The Bug Revived

"Breathing new life into old cars"

The Bug Revived

18 April 2011

Update on the Bug:

The Bug has sat in our backyard for over a year and needed some work to get it back on the road. Due to the escalating gasoline prices, I am prepping it to become my daily driver. I am keeping my 4 wheel drive Tahoe, but will drive it only when necessary since it only gets about 14 miles per gallon in town. Since by my nature, I can't drive something that is totally stock, the Bug is getting some personal treatment. First thing is completing the bodywork where it was hit in a parking lot. I have replaced the passenger-side door, and will be replacing the quarter panel in the passenger-side. I have a quarter panel ready for it so it will be my next project with the Bug. The long range plan for the Bug is to paint it either Satin Black or Dark Blue. Right now I am leaning to the satin black since that is what I want to paint the Vette. I like the idea of "experimenting" with the black to make sure that is what I want for the Vette. Also, in the plans are to drop the suspension so that the Bug rides lower and handles better. Some minor mods to the engine are also in the plans, but I am not going overboard with that since the whole idea of reviving the Bug is to have an economical car to drive. I will post my progress on a new page for the evolving Bug.

The first modification I did in reviving the Bug was to replace/upgrade the rear tail lights. In this picture are the original tail lights affectionately known as "elephants feet" among VW enthusiasts.

Here is what I replaced the old worn out tail light with.
These are low profile tail lights.

Two factors played into why I bought these:
1, Price - The lights were about half of what the original replacements cost.
2, I think they look better

One of the things that I have been working on is repairing the body damage caused by a collision in a High School parking lot. Here is the progress so far. I have replaced the door and knocked out the dents in the fender. Before I go to final paint I will replace both rear fenders with new ones. The quarter panel will also need to be replaced. I have the replacement quarter panel but am researching the best way to attach the new panel. I understand that the best way is to MIG weld it in place. I need to find someone local that I can pay to do the MIG weld and I will finish out the body work.

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