(o\_!_/o) Project: 1959 Ragtop VW Beetle

[AsadIshaque]

The front header bow taken out. I didnt have to struggle much as some screws were missing.

The ragtop cloth attaches to the front bow so it came off along with the mechanism.

[AsadIshaque]

A closeup of the lock. Nice solid latch!!

[AsadIshaque]

The middle aluminium portion out. Out of four plastic cylindrical rollers three were missing.

Discovery of the fourth one resulted in a brief hula hula dance!! This gives me a specimen for the correct dimensions.

Note the bushing carefully packed in a labelled plastic bag in the backgound.

[msm]

lovely...
wat abt semaphores ???? wanna hear that u got them

[AsadIshaque]

@ msm

Unfortunately not yet..... :-(

None seem to be available in Pakistan. Seems like Id have to get them from abroad. I did get quite a few parts from UK but was unable to afford Semaphores.

Fingers crossed.

[AsadIshaque]

Next to be attacked was the dash. Ripped off some vinyl covering the glovebox door.

[AsadIshaque]

It did reveal some horrors....

Some idiot had ground off the sides of the glovebox door. I cant imagine why???

If you look hard at the pic you will notice the double skinned door falling into two at the top edges. Sad.

[AsadIshaque]

In order to carefully take off the American Spec dash cover, I had to first dismantle all components of the dashboard.

So took a look at the wiring etc behind the dash ie under the front hood......Here is what I saw.......

Sprayed some WD40 onto the screws which looked stuck.

[psyb0rg]

Is that the original fuse-holder?

[AsadIshaque]

Proceeded to dismantle all the switches etc on the dash.

Also took off the speedo which is quite straightforward as its held on by two screws.

[AsadIshaque]

Psyborg:

Oh you are still with me?? Good!

The fuse box is not original but a close resemblance to the 50's units. Originally there were two more smaller fuse boxes placed further afront too to house the headlight circuit fuses.

[AsadIshaque]

The speedo is still in place here. Wanted to show the two dash grilles that post 58 VW Beetles have.

 The larger (on the RHS on a RHD car) is for the radio speaker, smaller one had a fuel guage from 1962 to 1967.

Post 68 it was blank like it was from 1958 to 1961 when accessory fuel gauges may be bought and installed.

[Storm]

this will quickly become the greatest VW type 1 thread on PW,... will be watching/ following it closely.

[AsadIshaque]

The grilles may be taken off by straightening four metal tabs each on the corners from behind the dash. You need a pair of pliers for this.

Heres the grille taken off......You can see the tabs straightened up at the corners.

The two grilles on the front seat.

The grille-less dash. Aha we see a cool VW logo on the dash cover pad!

[AsadIshaque]

@ Storm

Thanks!! I hope to see you and many other people here not just as silent spectators but giving their valuable input, advice and comments along the way.

[msm]

im lovn it

[AsadIshaque]

Next step required me to bite my lip and concentrate. Therefore no pics between the job.

Carefully pried off the dash cover. It was glued on at many places and pressed here and there too so it needed careful handling.

The result was............

Things did not seem too bad.....one of the original holes for the headlight switch was a bit buggered up and there was an extra hole punched rudely in the centre deforming the panel a bit.....okay okay it DID seem bad!!!

[AsadIshaque]

A close shot of the carnage!!

Ah yes the moron's torch had also attempted to make two extra holes where post 68 Deluxe beetles had the fresh air switches.....

[Storm]

isn't it SO annoying when you see what previous owners have done to your car???

after reading this thread i'm tempted to remove the dash of my 1303 this weekend and to rebuild/refurbish it,... only i don't know how to remove the dash of the 1303 :@

BTW have you already done the full resto and are now only loading pics or are you doing it in stages?

[AsadIshaque]

In the last pic the radio aperture blanking plate has also been removed. This is also held on by metal tabs.

Now you can see the dash pad lying on the ground. 

Also visible are the speedo chrome trim, speedo cable, front bonnet opening cable (a post 69 or maybe superbug unit?) and the two hoses for the fuel tank. Oh yes this bug had a post 68 style fuel tank slapped on........

The items inside the plastic baggie are the spare wheel well inspection covers for the steering box and front suspension beam.