My VW Beetle Restoration-DREAM COME TRUE

[JayD]

@ Mole, this is O.T, but, 51 posts? Time for puttin up pix in your gallery dont u think??

[PAVAN KADAM]

Pls find some more pics added.

Side view.



Front view, see where the spare tyre sits, damn neat.

The front dicky is actually very useful. i can have 2 family size suitcases and still a lot more than i felt could go into it.



Guys these pics were taken when i didnt have the original bumpers.
I got hold of them only 3 yrs later since i had the car.



The engine room has some mods after this pics, the delco has given way for technologically advanced CDI and the Austin air filter gives way for the original VW Fuel filter.




The interiors are basic on the original seat frames for the 1967 model.

Gone in for Grey shade as they complemented well with the outer color.

Planning to change the upholstery some time by mid 2009.

Reason: patterns on seat are not original.




This guy can easily seat 5 adults.

Space may look less but has better leg and head room than a Wagon-R.

[PAVAN KADAM]

These are some latest pics.




The all round body beadings are hand made.






Anything more on this thread, any specific questions or request pls put them on i'll still continue.




Need to wash and wax my car for tomorrows event.

Bye for now guys.

[the mole]

Originally Posted by JayD

@ Mole, this is O.T, but, 51 posts? Time for puttin up pix in your gallery dont u think??

Hold on for another week JD and though shall see full blown pics of the Rover Finished. The interiors are still going on.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Guys these pics were taken when i didnt have the original bumpers.
I got hold of them only 3 yrs later since i had the car.

Pavan, sorry for going but these non-original bumpers that you had look like Fiat 1100 ones....do you still have them lying around?

Incidentally, your car just happened to remind me of a Beetle in similar colour (although I'm afraid Ive no idea what model) an Indian friend of ours had in the US when we were there for a year in the 80s...I have a very faint memory of having a ride in it (I was only 4 or 5 then! )....

Oh and yes a 60s (though I'd prefer an even older one) beetle has definitely been in my list of dream cars!

[khanak]

Your Beetle really looks great Pavan, and the yellow really suits her well.

Cheers

[PAVAN KADAM]

These non original bumpers went on to my Cousins Fiat.

I'll post the resto., pics of those some day.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Thank you Khanak and Stanher.

Just back from our 1st year anniversary Rally -Flagged off by Mr Andrea Prinz(CEO VW) who was here from Germany.

Great Drive. Will post some pics very soon.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Guys

Want to let you guys know that this Bug has been running continously since the rally and suddenly i've started to feel much comfortable in this than any other car at home.

This fella has been decent enough on the mileage also and i feel that the engine has just opened up now.

Bangalore Beetle Club has done a lot to these cars.

Its got the respect its due for.

[71Convertible]

Pavan,
Great job on your car. Good to see u & car at the rally.

One comment on your rear suspension -- where you're replaced the torsion bar suspension with a coil suspension. One of the advantages of the torsion bar is that it is a progressive spring. The linear coil spring that you have (progressive ones are avail too) necessitates the extreme camber your car has on the rear wheel. Even with torsion bars, the pre-68 VWs (pre-IRS) were susceptible to tuck-in of the rear suspension under certain conditions. The extreme static camber your car has makes it even more possible. Going back to torsion bar or using a progressive coil spring would be better.

Byas

[PAVAN KADAM]

Thanks Byas,

Would go back and do some R&D on the same sometime soon.

[S@~+#0$#]

Raghavendra,
If you remember (in the BBC rally), I asked you about the angle of your rear wheels ie., they are a little slant and not perpendicular to the ground.

Will going in for torsion bar\progressive coils fix this as well apart from camber?

[71Convertible]

That angle is the camber. +ive camber is when the top of the wheel extends outwards and -ive camber is when it protrudes inwards from the car centerline.

The swing axles beetles should have some I think 1-2deg of +ive camber and the IRS has 1-1.5deg -ive camber in stock settings.

Byas

[PAVAN KADAM]

Byas and Santosh.

There's a 3 cm +ve camber on my car on the LHS,

This i am not able to find time to set it right.

Since everyone's now behind my back i am getting the camber set exactly as the RHS.

Probably next time you guys see my car, all will be well by then.

And about the Heat ranges for the VW Spark plugs i am still on search for these.

But mico plugs dont work well with Beetles as per my 12000 kms report.

The best set of Plugs that's worked well for my car is:
1) 4 electrode Bosh plugs
2) Normal Denso plugs.

Will put up the heat ranges in my next post.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Byas,

Check this out.

Hot or Cool Plugs, what does the heat range of a spark plug mean to your Beetle engine?[/FONT]
The spark plugs’ heat range is an index of its capacity to dissipate thermal energy. The different characteristics of automotive engines regarding operating load, compression, engine speed, cooling, and fuel make it impossible to run all engines with a standard spark plug. The same spark plug may get very hot in one engine type, but may reach only a relatively low temperature in another. In the first case, the air-fuel mixture would ignite on the glowing parts of the spark plug projecting into the combustion chamber (pre-ignition) and, in the second case, the insulator tip would soon become so badly fouled by combustion deposits that misfiring would occur. To ensure that the plug runs between the desired temperatures, plugs with different heat capacities were developed. The so called “heat range”, which is assigned to each spark plug, is used to characterize these heat dissipation capacities. A plug with a lower heat range number (BOS-W7AC) indicates a cooler plug that quickly dissipates heat to the engine block and cooling system, while a higher code indicates a hotter plug that retains heat. By properly selecting the heat range of the plug, it ensures that the plug will operate between the plug’s designed operating range of 500-900 degrees Celsius. In this range, the spark plug will be self-cleaning, yet will not be hot enough to pre-ignite the air/fuel mixture.

regards.