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

[AsadIshaque]

@ Storm

 If I find the last owner I plan to bring him to a Pakwheels meet and then we can take turns doing all the bad things we are possibly capable of!!

 A 1303 dash??? Im sure you can find info on the www and the tech manuals?? Have you searched?

 The resto is not done. In fact major work is just about to start.......its a slow process as I like to be involved in each step plus you know how slow the denters can be if they know you have other cars to drive. 

 Id upload quite a few pics today which I had stored waiting for the day when I saw hope with the denter....(which I did today!)

 Then people will have to bear with me for quite a few months to see the finished product!

The disclaimer at the start warned you!!!

[AsadIshaque]

After some precision work, time to get wild!!!!

Rip that headliner off!!!!

All along this process Im wearing a surgical face mask. Im allergic to dust and I think everyone should wear one while doing this kind of hazardous work as you dont know what you may find.....read on for a nasty surprise!!

Notice the construction of the roof. There are panels for strength at the corners and elsewhere. German engineering!

[AsadIshaque]

What do we have here????

A piece of the original headliner!!!! This is some really fragile moth eaten rotting cloth. Old VWs from the 50s had cloth headliners and we can see the sample for an idea of the design then.

Later VWs got vinyl perforated headliners which were more practical in terms of maintenance. But still a great reminder of what the original thing must have felt.

[AsadIshaque]

The rear portion.......now some dust and stuff was starting to fall off from behind the headliner.

You can see repair panels grafted in at the corners. Could use a bit of tidying up here! From outside you cannot tell there are patches here.

[AsadIshaque]

If I have to give some credit to the last owner it has to be the fact that he used all genuine VW parts.....of various years though....

The only non VW items were the gear knob and the rear view mirror. This was held on by some nasty looking 'cycle screws' I took them off using a grip pliers (I call it my 'Iron Maiden'....the ultimate torture device for any component which wants to play hard ball.)

 Was happy to note that the original holes for the screws were not messed up in the panel.

[AsadIshaque]

Until now I was the one taking pics. My friend decided to snap this as a record of my antics!

Eyes are shut but you can see me popping out of the big hole in the roof with the surgical mask plastered on.

[AsadIshaque]

We still have one more thing to dismantle from the ragtop roof mechanism. The rear bow. This is held on by studs and nuts seen in the previous pics.

undid the nuts at the inner side and lifted off the bow...

[AsadIshaque]

Looked at the dash again...what else could be taken off???

The damaged glovebox door came off quickly. The tar board backing of the dash grilles was also pried off. One broke in the process.....wanted to kick myself but the heat and all were getting to me.

[AsadIshaque]

Be right back from my dinner break!

[dare_devil]

@asadbhai
hello how r u ..
well there iz also a" ragtop" beetle in my sight
itz in awesome condition .....shayad aap nay dekhi hoo
its in blue color 62 model ,orignal interior ,orignal paint inside...wid orignal front windscreen shade....askin price iz 200k

[Storm]

don't sweat about the tar boards, they are usually replaced with a piece of leather (i'm talking about the ones behind the speaker grille).

it's very wise to wear the mask as there are chances of asbestos being used in the headliner (as well as dust).

keep up the great work, sorry i'm typing like a retard but i'm on my phone, not my PC.

[AsadIshaque]

@ daredevil

   Im fine, hope you are good too. Yes I have seen the blue ragtop and yes its in amazing condition. I cannot afford the asking price or I would have given him a very close offer as the car is worth it.

 My rag would end up costing maybe even more but it would be a slow and steady injection of cash (LOLs...Im talking like a doctor!).

And then the end result still would be unable to beat the original 62.

[AsadIshaque]

@ Storm

     The tar boards may be replaceable as I think Id be able to find similar stuff at a local specialist shop here. We'll see.

Btw the dash design is quite unique. If you notice there is no provision for putting in a post 62 fuel gauge though most if not all cars I have seen on the www have this option in the form of a square hole to accomodate the same. 

Ah yes....asbestos??? I dont think the headliner or other components had it....

Nothing wrong with your typing!! I cant tell its coming from a cell phone..

[AsadIshaque]

Okay back to our 'feature presentation'

Couple of pics showing the dismantled wiring behind the dash.......

The job had been done pretty neatly by the electrician who had wired the bug.

[AsadIshaque]

Some easy stuff.....taking off the headlights, tail lights and fender indicators......

This is how the poor bug looked like.....

[Storm]

@asad
like you i took alot of pics of my 1303 during it's rebuild but only shared about 2% of them here. may i suggest you take as many pics as possible so that you have plenty of refference points.

i still go back to my old pics to see some things even now.

i'm going to take it easy for a bit and let you post up stuff (uninterupted)

[AsadIshaque]

@ Storm

I am also posting some of the pics. Yes you are very right that these serve as reference points or rather documentation of a lot of things.

I am blessed with a very very poor memory and so these prove invaluable if I want to see what was where in future.

I wish you posted more of those pics in your 1303 thread.

Anyway, feel free to interrupt if you like to say something. Im getting groggy now......I just remembered I didnt sleep a wink after coming getting off work this morning!

[AsadIshaque]

These are not swap meet scenes........

[AsadIshaque]

The wiper motor is off too.....along with the bushes.......note holes where the wiper shafts were......

[AsadIshaque]