My '69 Resto

[Calisupastarz]

Finally getting work done on a 1969 Autostick that I acquired earlier this year.  When I bought the car, the guy who sold it to me told me that his grandmother drove it for about 15 years, then it sat outside in the elements for another almost 20 years!  In fact, the car is in such good condidtion all things considered, that I believe the car still has its original mileage on it, 89435.  So naturally when I got it, everthing that is rubber or plastic is cracked and worn, but the body has only a little surface rust, no body damage (except for a couple dented fenders), and mechanically everthing works (lights, wipers, gauges etc.) so I was pretty happy when I got it, and it seemed to be a good investment for me for $800.  The motor starts right up every time, so I wanted to try and return this car to original stock shape as much as I possibly could.  I want to make it into my daily driver for school and work, and this is the where I am at this point.  

I was able to get the car into first gear and reverse, but that was about it so I realized that I had a pretty major problem on my hands.  Trying to figure out what the problem was with the car was another story, but after finding some info on this site, and having a friend who worked in a VW shop for almost 20 years and knows these cars, and these types of transmissions really helps.  He assisted me in replacing the clutch servo, and after doing so the car was able to get reverse, low, and second gear, but still no first gear.  At this point he told me that it would need a new (rebuilt) transmission, and some other new parts to go along with that transmission.  Plus in order to get it into running shape, I needed to replace the tires, which were so old and cracked, they looked to be the originals!  

I replaced the tires, and bought a new urethane transmission mount and new shocks from JC Whitney.  I bought a new contact point for the shifter and a transmission pan gasket from California Import Parts.  I also replaced the stock carburetor with a rebuilt one from a company in Burbank, California because it would start right up but still was having trouble idling, and I figured that the seals were worn and old.  Then I found a shop called Transworks, located in San Diego that does transmission rebuilds, and asked them to build me a new transmission for the 69 Autostick with 2 switch holes.  After about a month, they had the transmission ready and I bought the new transmission today.  

So hopefully by this weekend I should be getting the work done to get this autostick back on the road.  New (rebuilt) transmission, new transmission mounts, new contact for shifter, new (rebuilt) carburetor, new shocks and tires.  Will update with more information when I get it all together.

[68AutoBug]

Hi,
How did the new transmission go?
I have done a full restoration of My Beetle.. over 9 years due to medical problems... Check out My websites:

http://au.msnusers.com/My1968restoredBeetle/shoebox/msnw?

http://community webshots.com/user/vw68autobug

Lee Noonan  -- 68AutoBug -- Australia --


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[Calisupastarz]

Well after some really great work by my mechanic, the new transmission is in and is working really well! The car shifts smooth and solid into all the gears and I drove it to work for the first time today and am quite happy with the performance.  And to make things even better, everything mechanical is working on the car.  All the lights, the windshield wipers, doorlocks, warning indicators, speedometer and odometer, even the rear window defroster is working!  

I took the past couple of weeks off of work for the holidays, and was able to really get the feel of the car and make sure that it would be driveable and reliable.  Now that most of the mechanical stuff is done, I will start working on the restoring the interior and exterior of the car.  Planning on heading to the Pomona Swap Meet in 2 weeks to get an interior kit and other miscellaneous odds and ends.  I will try to post a link to some pictures of the car too.  

Lee, thanks for the encouragement, and thanks for this terrific site and its devotion to keeping these cars where they belong, on the road!

[Calisupastarz]

As promised some pictures of my car.  Cant figure out how to post a picture, so here's a link to my friend's message board, you are all welcome to join.  

http://spankyshouse.com/forum/index.php?s=52b431ea0742f6dc41f9c85655c3f1fa&showtopic=10

[Calisupastarz]

Haven't put anything up here in a while so I thought I'd fill in some of the details of the car's progress.  

Had a few more slight problems with the AS transmission, all were solved with the replacement of the clutch servo and some adjustment, although I am still getting the common banging/grinding into 1 and R.  Guess I'm gonna look into rebuilding one of my control valves.  

The restoration is coming along good, been stocking up with lots of new parts, and I removed my entire interior and starting sanding and painting the seat frames.  I removed the tar boards last weekend (what an unbelievably messy job) and discovered some more rust underneath them, but nothing through the floor pans, so I'm planning on treating the entire pan (on the interior) of the car with Rust Bullet.  After the painting, I'll try to get the remaining parts that I need to complete the interior restoration.

So that's where it stands as of now, hope to be in better shape by summertime.

[Calisupastarz]

Latest Update - Well things have been going along on the car, some good progress, and a few setbacks that really needed to be addressed before continuing with the asthetic aspects of the car.  

Couple weeks ago overhauled the brakes completely.  I knew that I had a leak, didn't know the extent of it, ended up replacing everything so that I would have confidence when I stepped on the brakes.  So new German master cylinder, German wheel cylinders (front and rear), German front drums, machined the rear drums, new switches, new brake shoes and new hoses all around.  

Then the front end needed some attention, so I replaced the ball joints, steering damper, and all the rubber bushings and clamps for the swaybar.  Since I was going to take apart the entire front end, I figured it would be a good time to install the drop spindles that I had planned on, so that was done at the same time.  So my front end and steering should be really tight now.

I also found and repaired a transaxle leak coming from the pan.  This started as a very slow leak, that rapidly increased to a very fast one, so it needed to be addressed.  

Interior is out, seat frames have been sanded and are in the process of being painted.  Inside the car still needs to be sanded well and painted with the Rust Bullet to prevent any further rusting, but everytime I go to work on that it rains again here in So California!  So hopefully I will get some of that work done in the next couple of weeks.