1963 VW Beetle (Beater as we call it ) Restoration Project

[syedalinaqi]

I had never thought in my wildest imagination that i will be restoring a Bug all by myself but this is what we call destiny :). I am a big fan of Nasir sb and he is like a mentor to me when it comes to VW Beetle's. I came across his threads few years back accidentally and from that day onward i decided now is the time to restore one for me as well ( Thats what i always wanted since my childhood).

I requested Nasir sb to please restore a bug for me but he was too busy and we decided when he will have time he will let me know and we will start a project. I hate super beetles and was only looking for a pre 64 bug which i found some how in Karachi. I showed it to Nasir sb and he told me to buy it only on a condition that it is in good condition body wise so I bought it and shipped it to Islamabad to find out the horror story, car was rusty like anything as i was not able to tell from the pics i saw when i was buying it .

As car had a lot of rust it was a huge project and because of Nasir sb's tight schedule he apologized to take the project as he had quiet alot of projects in line.

After driving it for good 6 months that day came when i decided " Ab Munna bhe khud restore kare ga", i asked Nasir sb's for help and he told me about a guy named Safdar in Rawalpindi. I visited him and he agreed to do the car but gave me a waiting time of 3 months, day before yesterday my turn finally came and now car is with him and my project has finally started !!!

[syedalinaqi]

Let me tell you a brief history about this car, i am the 3rd owner. It belonged to a lady doctor in Karachi who moved to US couple of years back then it was bought by a young guy in Karachi and from him i bought it. Second owner did lots of changes like he installed AC (yes you read it right ). I had to remove it and now i have a huge sheet metal piece missing under the front hood which i have to patch up through a donor car which i have already found (Don't worry its accidented and beyond repair). Doors are rusted from the bottom and pillars gone, i was planning to sell it right away after looking at it for the first time and even had 2 to 3 confirmed parties interested in buying but the "Syed" inside of me never allowed me to cheat by showing them pics from angles where they cant see rust so i kept it.

[syedalinaqi]

Having said that car is complete with everything like overise bumpers etc but rusted. Body was welded to the chassis as most ppl do in Karachi. I wanted a body off restoration so had to to cut body from the chassis which was done yesterday, pics will be uploaded soon.

All bumpers and seats are stored till body work is completed.

[syedalinaqi]

Let me upload some pictures of the car before it went for body work.

[nagar1]

So my "syed" inside of me never allowed me to cheat so i kept it.[/QUOTE]
Shah ji tusi cheetay ho....

[OwaisYunus1]

Subscribed!

[syedalinaqi]

With these pics you can see the extent of Rust !!!

[syedalinaqi]

Me being a layman had no knowledge about beetles so i disturbed Nasir sb a lot over whatsapp and we used to chat alot but thanks to his humble nature he thaught me alot and i was able to understand how beetle work and what are the main aspects to look after.

Nasir sb was kind enough to send me a list of parts required to complete the chassis and i ordered them from Wolfsburgwest, all new parts are now ready to install once new floor pans are made.

[syedalinaqi]

I would like to request u all specially Nasir sb to help me with this build and tell me any small details if i am missing anything anywhere.

[supraman2jz]

@lazeez

[syedalinaqi]

Body was seperated from the chassis by cutting as it was welded by the previous owner. New floor pans were order well before time and are now ready. Next step will be to first weld new floor pans and test fit thw body before we go ahead with POR15 treatment.

[syedalinaqi]

Some more pics,

[mfdarvesh]

Subscribed ..

[syedalinaqi]

Body is seperated and work on floor pan was started, let me tell you something condition is worst that i expected !!! Front head is fully rusted and we will have to eiter find a replacement (which is difficult because its a early style) or we will have to repair it with thick sheet metal. There was no master cylinder and brake system was that of Mehran . I am not sure as yet but nasir sb has confirmed me that he might have a Nepolian's hat and he is kind enough to spare that for me. That will be collected soon and work will start again. Meanwhile i have some pictures to share to show the extent of work on this bug.

[syedalinaqi]

Some more pics

[syedalinaqi]

Some more ....

[syedalinaqi]

Finally all new parts for chassis work arrived from Wolfsburgwest, i sorted them all work wise like Front axle, rear axle, brake lines/master cylinder and brake drums etc.

When i was in US i purchased some used hubcaps for fraction of a cost which are German made and are quiet heavy, i polished them with Quickglo and now they are as good as new I have added a before and after picture

[nmshaikh]

Finally all new parts for chassis work arrived from Wolfsburgwest, i sorted them all work wise like Front axle, rear axle, brake lines/master cylinder and brake drums etc.

When i was in US i purchased some used hubcaps for fraction of a cost which are German made and are quiet heavy, i polished them with Quickglo and now they are as good as new I have added a before and after picture

That is the way to go....collect all the parts before you start the work. While the body is off the chassis it is easier to reach the hard-to-reach areas and replace parts. That is how VW did it when they assembled your car more than 50 years ago.

[hash4u]

personally saw the car before it went off for restoration
not a bad piece to be rebuilt
good luck!

[syedalinaqi]

I collected all parts before the start of this restoration (Thanks to you for the list ). It took me almost a year to finalize everything from the purchase of car to collecting parts etc