Jackwagen Blog Begins

While we've already started on the car, I have just created the blog. I hope to get you up to date. The purpose of this blog is to document the restoration of my car, my first car, the car that I bought and built when I was seventeen, a Volkswagen Beetle.

Helping me is my good friend of the ages and roommate, Esteban Sagrero, who is a graphic design specialist. I have no idea what I am or what my career is supposed to be, but I enjoy it anyway! The car is a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle that is stock except for the front fenders, the motor, the lights, and the fusebox.

The motor was sold to me at the same time as the car, with the car, in semi-running condition. It was produced in 1965 and has pretty much stayed the same. It appears to have not ever been rebuilt. In order to make it a 12V car, I put on a 12V generator on the engine a couple months after not being able to use the ham radio on the 6V system.

As a side note, the starter and the coil remain 6V parts.

The front fenders and most of the lights came from a (as I recall) 1965 parts car that I bought also with my car that did not have a title. The other headlight was donated by the Kenney family in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where I did the first round of improvements after the car's initial construction.

The fuse box must have been put in when one of the previous owners was drunk. It's right in the middle of the luggage compartment, right above the gas tank. Sure, it's a nice upgrade, but the location could only have been worse in very few places.

There is rust in all of the standard places, the floor pan, spare tire compartment, wheel wells, bumper brackets, and door posts.

The plan for restoration follows a few basic stages, outlined as follows.

--Disassembly
--Rust Removal and Body Repair
--Mechanical Upgrades and Repairs
--Reassembly

Currently, we are in the first half of disassembly. The fenders, bumpers, seats, upholstery, gas tank, doors, steering wheel, and motor have all been removed. We are currently working on getting the body separated from the floor pan -- what a pain!

The greatest work we face is the preservation of the body. We'll definitely invest in some POR-15 and some serious undercoating. Paint and/or topcoat is still being discussed.

In anticipation of the mechanical stage, a custom transmission has already been ordered from a friend in Klamath Falls and awaits shipment. This particular fellow is a fantastic transaxle mechanic. The quality and reliability of his work is superb.

The suspension will most likely need to be completely reworked, with replacements where available. The motor we will keep in it's present condition unless major flaws are found before the reassembly stage.

I hope you enjoy watching my progress and I'll be sure to keep it posted!