Late or not?

[Neil Davies]

Thanks for your comments folks - seems like more of you reckon to go back to '68 rather than keeping it fake '67!

I've had late models before, in fact probably my favourite car of the 12 or so I've had was this orange '70 - stock other than sprintstars, no bumpers, a 1641 and the obvious stance.

Then there was the '70 on a '72 pan that i finished last year, which was going to be a bit more pure California Look, but about halfway through the build my cousin bought it off me for her husband and it ended up being more stock than I had originally intended!

And there's the Karmann Cab ('70 body on a '68 pan) that i'm doing for my girlfriend too...

I'm leaning towards the late look again, maybe building the car I wanted to before I agreed to sell the grey bug!

[stretch]

Thanks for your comments folks - seems like more of you reckon to go back to '68 rather than keeping it fake '67!

I've had late models before, in fact probably my favourite car of the 12 or so I've had was this orange '70 - stock other than sprintstars, no bumpers, a 1641 and the obvious stance.

Then there was the '70 on a '72 pan that i finished last year, which was going to be a bit more pure California Look, but about halfway through the build my cousin bought it off me for her husband and it ended up being more stock than I had originally intended!

And there's the Karmann Cab ('70 body on a '68 pan) that i'm doing for my girlfriend too...

I'm leaning towards the late look again, maybe building the car I wanted to before I agreed to sell the grey bug!

First time i've seen the grey car you build mate, looks really nice.

[jamiep_jamiep]

Was that (the 67-a-like) featured in a magazine at some point Neil? It looks familiar.... maybe in Total VW (Wow, remember that?!)?

Anyway, I like it as it is, it doesn't get any cooler than yank spec 67, even though I love late models, and lets face it so much work has gone into making it a truly convincing early car that there's probably a ton of work coverting it back.

I say run it and love it.

[Neil Davies]

Was that (the 67-a-like) featured in a magazine at some point Neil? It looks familiar.... maybe in Total VW (Wow, remember that?!)?

Anyway, I like it as it is, it doesn't get any cooler than yank spec 67, even though I love late models, and lets face it so much work has gone into making it a truly convincing early car that there's probably a ton of work coverting it back.

I say run it and love it.

Hi Jamie, it wasn't featured, it was Ben Hayes, who later became the editor of TVW who had his '67 featured. Ade (Lowval) bought it and ran it until fairly recently I think. I know what you mean about the work to convert it back, there are some proper anorak-y details that most people wouldn't ever spot, but at the end of the day it's a '68 and not a '67, so I think it'll be going back (mainly!) to late! Gives me the opportunity to use some of the nice bits I collected for the grey bug above and never used!

I'm leaning towards the late look again, maybe building the car I wanted to before I agreed to sell the grey bug!

First time i've seen the grey car you build mate, looks really nice.
[/quote]

Cheers buddy, it turned out Ok, didn't it! Not bad from a £50 wrong 'un!

[jamiep_jamiep]

Sure it'll look cool whatever Neill. Now I think you had one of your cars featured back then didn't you?

Here's a picture of a car my brother built in the early 90's - he did something similar to his 1970 bug, with modified 67 doors to run on the late car, early front quarters etc. that car ended up featured in TVW as well as it happens, after my brother had sold it on though.

[vwcab]

Sorry to hi-jack this tread guys,but above you spoke about "total vw".I have a few issues from this mag,but what happened with the mag?

[Jon]

Neil, you old car is a "get out of jail" card...  you can't loose

[beetletom]

any updates??

[Neil Davies]

any updates??

No, I've not even been over to my unit since before new year! The water supply has frozen, so I can't use the kettle or the toilet, and the estate it's on is like an ice rink! I'm going to try to get over on Saturday and clear a space for it - but I've still got a bit more to do on the cabriolet before I can move too much around!

Oh, and definately going late!

[benssp]

any updates??

No, I've not even been over to my unit since before new year! The water supply has frozen, so I can't use the kettle or the toilet, and the estate it's on is like an ice rink! I'm going to try to get over on Saturday and clear a space for it - but I've still got a bit more to do on the cabriolet before I can move too much around!

Oh, and definately going late!

You've got a toilet at your workshop? very posh

[Neil Davies]

any updates??

No, I've not even been over to my unit since before new year! The water supply has frozen, so I can't use the kettle or the toilet, and the estate it's on is like an ice rink! I'm going to try to get over on Saturday and clear a space for it - but I've still got a bit more to do on the cabriolet before I can move too much around!

Oh, and definately going late!

You've got a toilet at your workshop? very posh

Yeah, but the cistern is just a solid block of ice at the moment! We've got a proper office/kitchen with a fridge, an urn for the tea, an oven, hob, toaster, microwave... We've even got a 2-post lift to make it a little easier to work on the cars... Ask Joe G, I don't think he could really believe what we'd got for a hobby shop!

[Neil Davies]

It's started...


A-framed the car over to my unit on Saturday and got the front wings and passenger door stripped off - and found that the passenger quarter isn't in the best condition. Because i want to get this car on the road quickly, but still have a solid and safe car, I'm not going to take the body off the pan at the moment, instead I've made some sections to repair the channel without too much drama. With the exception of the front valance, the rest of the shell looks pretty good, barring a few bits here and there. They can all be done at a later date though - priority is getting it MOT'd and back on the road, even if that means a 1500 single port for now...
Anyway, the 'glass front wings are just about ready, the replacement front valance is having the black transport paint stripped off it, the replacement doors are nearly ready, and it should be late again by the end of the week! Paint may have to wait though...

Photos show what it looked like after not being driven for over two years, and finally in the unit!