This spreadsheet is really useful thanks Dave....

Well im on the lookout for a good 1600 gearbox and a 1641cc or 1176cc engine for the beetle as there are no plans of sourcing top end new parts and getting a complete engine built, this time a good ready built one will suffice, not because its the wife's car but pockets arent as deep as they were for Ludicruz.

Hey folks a few questions on gearboxes please.

My 63 Beetle that i am currently working on has the original 1200cc engine and gearbox.

My plans are to upgrade the engine to a 1641cc and would like to upgrade the gearbox accordingly, however reading deeper into this i have found out that there are a few things i need to consider.

• I need to source a 12v bellhousing case which is pre clearanced for a 200mm flywheel.

• I need to ensure that i use my current short axle shafts and tubes and not use long axle tubes to avoid the rear wheels sticking out past the wings.

I have also read that a freeway flyer gearbox is considered a good match for the 1641 engne.

My ask was, has anyone here done a similar upgrade or can anyone recommend a setup that works please as my knowledge on VW gearboxes is preety much zero.

With the new floorpan finally home, I decided to give the red oxide coating a thorough scuff on both sides to provide a good key for the epoxy primer. Although the red oxide was still in excellent condition, it had been on the chassis for many years and I wanted to ensure maximum adhesion before applying any fresh coatings.




Once the surface had been keyed, I thoroughly cleaned and degreased both sides to remove any dust, dirt and contaminants that had accumulated during its years in storage. With the preparation complete, the floorpan was finally ready for two coats of epoxy primer.



Mark had suggested that I apply Raptor paint to the floorpan. To be honest, I'd never heard of it before, so I spent some time researching it and was impressed by the durability and protection it offered. It seemed to be a popular choice for chassis, off-road vehicles and areas exposed to stone chips and road grime, making it ideal for what I had in mind.

With the floorpan fully prepared, primed and ready to go, I mixed up the first batch and got spraying. The Raptor paint went on surprisingly well, producing a tough textured finish that looked both professional and hard-wearing. Once the first coat had flashed off, I followed up with a second coat to ensure complete coverage and maximum protection.

A couple of coats later, the transformation was remarkable. What had arrived as a red oxide-coated chassis was now finished in a deep satin black, looking far better than I had imagined. More importantly, it was protected with a durable coating that should withstand many years of use.

Standing back and looking at the finished result, I knew I'd made the right decision. The floorpan looked factory fresh, if not better, and for the first time I could really start to picture the rebuilt Beetle coming together.

At the same time i worked on the front windscreen area, this too was clean and rust free apart from the bottom right hand corner....





Most of the body was now sitting comfortably in primer, with the only areas left to strip being under the bonnet and the engine bay. My biggest remaining concern was the floorpan. Although the central tunnel was solid and showed no signs of trouble, I wasn't so confident about the pans themselves, as both sides were covered in a thick tar-like coating that made it impossible to properly assess their condition.

Around the same time, I noticed that Mark Dryden from Flatlands had advertised a completely solid 1960 chassis for sale. It had been sandblasted and coated in red oxide primer, and had been part of his collection dating back to his buggy-building days. Even better, it had spent the last twenty years in dry storage.

I didn't think twice. As soon as I saw the advert, I was on the phone negotiating a deal, along with a few additional parts that he happened to have lying around. Given the uncertainty surrounding my original floorpan, it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up.

The icing on the cake was the paperwork. Included with the chassis was its original V5 document, complete with a desirable private registration number. Not only was I getting an exceptionally solid 1960 chassis, but the registration came with it as well, making the deal even sweeter.

The plan was to collect the chassis from Mark at the end of June, but I suddenly found myself with a dilemma: where on earth was I going to store it?

Ludicruz was occupying the garage, and if I put the chassis in the tent there would be very little room left to work on the Beetle. With the body nearing completion and a replacement floorpan now on the horizon, something had to give.

After much deliberation, the decision was made. Ludicruz would have to go into hibernation and return to its original home at Mum and Dad's garage. It felt a little strange moving it out after having it close by for so long, but needs must. The Beetle restoration was reaching a critical stage, and having the space to work properly on the chassis was far more important.

Once Ludicruz was safely tucked away, the garage suddenly felt twice the size. More importantly, it gave me somewhere dry and secure to store the newly acquired floorpan and begin preparing it for the next phase of the build.

Time for another update, folks.

It was early June and time to tackle the four quarter panels, starting with the front. As usual, everything looked fairly respectable on the surface and I was quietly optimistic that this would be another straightforward strip-down and repaint job.

However, the real story only reveals itself once i stripped the multiple layers of paint and body filler back to bare metal.

At some point in the car's life, both heater channels had been replaced. The usual rust-prone areas, particularly the bottom six inches where the quarter panels meet the channels, had previously been cut out and repair sections welded in. Unfortunately, whoever carried out those repairs had been rather careless with both the quality and finish of their work.

Another reveal was the wheel well clip, this had been cut and replaced with a new one....







The rears were in a similar state too...







The one piece of good news was that the window areas were absolutely perfect. Given how prone these cars can be to trapping moisture around the window apertures, I was expecting to find at least some signs of corrosion lurking beneath the paint.

This weekend I woke up determined to tackle the largest surface area yet — the roof — quietly hoping I wouldn't uncover any corrosion, especially around the rain gutters.

I managed to remove the first two layers of paint reasonably quickly, knocking them back within an hour. However, it soon became clear that the stubborn red paint beneath, along with the older layers, was going to be a tougher challenge.







So I decided to try the trick Speedy shared: covering the brushed-on Starchem with polythene.
It worked brilliantly. Within minutes I could actually hear the stripping agent doing its thing — a faint sizzling, like bacon frying in a pan. After leaving it for about an hour, the paint came off with ease.






From there, it was a straightforward job to clean everything up and give the whole roof a quick sand down.




I was absolutely delighted to find no rust at all — not even around the rain gutters, which I had been most concerned about.




By the evening, I'd managed to get two coats of primer on as well. A full, productive day's work — and one that was definitely worthy of a couple of glasses of Rioja while admiring the progress.

Up early on Saturday morning, I was ready to tackle the rear section, thinking I'd easily be able to strip off all the paint and glue residue and have it primed by the evening.




Well, I was completely wrong. By Saturday afternoon, all I'd managed to do was a small section, however i uncovered a repair panel on the wheel arch.




It wasn't until early Sunday evening that I finally got everything stripped and cleaned, and managed to get two coats of epoxy primer on.

Quote from: Paul1953 on May 04, 2026, 09:23:01 AMHi Nav  Just had a look through the thread from beginning again.
A memory surfaced, (that`s was a bit of a surprise as I thought there was very little left floating around in my head now   )
One of my real pet hates about Beetle rebuilds stems from my first attempt at putting the metal "roof bows" back in and getting the lining material in a position to fit with no sags, stretches, tears etc.  If you are planning fit the metal bows again along with a standard style roof liner then you are in for some fun. Hope you have plenty of choice words ready. Having said that it`s all part of the fun.

Hey Paul I remember what a hassle it was just removing the bows and the roof liner — fortunately, they're now safely sitting on a pile of rubbish at my local refuse centre.

The plan will be to cover the roof with a layer of Dynamat, then finish it with a top layer of felt or leather. I'll add a thin foam lining underneath to keep everything smooth and to hide the Dynamat joint lines.

Plans for the weekend ahead are to focus on the rear bench area and the inner quarter panels.

I've also been in talks with someone very well known in the beach buggy world regarding my floor pan. I have a suspicion it may have been heavily coated in layers of thick paint to conceal some questionable rust areas, so I'm now exploring options for replacing it altogether.

Hi Folks, Apologies - I've been away for a while tending to other priorities, and then things got quite busy preparing for and attending the Classic & Restoration Show at the NEC with Ludicruz. It was a fantastic venue and a great show overall. Even better, though, was the warm welcome I received from the buggy community members who were there - really appreciated that.

Anyway, I'm well overdue for an update.

A few weeks ago, I started to tackle the doors. I was pleasantly surprised with the driver's door once stripped back, it turned out to be in very good condition. There are no rust patches or dents on the main structure, which was a nice bonus.
There is, however, a previous repair in the outer skin, roughly 8 inches above the handle, so that will need a bit of attention.





Unfortunately, the passenger door didn't turn out quite as well. Whilst stripping back the paint, I uncovered two large areas of heavy filler. Underneath, it became clear that some fairly poor-quality repairs had been carried out, with no real attempt made to straighten the metal beforehand.



One of these areas is on the bottom corner of the outer side....




The second is on the other corner on the outer side....
Both will need some proper attention to get them back into shape..

 Now that's thinking out of the box, totally amazing!!!! Can't wait to see the finished bonnet....

While I was searching for a new engine lid on various sites, it was time to tackle the bonnet.
I was dreading what I might uncover, hoping I wouldn't find the same problems as I did with the engine lid.

Luck was on my side — the bonnet was in excellent condition overall, with only a small area at the bottom that needs attention. It's nothing as major as the engine lid, and I'm confident I can repair it and get a really good finish












It took almost 30 minutes to get both sides in primer because the compressor kept needing to refill, but the finish came out perfect in the end.









After a couple of weeks of digging through various Facebook groups, I finally came across a really clean, well‑looked‑after engine lid.
Within a few hours of getting it home, I had it fully stripped and in primer.

Feeling confident after stripping and priming the first wing, I managed to get the remaining wings done in no time.
Once again, there were no damaged or rusty areas to deal with, which made the whole process much smoother.










However, it was a completely different story when I moved on to the engine lid.
It looked perfectly fine while it was still on the car, but once I stripped the paint back, I found a huge section of filler running across the entire bottom edge of the lid




By the time I'd uncovered all the filler, things got even worse.
The entire bottom section had been cut out and replaced at some point, but even the replacement panel had started to rot.
There were several large holes that had been covered with fibreglass and then filled over.
To make matters worse, the welding job was so poor that the whole area was dented and uneven.










There was no way I was going to be able to repair this, so I stripped both sides completely, cleaned everything up, and gave it a coat of primer.
At this point, it's probably a job for someone braver—or more patient—than me.

The brief my wife gave me for the rear seats was based on an this image she found on the net.



Essentially, she wanted two individual seats with a central section for storing coffee or drinks.
The best match I could find was the rear seat setup from an Alfa Romeo 916 GTV. They make a great starting point, and my plan is to open each seat up and widen them by about three inches so they fit the car as if they were designed for it.

By this point we'd sold the interior, including the door cards, for a decent price and had already started planning the new seating. Porsche 924 front seats have always been a favourite of ours, and luckily I managed to pick up an original pair for next to nothing.





All I really needed were the actual frames, since the plan was to buy new foam cushions.
Carefully stripping and disassembling the original leather covers, as they'll be used as patterns for upholstering the new ones...





Once they were fully stripped, I sanded the frames back and gave them two coats of smooth Hammerite.





I also managed to source new foam cushions, as the old ones were worn, torn, and crumbling in places.