1961 beetle Cal Look long time project- Work in progress

[guillaume]

Hi fellows,

I currently restore a 1961 ragtop bug. Here is the story of the car and the restoration progress.

I bought it 10 years ago from the 4th owner. It's my 3rd VW. Yes it's a long time project  .
Previously, I had a 1970 1200 and a superbeetle, but I was too young to drive them (11 years old).
When I find this 1961, I was a bit older (16 years old) and fell in love with the color and the interior colors.

It's a L391 Pastel Blue bug with an ice blue and turkis blue interior.

Here is a photo of the bug when I acquired it :

Sorry for the crapy pics, it was before numerical camera

It takes me about 4 years to decide to disassemble everything. It is not too rusty, but some work is needed.
The heater channels, the front and rear apron, the bumper sections, some holes in the luggages area.

Some months ago, I removed all the paint. Now the body is baremetal.

And ready to go to the bodyshop


During the 10 years , I've hunted a lots of NOS parts to restore it.
Check those ones :


And the NOS cloth material for the sats. It takes me 8 years to find it. I have just enought for my needs. I also find the NOS ice blue vinyl  .
Inside and outside there will also be some period performance parts from the 70’s from Empi and DDS.



The car is currently at the bodyshop having all the welding done. A friend of mine is doing it when he has enough time. I’m not in a hurry ;-)

Now, the engine. It will be a 2276 with 48 ida.
- Bugpack engine case
- 94 mm AA stroker kit with AA forged cylinders
- Street Eliminator 44 x 37,5 valves ported and polished
- 82 forged 4340 crankshaft
- FK8 camshaft
- 1.4 rockers
- Jaycee pushrods and tubes
- Straight cut cam gears
- Weber 48 IDA
- DDS short manifolds
- DDS oil pump and full flow system
- DDS power pulley
- DDS linkage
- DDS valve covers
The final assembly will be done in September by a good friend of mine.

This is an old photo of the parts collection to assemble it


And today, I had some fun assembling it. It is not the finished engine, it was just to check if the tins work fine.
I painted them in black and then clear coated them. After that, I polished everything for a mirror finish…
I also made a (currently not finished, I’m waiting for the AN8 fittings) hard fuel line for the Weber IDA.




And some months ago, I found a new project. I drove it during my trip in USA. But it will be another story ;-)

[Bryan67]

That material is really cool.

[speedwell]

cool project guillaume
what model is the dynamo pulley looks cool
and what happen to the manifold they lost their purple paint

rgd
fabs

[guillaume]

cool project guillaume
what model is the dynamo pulley looks cool
and what happen to the manifold they lost their purple paint

Thanks Fabs 
I have no idea of the pulley brand. I found it at the 1st European Bug-In in the swap meet. It was raw aluminium, so I painted it and polished the fins.
Concerning the manifolds, I have to sandblast them to enlarge the base with some welding. The ports were not big enought for my needs. But I will respray them once the manifolds porting will be done.

[Lids]

Deano manifolds are crap, they need lots of welding to get them to fit



But then again if you have big ports!!!!

[Nico86]

Nice engine. Got more pics fo the Ghia ?

[guillaume]

Nice engine. Got more pics fo the Ghia ?

Thanks 
I will post some more photos of the Ghia tomorow if I can, but probably in another post to not mix everything. Pics are on my camera and I have to transfer all the pics on the computer.

[nicolas]

cool parts, could make a nice engine, but the linkage doesn't look right. the arm are not positioned correctly and the carbs will not open at the same time. maybe you can turn over the arms on the carbs to lift those a bit.
good luck

[guillaume]

cool parts, could make a nice engine, but the linkage doesn't look right. the arm are not positioned correctly and the carbs will not open at the same time. maybe you can turn over the arms on the carbs to lift those a bit.
good luck

The linkage is not bolt, just for here for show purpose  Once it wil bolted on the engine block it will look more straight. And you're right, I have to modify the arms.
That's just a blank building.

[rick m]

That particular center pull linkage was made for tall manifolds. You may want to go to the CSP brand. It will work with the shorter manifolds. The nostalgia thing is cool but then again you want everything to work.

Rick M

[guillaume]

Some work done to the car those last days :

The narrow beam. 3,5 centimeters less on each side.


Here are the wheels. The ones on the left are originals DDS 13 wheels. Right ones are Erco.
I've polished the DDS wheels which were very dirty.


I've also blasted all the ragtop mechanisme and repainted it.


Next time, it will be the complete hard fuel line finished, polished with the AN fittings.

[Fasterbrit]

I love this parts collection

[63RACER]

DDS ...... huummm , very good !! 

bon courage Guillaume !

[guillaume]

Thanks Laurent ;-) à bientôt j espere.

[guillaume]

I just receive the NOS door panels. So hard to find.
I will soon receive the seat covers made with NOS material and NOS vinyl.

[Lee.C]

I've been wondering if you'd ever build something with all those parts of yours

[danny gabbard]

Nice stuff, Man where did you find the nos door panels? Now thats rare!!! And the seat material is BITCHEN, The interior is going to be beautiful!!!!! Keep the pictures of the progress coming, Nice build

[guillaume]

Yes, I am building something  but the car is far from home and I can only work on it from time to time.
I made some progress on the engine with the fuel hard line.



I found the door panels in Germany some weeks ago. I will post some pictures of the carpet and seat covers as soon as I receive them. Right now, they are on the boat, inside my new car ;-)
The new toy on the way to the shipper. And I will use this one while the 1961 bug is in restoration.

[vwcab]

Hey Guillaume,that's a very nice bug(those wheels,that interior,....) that you are building,like too see it when it's completed.Go for it.
What are the plans for the Ghia,also callook or a stocker?
Anyway,have fun with the built-up and keep posting the pics.

grtz,Peter 

[guillaume]

Hello Peter,

Thanks for the kind words  
The Ghia will be a Cal Looker.

The plans for it are :
- lower the front and put a narrow beam (2 or 3 inch less maximum),
- 4 black and grey 5 lugs sprint stars or Erco... depending on the mood  ;-)

For the moment, the engine will remain the stock one and I will assemble a 2 liters with some nostalgia parts.

But priority is to ride in it (so engine will wait) while I rebuild the 1961 bug.

[speedwell]

4 black and grey 5 lugs sprint stars or Erco... depending of the mood  ;-)

mmm i've seen a similar car in the same aera of you , but that one was blue  ...............remember 

[guillaume]

Hey Fabian,

Yes good point ;-) The inspiration comes from Fabien's car.
Enjoy this nice original ride.
Mine will remain at the stock height on the back and drop spindles with adjusters on the front.

[guillaume]

The car is back at home.
I had to find another bodyshop as the previous one forget to work on it... So now, after sanding the car again, work will beginn in January

[guillaume]

Some progress, just need to ad a pair of NOS Koni shocks with the wings decals


And the custom dashboard

[vwcab]

Like I said before,this is gonna be a NICE ride.Go for it Guillaume. 
(also like your KG-low light)

[guillaume]

Some progress to the engine.
I built the 2276 engine during my holidays. Everything has been ballanced and checked.











And I've found an fiberglass decklid for the bug

[Wink's1966]

That cast aluminum gen/alt. pulley cover is awesome!! I use to have the same one, they also made a solid cast alum 1pc gen. backing plate to match... likr to get my hands on these 

very cool build!!!!

[Nico-67]

Wow thats an awnsome project !! 

[xavier]

Can't wait to see that project on the road. Must be those 13" DDS wheels...
Xavier

[63RACER]

Good luck guillaume !! 

te connaissant , ca va etre un fabuleux cal-look !