blogtribe

Nope, no dead relationships here, just the break down and part restore of one poorly Beetle.

Started off with a failed MOT and a nasty list of things that could and have gone wrong, holes in the floor, inner wing and sills of the poor thing.

Once I saw all those I decided that a new floor was probably the best option, however I know nothing! Will be having someone come and take a look and offer advice at some point but couldn’t wait until then before starting work so Sunday morning I began to take bits off. Intention was to  take off the running boards and see how it went from there, nightmare! One of the bolts holding the running board to the front wing was 5″ long, why?!?! If I’d had a hacksaw I’d have just chopped the bugger off, instead I had to try and unbolt it, with hardly any access and a very rusty bolt. Eventually got it after 20mins and the rest were no problem, 2 running boards, off!

After that I decided I’d have a go at removing the wings, so that meant off would have to come the bumpers. Removed the front bumper without much effort but when it came to removing the bumper iron one of the bolts just kept turning and not getting anywhere. Discussed with father-in-law and he suggested a large screwdriver beteen bumper iron and body to put pressure on the bolt and see if it would eventually catch and loosen, yes it did but very slowly and took a lot of effort, I gradually worked it out enough to then get in a crowbar and after 45mins (yes, over an hour spent on 2 bolts so far) I finally won! Rear bumpers came next and pretty much came off in less than half the time.

Once the bumpers were removed it was onto the wings, I went round with a wire brush to make sure all the bolt heads were clear of crap then squirted each one with WD40. In the end it seemed it may not have been necessary (or was it because I did it) because the wings were the easiest part to remove. So now the Bug looks like it’s been in a fight, which is good because that’s how I feel today after wrestling with stubborn bolts, must have used muscles I didn’t know I had. Oh and a bit of forethought on my part and I’d have removed the wheels, slightly more access I reckon than the way I did it ;-)

So that is how the Bug currently stands, next time it’s onto the interior before getting someone to come take a look and advise. Must clear some room in the shed, otherwise I have nowhere to store stuff!

I think now I’ve started I may move this into a blog of it’s own, watch this space for news on that.