The Cal-look Lounge

Hey everybody,
I like to read in this forum a lot, it’s a great source for Cal Look history with nice people. I thought by now I would like to show you the progress on my 67 beetle. I got it in 2010 from a friend. It was a European 1300 with Saxomat gearbox and 1200 engine. It has never been repainted or fully restored. For a German car it was in pretty good shape despite a front crash somewhere in the past. I was lucky to find an original front clip just a few weeks after I bought the beetle and repaired the accident with a good friends help. The front wings were rubbish so I decided to go for the US look with German standard model fenders.
As well some welding was necessary in the back on the typical corners. Year correct parts are not easy to find, but with help of a German parts dealer I could buy an apron and right bumper mount.
The first two years I drove the car with the original engine.
In 2013 I built a single port 1385 with dual Solex carbs, Engle camshaft and some other period correct stuff. The car is of course not a racer with this engine but it is good for cruising… As well I mounted Porsche 914 seats instead of the original ones.
This summer I decided to go a bit more for the Cal Look. I got T-Bars, fender beadings and running boards in the correct color for the model year and an Empi shifter. A friend sold me some Rivieras which went on the car after polishing and painting.
Plans for this winter are not so exciting 
I have to weld the left door on the bottom which is the last spot of rust on the car. Also a lot of small things have to be fixed as not so good working door handles, electric bugs and so on.
Also I am still searching for a nice muffler, but I am not sure which style to for. We will see.
I will post pics of what happens...
This is it for now
Steve
(http://abload.de/img/img_1337uzknc.jpg)
frontclip
(http://abload.de/img/img_1340bskdt.jpg)
welding
(http://abload.de/img/bild01100qj6r.jpg)
front finished
(http://abload.de/img/dscf08391akth.jpg)
rusty spots in the rear
(http://abload.de/img/endspitze1g7j79.jpg)
67 bumper mount
(http://abload.de/img/endspitze_nosnbkoe.jpg)
back finished
(http://abload.de/img/dscf08498ojva.jpg)
2011
(http://abload.de/img/img_5116rnkjf.jpg)
new seats
(http://abload.de/img/img_4936sxjp1.jpg)
engine
(http://abload.de/img/img_2645zqkr4.jpg)
2014
(http://abload.de/img/img_8882myjdg.jpg)

Nice, like the look of the seats in there as well :)  I need to get motivated and fix my 1500 lotus white 67 so thanks for sharing 8)


cheers Richie

Nice one,the 914 seats look great with the headrests cut off.

Henk!!!

Nicely executed. Good Job. Liking the interior and the seats looks ace. I personally prefer the 2011 look but hey, what a cool Lotus White Beetle, Steve. Thanks for sharing.

thanks a lot. I can really recommend the 914 seats. The are very comfortable, even on long distances.
By the way, could someone move the thread to the "in da werks" corner? Guess I should have posted it there

Nice car! How do you like the saxomat transmission? I've heard of them but never seen one in action.

the Saxomat transmission is no longer in the car. It has a free wheel clutch which is broken. I never managed to find spare parts for it. But I kept all the Saxomat parts, If I one day should change my mind and bring the car back to factory spec. Which is not going to happen I believe  :)

That´s a nice 67`Bug!

I like the interior.
What are your plans for the exhaust?

I've kept the original engine case from my '67 and made sure I never did anything I couldn't undo as well but like your car, i doubt i will ever return mine to stock.

Looks great man...... Very nice work!

Nice car; I like both the 2011 and 2014 versions....as I have a soft spot for both Rivieras and 356 style wheels...

Plus your 1385 is a nice neat looking engine.

Richard

Great Looking Car! Although i'm quite partial to a lotus white 67'  ;D

Lotus White 67's are the best  ;D

Great looking interior.  Very simple and clean.  Almost looks like it could be factory with the basketweave. 

Do you have any pics of the seat mounts?  I am getting ready to do some 914 seats in my '68.

Also do you have any pics of the backs of the seats?  I have a few ideas for how to cover mine, but its always good to see other peoples ideas. 


Thanks, Brian

thanks everybody!
@ brian e: I will takes a few pics when I am back in the workshop the next time. The seat mounts are made of Seat Marbella seats and stowable.

merry Christmas everybody!
@ brian e
here are some pics of the back of the seats and the seat mount.
The mounts are made of the lower part of a SEAT Marbella seat. The complete seats of the Seat are stowable, not only the seat back, whih makes them a good choice for this transformation. I welded a square subframe and spotwelded original Bug rails on. So the seats can be adjusted as original seats. On this subrame I welded the Marbella seat rack which had to be narrowed and lowered.
(http://abload.de/img/20141226_121818ghry5.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/20141226_121925uwp7m.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/20141226_121943yxqm7.jpg)

Cool car,a Lotus white 67 is my all time favourite bug,but i've owned 16 bugs and still not had one ! Maybe next time  ;D

Great work on the car , it looks cool  8)

welding the left door was a long overdue task. I bought a cheap Mexico beetle door as donor part.
not only the outer skin was rusty but also large parts of the inner frame. I am pretty happy with the result although another body part has lost its original paint...
(http://abload.de/img/20141226_1312597ipwb.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/20141226_140117fwrgx.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/20141230_1414041up7a.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/20141230_1624028lrfy.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/20150214_1312508hubg.jpg)

best regards
Steve

@thehanz: Thank you. I am going to drive to Freddyfiles, if you are also there you are very welcome to have a look at the seats...

By the way, your signature says that you have a 67 ragtop standard. For me thats one of the moste desirable VW models. Do you have pictures of it? One day I would really love to buy one and restore it to original condition.

a small update. I didn't like the Euro bumpers with the upright head lights and T-bars are not street legal in Germany so I mounted US bumpers. I really like the look and I can still mount T-bars for car shows :-)
Also I swapped the cheap Empi shifter for a Gene Berg shifter. What a difference!
The 1385 single port is running nicely but I miss some low end torque in our hilly surrounding area. A 2 liter single port would be nice, we will see...

(http://abload.de/img/kfer_002igxlf.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/kfer_003n4zgl.jpg)
(http://abload.de/img/kfer_0012claa.jpg)

Real great car !! I dig the choice of Rivieras and I think real thin lips could a cool improvement  :)

hey Flow, thanks!
Do you mean the version without the squares on the spokes? I prefer the design the the squares. I don't know where my wheels come from. A friend bought them in the states a few years ago. They are not the new reproduction wheels you can buy today. The have a very rough cast structure on the spokes and inside, maybe an older repro wheel?
I will take a picture of the cast-in letters on the inside.

Hi Steve

will you be at Hangarz to on sunday ??   then i can have a look at the seats , and yes i have a original 67 rag....don't know what i want with it at the moment  :-[

I will not be there, I am leaving for holiday on Saturday...
maybe on another show later this year?
best regards...

Yes this is the version I am talking about, you can see them on this picture  ;)

(http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/803974nico862.jpg)

X2, I'm a fan of the early thin lipped Riverias. I had them on my '67 back in the late '70's and I ran another set on my '69 a few years ago.

(http://www.cjvws.com/hosted/my67.rivis.jpg)

(http://www.cjvws.com/hosted/my69.jpg)

-jeffrey

Did some of the think lip wheels also still have the raised areas on the spokes?
Thanks
Richard

Yea, the later ones did.

-jeffrey

Very nice car!  :)

thanks :)
bin to a Birthday Party of a good friend which turned out to be a nice small VW meeting with about 25 cars.

Did any of you European guys try the new Ahnendorp Customsport Exhaust system? I am thinking about buying it...

(http://abload.de/img/geburtstag_0019tx6m.jpg)

After a few years of driving I did some changes this winter.
I got rid of the old stone chip protection stuff that was cracked all over. Sandblasted and painted the rear fenders from the inside which where never treated before. I still need to apply the new transparent stone chip protection form Timemax. I Converted the 67 to 12V and have installed a freshly rebuild gearbox.
Now I need to finish the new 1835 single port engine, install it and dial in the jetting ;D
And finally I got new wheels, first series Ronal wheels with 165/65 and 185/70 instead of 145/80 and 185/80.
That should increase the corner speed a bit on our small, windy country roads.
(https://abload.de/img/p2jy6.jpg)
(https://abload.de/img/lqj1r.jpg)
(https://abload.de/img/9kkm2.jpg)
(https://abload.de/img/5vj5s.jpg)

Nice Looking wheels!
Is that a stock oil cooler youre using in an external position? Do you still have the og unit IN the shroud?

Cheers

yes, its' a type 4 VW cooler with an adapter from Gembler. I still use the origial oil cooler in the dog house fan shroud as well.

    Steve nice looking 1967 you have . The type 4 oil cooler you have do you have it with a shield to protect it from rocks or road debris. Also what is your oil temperature with this cooler on .

    Take care
    Frenchy

thanks Frenchy,
I haven't tested the oil cooler setup yet, with the old engine I had a different setup.
I am planing to protect the cooler with a perforated stainless steel plate.

engine is in and pulling nicely. Now I need to put some kilometers on it...
(https://abload.de/img/lwk0q.jpg)

Very nice ride ! Lotus White is an outstanding color..

Nice project to follow, keep us posted !!

Very nice and clean car!

Hope to have my 67 Ghia in Lotus White some day...

Wout

two shots in the evening in front of my garage. Still on the old wheels as I have clearance issues between the Ronal wheels and the dropped spindels. I will try to sort that this week (set front wheels to 1° negative camber plus 4 mm wheel spacers plus some grinding on the lower trailing arm, I hope that works).
Anybody having the similar issues with dropped spindels and 15 inch wheels?
(https://abload.de/img/img_20200820_205943lnjai.jpg)
(https://abload.de/img/img_20200820_210001m3k8x.jpg)

Nice car. The bottom trailing arm can be reamed deeper to allow the ball joint sit further into the arm, just another option to gain some clearance.

That's a good idea, thanks

Nice car!

That combination of the white car with the riviera s... is top.

Looks great.

finally I managed to modify the dropped spindels to make my Ronal wheels fit without rubbing on the trailing arms.
I really like the look of them!
[attachment=1][attachment=2][attachment=3]

Nice!!!

Ronals look really good - nice job

Perfect! Great stance  8)

Yannick

Nice wheels! That looks to be 1. series Ronals?

thanks everybody  :)

Yes, they are 1st series Ronals