My son's first car - 1966 Volkswagen Squareback

Nice socks!

 

subd

 

It's been a while since I updated this thread.

We have made some progress but not nearly enough as life gets in the way. We had a leak in the house which required major renovation. Then we decided to get the back yard ready for my older son's graduation party which included tearing down old patio covers and rebuilding with Alumawood covers and a long list of honeydos. Then my father in law had a triple bypass and stroke. So needless to say, life gets in the way of these kind of projects.

We lowered the front end and replaced the shocks and boots on all the tie rod ends and upper and lower ball joints.




We replaced the fender beading, rubber around the trunk and rear hatch, rubber around the doors, fixed the fuel gauge and brake lights.

We replaced the rubber around the pop out windows. What a job! The windows come out easy. The screws in the frame were rusted so that required drilling the screws out and re-tapping the holes and finding the right hardware. The 50 year old rubber was cemented to the frame and window. Getting it all back together with inner and outer rubber all aligned properly in the frame is no small feat.






I can't wait to get the new wheels and tires on her with the brick red interior.




We next got the carpet, door panels, and seats out of the car. We need to replace the rubber around the doors in the front windows next. Then fix turn signal and get the ignition back in the car. Then it will be down the shop to get the headliner put in along with new rubber around the other stationary windows, and the dash pad installed. Then back home to finish up the interior. Hoping to have my son driving this thing by the middle of summer. We'll see.
Here is how she is sitting today after dropping the front end two inner splines.

 

Looks perfect. Just sold a vw project that I immediately regretted doing....such is life

 

Any updates on this?

 

Great build and love the father and son work.

 

That car is pretty pimp.

 

im sooooo in

 

you actually let him park the car in the garage? WOW. My Dad would never let me park my car in the garage, that was "HIS SPACE", LOL

 

I'm in. Need updates!!

 

More updates to come shortly. We got the car back from the shop. Headliner is in. Sunroof is restored and working. Dash is back in but speedo needs to be replaced. All window rubber has been replaced and front door windows rebuilt.

Here is a pic right before she went into the shop.


Got the wheels and tires mounted up. Here is a pic with the hub caps and beauty rings sitting on them for the final look.


Next steps, put on wheels and tires. Finish ignition switch. Adjust back brakes. Switch out retractable 3 point seatbelts for for non-retractable. Polish up grounds on rear tail lights to get the brightness up. I ordered some 6v LEDs that I will give a shot on putting in. Start driving and take care of the remaining interior (door panels, seat covers, carpet), replace exterior trim pieces, replace steering wheel, etc.

 

Nope it's on the side yard now. It comes in the garage to get worked on in the shade. Once my older son leaves for college in a week, then it can come in the garage.

 

Sub.

 

Oh my gosh this is bringing back some memories.... congrats to your son and what a great project!
love the pics!

 

Looking great so far. When I was 17 I got a 1973 VW 412 for $1000. Ran pretty well, but was constantly popping the fanbelt off. Everything else was perfect. It ended up getting stolen after only owning it for a few years.

 

Spent the weekend knocking out some things so that the car is ready for my son to start learning to drive a manual transmission.

Here is a list of what we accomplished this weekend.

- Polished all the contacts in the tail lights and saved the housing screws for better ground contact to brighten up the bulbs. Put new gaskets on the tail lights and added LED bulbs for added brightness.
- Found out why one headlight was dim. It was the wrong headlight. Ordered the correct 6V headlight.
- Put the ISP ignition switch in.
- Put on the new steering wheel.
- Fixed the speedometer
- Put the glove box and windshield wipers back together, added chrome trim to dash and grab handle. Added cigarette lighter. Cleaned up wiring and tucked up under dash
- Put in non-retractable seatbelts ( we'll see, may go back to retractable.
- Put the new TMI black carpet kit in.
- Reinstalled seats
- Oh and added stickers and hawaiian Jack antenna ball

 

Bad ass!!! that is a sweet father/son project! Congrats!

 

Awesome!

 

this thread serves as a great reminder to how impatient i am haha. in the middle of june i picked up a 1970 karmann ghia that was halfway to a baja. built the transmission, freshened up a few things, and put it back on the chopping block. cant seem to find the right one. really hoping to find a solid Thing or full body manx but everyone is So-Cal wants top dollar