Howdy all, Just wanted to toss a quick intro.
Been into ACVW's since high school. That was in the early 90's and cal look was king. I found my first dub in a field in my home town and for 250 bucks I was the proud new owner of a ruby red '67 deluxe sedan. It had been hit front and rear and there were some interesting things living in it. The engine was siezed and the glass was all gone, but it was mine! Fortunately, even though it was living on the edge of a lettuce field, there was nothing but surface rust. So, I spent a summer getting it back on the road. had new aprons put in, replaced the hood, got all the glass in, cleaned out the spiders, mice, and a 3 foot bull snake, replaced all the stopping and going mechanicals, and got it into primer. At that point I could at least drive it, and I did, all over town. A careless teenaged girl from down the road demolished it one evening while I was at work, and broken-hearted, I sold it to a friend who cut it up into a baja. It changed hands a couple of times before I lost track of it, but I do know the engine went into a buggy and as of last spring was still going strong. During the same time period, I also had a '73 squack that had 2 wheels in the scrapyard grave. I bought it for the engine and the front suspension (which i was going to graft into my '67 so I could have disc brakes). never got that far with it though, and eventually it was scrapped. It was way too far gone to save. After that I got out of the scene and went to school. Life ensued, and I sort of kept up with the scene, but didn't really have the time or heart to put into another project for some time. In the summer of 2004, my wife and I spotted our next VW sitting for sale on the corner of our neighborhood. It was a very clean '66 sedan and the price wasn't too insane. I called the owner, found out some of the history on the car, and met them for a test drive. The owner was a kid who's dad's a body man. They'd gotten the car to work on together as a project while they lived in the Sacramento area, and then they'd moved out here to Phoenix. One summer with no A/C was enough, and the car went up for sale. This is what we brought home that day: http://www.sixdaemonbag.com/bug/1966/clyde01.jpg Since then, pretty much everything but the body's been redone. They did an awesome job on the cosmetic prep and paint, but most of the mechanicals were either old, or still original. The motor was fresh and so it stayed for a while. I replaced the trans, all the brake components, the shifter coupler and bushing, the headlights and tail lights ( car was already 12v converted). The entire front suspension's been replaced with a 4" narrowed adjustable beam and drop spindles, narrowed tie rods, caster shims, etc. The rear's been lowered by moving the spring plates 2 outers. Tires are 195/50x15 up front, and 225/60x15's out back, on AE 5 spokes. We've made some cosmetic changes too, mostly to suit our taste or for safety. My kids named him "Clyde", and the name seems to suit him pretty well. He's not a show winner or anything, but we do daily drive him and he literally stops traffic every time we hit the road. people can't seem to get enough of him, which is cool with us. Here's a more recent photo: http://www.sixdaemonbag.com/bug/1966/clydepix/DSC_0016.JPG I've also got a '63 ragtop sitting in the garage in a very unfinished state. That'll be my next project once I have Clyde's interior redone. He'll go to my almost driving teenager and I can start fresh with the'63. Currently, I'm thinking it'll turn out something like this: http://www.sixdaemonbag.com/bug/1963/63v2.png I'm a member of the Phoenix branch (Family) of the Daily Driven Dubz VW club. I'm also pretty involved in the VW community in Phx, and to a lesser extent in the rest of AZ as well. Well, so much for a quick intro. If yu're still reading along, you deserve a medal. :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Blakesley | "We think we are free. We are not. Our leaders Unix Systems Admin | have us believe we are, because the perfect Freelance Human | slave is the one that believes he is free" Tie Fighter Pilot | -- Christian Gossett 'The Red Star' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
