Walter's 1969 Beetle
August 6, 2009
The above photo shows the red oxide primer that was painted on the rusty luggage deck and the repaired right floorpan.
The original intent was to wait until the car was painted before installing the interior, but I'm now leaning in a different direction. Today the Brown Truck dropped off a pile of boxes with the remainder of the interior and window components. Since we don't know how long it will be before the car is painted, I've decided to proceed with interior installation. This will get us even closer to a finished car when it comes out of the paint shop.
A set of old wheels and tires were in the shop from the '74 Bug project so they were put on the Beetle so stripping of the wheels could begin in prep for paint. This image shows one of the Beetle wheels in its original color after the white repaint finish was removed. Up through 1969 most VWs were delivered with two-tone painted wheels. The center portion was black and the rim white regardless of the color of the car. In 1970 VW went to a silver/gray painted wheel. I think it would be nicely old-school to return to the original two-tone color scheme. It will sorta mimic the effect presented by white-wall tires. I'll paint the wheels, have new tires mounted and procure new hubcaps so they will be ready when the car is painted. My project schedule is being condensed with the arrival of another school year and the revised flow chart will complement the new schedule nicely. This will keep the project on track so hopefully Walter can drive his new Beetle before winter weather arrives!
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The
Beetle project has entered the "75% done, 75% to go" phase. All the major
disassembly and refinish tasks have been completed with the exception of exterior paint.
Yesterday the brakes were bled with no leaks. The steering wheel and column, emergency
brake lever, and various other interior parts have been painted. We now have to look
around for little odd-n-ends to do and these jobs, while essential, seldom appear to move
the project very far forward. I've been at this point many times on long projects such as
aircraft construction and recognize it as being evidence the endeavor has come a very long
way. 
