The Cal-look Lounge

Hi Everyone

Now I always promised my wife ( who was Miss Euro Bug-in this year ) that when I had finished Ned Bug , I would finish her Bug . She has owned it for about 12 years its a 1972 1200, her Dad started the restoration soon after , but it was never completed . Louisa is going to dig out some old photos from when she got it , it was a rather fetching shade of pink !
All the welding on one side of the body had been done , I had to weld the other side , channels and the surrounding panels .
5 or 6 years ago I bought Louisa some 14 inch JP wheels for christmas , so these will finally get used .
  Everything is being done on a major budget , interior will be stock except for a grant wheel, body prep and paint will be done by a mate in exchange for a buggy body , The motor is my 1776 donated by my buggy . The tyres are the bit I really love , the rears are Good Year Custom power cushions which I've had for years , the fronts are new Pirelli Cinturatos and look the nuts . Here are some pics

Oops , not sure how I managed to start 2 threads . Here are pics of the chassis and wheels .

Off for paint !

nice JP wheels rob , and miss bug in will drive a cal look ???

Another late looker,love it.
(really like those rear wheels,they are awesome for me).Go for it,your wife is gonna like it.  ;D

Fabs , of course it will be Cal Look , This is the Cal Look Lounge !. Louisa's favourite VW is Street Dragon , she had a picture of it cut out of Volksworld Magazine on her wall since before we were going out . So its not my influence . She's not sure about the colour yet , bodywork is being done now , so she has to decide soon.
The JP's are not traditional cal look i know , but I think they will look good .

Rob

;)

  Nice tire's too!!  looks like it's gonna be a great build.

At last! its about time Lou had a bug on the road  ;) :)

Going to look awsome mate 8)
Like the wheel / rubber combo, different!
Cheers,
Kev

Trouble is , building this bug for Louisa , is making me want to build a Cal Look car for myself . Maybe sell Ned Bug , keep the motor , fit some cooling and street it !

Just put Ned on the street! 8) 8)

Rob has build the car the way you want it, then just tell her it was all done for her.

Come on she not going to find out, no one on here going to say anything are we now boys. ;)

Ha ha , no its her car , I'll build it how she wants it . Luckily she has good taste ( she married me ! ) , so I know it will be a nice car . Just colour is the sticking point at the minute , I keep showing her pics of Dave Rhoad's car , and Mike Mahaffry's split , we'll see . Besides , she knows I started a build thread so checks in every now and then , maybe we could get her to join ?
I could street Ned Bug , but I feel the need to build a cal look car . In my opinion there's too many resto lookers about , anyone can take a stock trim car , lower the front and fit a big motor and wheels . I'm on the look out for a solid(ish) early 60's car , and maybe a buyer for Ned Bug , minus engine and box .

Back from paint !

Another

One more

Ohhhhhhhhh very tastfull  ;D Whats the colour dude  ???

Nice color choice and the wheels looks good too!

Any idea about the interior? Red, brown, camel?

looks good rob ,it's peru green ??? and as j-f said camel or brown will be a good combo for the interior

Its Green !

Sorry Lee , just joking . Its actually Rover Brunswick green ! Louisa picked it out of a box of paint samples . Suits a vw well though .

Interior will be stock black basket weave , but gonna go for an oatmeal carpet to break things up . And a grant wheel to set it off .

Cheers , Rob

schweeeet!

Oh ! Very nice, I love the combo wheels/tires and the colour is cool !!

Keep the news coming !  :)

yeah yeah yeah  ;) :) when's it gonna be ready  ???

Very 8)

Oh the irony ::)



Rob,looks really good,i see a theme here,girls with green bugs ;)

cheers richie

 ::) :-*

Ha ha , nice one .

Cheers Richie , yeah Louisa was worried it was gonna be too close a colour to Jo's , but its nowhere near really . Cheers for sorting those heads for my mate , shame he mashed his bearings straight away .

Cheers , Rob

That look's wicked, nice work Rob..keep us posted

Si

Had a go at doing the headliner ourselves , not perfect , but not bad !

Starting to come together .

1776 in with a modified bugpack dual quiet pack .

not a bad install at all! louisa's bug is coming together quite nicely, she's gonna have a ball with it!!
digging the buggy bars too, but how about trying the bend the rear bar a tad more upward? that's what I did with mine.

Mufflers tuck in well..

The buggy bar is just rested on the mufflers at the minute , so is hanging down . How did you fit yours Diederick ? I made a bracket for the front , off the original bumper mounts .

Cheers , Rob

it wasn't easy to fix the buggy bar at the rear
i've maded an homemade bracket , not the most beautiful one , but , it works , and with that dual QP it wasn't possible to fit the buggy bar because the mufflers is against the fenders  and valence

rob here's mine  ::)

Put some socks on man!!  ;D

lovely colour! and good job on the head liner, i've got a soft spot for 1200's....owning one, just a shame they only came with the 2/3'rds head liners, was it hard to fit that full length one?

The car is actually a 1300, so no problem on the headliner .

Cheers , Rob

The Goodyears look awesome, what size are they?

They are H70 x 14 Custom Power Cushions , off an old Jaguar .

Cheers , Rob

Looking very  8) mate!

Somehow I just found this thread, love the look of the bug Rob, the colour and wheel / tyre combination definitely take it back to a different era!

Not touched the bug for a few months , rolled it out of the corner and fitted some running boards and a few other little bits . Not far off now !

Another

Good looking rear !

One more

very cool rob! try to bend that rear buggy bar a bit further, so that it covers the full rear apron in that rear shot.
that's at least what i did, i think it brings out the lines of the car better.

Hi D

Yeah , the buggy bar is still just rested on the mufflers , got to bend it then make some mounts .

Cheers , Rob

Nice  ;D

very nice Rob ;)

Coming together there Rob 8)

great look !!!!!!

Looks totally different out in the sun

Looks great!
Love the rims.

How does it ride with the tall 14s on it, instead of the 65 or 70 profile 15s? Does it squiggle a bit round bends, or can't really notice much?

how looks the interieur  ;)

Nice looking car. Clean and simple and good colour. Taking it to EBI this year?

She's only driven it a 1 mile , so not sure how the tyres are . The rears are now michelin XAS , so not as tall as the old cross plys .

The interior is Standard black , no carpet yet .

Yes it will be at EBI this year , got some small jobs , and to re-fit the engine .

Thanks , Rob

rob , that's a nice looking car she have ... ;)

have you some closer picture of the buggy bar and the exhaust , i would like to put back mine  , but there's no space room between the apron and the exhaust

thx
fabs

Hi Fabs , thats one of the jobs I have still to do . Its very close on hers too , not sure how to do it yet . When its done I will put photos up .

Cheers , Rob

thx rob

Holy Cr@p!

Awesome work there Rob! The bug is looking great!

Looks like it will easily be ready for the summer! :-)

I WANT YOUR BARN!!!! :-)

Cheers,

J

Yes it'll be out this summer , she wants to take it to Bug In .

Ha ha , yeah we have about 25 cars , 2 car trailers , a boat and a separate room for my moulds in the barn at the mo .

Will you guys be at Bug In this year ? Is that a silly question ?

Lookin good dude - can't wait to see you all at Bug In  :)

Almost there , just waiting for the motor

Oatmeal carpet fitted , both buggy bumpers and bullet mirror on .

Sunny the other day so had to get it out for some photos , the green looks so good in the sun . Rob

very very nice  ;D

Can't wait to see that at EBI  8)

I have some 14" wheels myself (JP slotmags) and are wondering what size tires to get. Do You know the size of Your Goodyears and the diameter? Looks really good and I like the fronts as well

I'm in love with this miss...  :)

If I may ask, what are your tires' brand and sizes please ?

Edit : Bendik was faster than me ! I didn't know it was 14'... It looks great !

rob any chance to have the closer picture of the buggy bars fitting
thx

Looking good, I'll keep an eye out for it at ebi!  8)
Matt

Thanks everyone

In the early pictures the Goodyears on the rear were h70 14 bias ply . These rubbed on the fender a little on one side . Also they were a cracking a little on the sidewalls . If anybody wants the old H70 14s , they are free to a good home .

The rear now wears 205 70 14 Michelin XWX , on the front is 145 70 14 pirelli cinturato .

Fabs , I will take some pictures of the buggy bar mountings today .

Thanks , Rob

Thanks Rob, really nice car. Were the 155s too tall compared to the 205/70s since You switched to 145/70?

Sorry , the fronts are still 155 , my mistake .

I haven't had the motor in since I changed the rear tyres , so not sure how it will look at correct height yet .

Rob

OK, 145/70 sounded small on 14s The rolling diameter on the 155 sounded ok on paper and it looks good on "your" car. Thanks

Wow ! Very nice job dude !!  ;) I love your bug  ;D

DUDE it soooooooo needs some Blue & Yellow California plates  ;) :)

http://www.states-plates.com/

Remember to ask for the pressings for the tax/date stickers!

Too much money ! the black and silver ones are just an ali sheet which I sprayed black then painted the letters on myself . At least the black and silver ones look half legal !

I may make up some Black and yellow , california plates for it tho .

 ::) ;) :)