before I install the new wheels, which should happen in the following days

[alex d]

In the meantime I found some stuff for the interior, also pending to be installed:

Metalflake steering wheel (not sure if it's a Superior 500, Grant or Covico, if you're interested in the story of these, there's an interesting read here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/grant-500-covico-steering-wheel-history.285684/ )
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Berg shifter


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Speedwell tach
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[Abadco2]

Awesome to find a vehicle in such great shape after all these years. This is my very first car,I bought it in 1968. Good luck with this bug.

[jamiep_jamiep]

Love the new additions can't wait to see them on the car!

[Steve67]

great 67, I am curious how it looks with the new wheels and tires :-)

[alex d]

Well, I drove all the way to EBI, I had a blast and there's finally some decent pictures of the car with the new wheels and stance
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[alex d]

The '67 line-up on Sunday at EBI was the highlight of the show for me....by chance I was lined up right next to the Race Shop cars, and I even got to learn about 67-only stuff from Dean Kirsten, now I know my front indicator lenses are the factory original ones....I'm still in the hunt for those SB12s though!

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[Eddie DVK]

Nice,
Did you drove from Spain?
If so, Respect.

[alex d]

yes! we left Barcelona on friday at 4am and got to Chimay at 19:30, the car made it in way better shape than the drivers (except for the mosquito apocalypse on the windshield and bonnet)

[Abadco2]

I just couldn't let you guys have all the fun.  Well done on finding and returning your Zenith Blue USA spec VW. My story, I have been married 40 years, both my wife and I, our first cars were, 1967 VW bugs, zenith blue.  My '67 morphed into my DKP club car.
Plus countless stories and memories included.  Cheers, Art Alvarez