A few days ago, last December 9, 2020 to be precise, I accompanied my folks to some errands at the bank. It's been a little over a month or so since I last went out, when my daughter had to get anti-rabies shots because her skin had been deeply scratched by our new puppy's teeth. That's another story.
Anyway as I was waiting in the car for my folks to finish I decided to make a list of how I'd build a Beetle. It was a pretty general list, but I listed down in order of priority the stuff I would love to have done on the Beetle. Here is that list, that I've modified yet again.
Get the Beetle itself, preferably a Super Beetle. Why a Super Beetle? It handles and rides better and is supposedly more stable than standard Beetles. There's no "death wobble." While a Super Beetle may not be as collectible as standard, pre-1967 Beetles, I also can't afford those older models. I'm also guessing pretty soon these Super Beetles will also become more collectible as more of them are lost to disrepair.
Engine maintenance. Make sure the engine runs well, doesn't leak oil, is reliable, and is not a fire hazard. I'd also move the fuel filter somewhere safer, based on stuff I've been reading on VW forums.
Front disk brake upgrade. This will always be my first modification. Safety always comes first and upgrading at least the front brakes to disk brakes will improve the stopping power a lot. I'm not talking about just any front brake system either. I'll be using the recommended brake upgrade kits for Super Beetles. I'd read you could use Porsche brake systems for Beetles (here's another link about Porsche brakes on Beetles) but I'm not sure if that is needed for the kind of engine I'm planning, which will most probably be bone stock.
Upgraded wiring harness. I've written about it once, and I'll keep on writing about it. Upgrading the wiring harness to more modern equipment will make it safer and easier to maintain in the long run. Plus if that Beetle still has the original harness the wiring might be old and brittle, or if it's been modified to hell it might not be safe depending on whoever did the wiring.
Rear disk brake upgrade. This isn't as important as the front but would be a welcome upgrade as well.
Upgrade to alternator and 12v battery if needed. I'm not sure if Super Beetles still used generators and 6V batteries but modernizing it would make finding parts for repairs easier.
Body repair, repaint, improvements, and modifications. Make sure the car is rust free and has no dents and dings. Straighten any bends and make sure the chassis is fine. My peg for the colors would be the Salzburg Rally Beetle: silver body, black front and rear decklid. For modifications I would remove the outside chrome trim. Upgrade the doorknobs and the front and rear decklid handles. This is the stage where I would install pop-out windows for the rear passengers. Definitely add heat and noise insulation for the interior, as well as a custom-built rear luggage space.
Install Memminger ABS. Another modern improvement I'd want for safety purposes. I've read on forums about this ABS system being installed, I just need a good mechanic who knows his or her stuff to install this.
Engine rebuild and mods. This is different from making the engine reliable. This is where we overhaul the engine and improve some components to make the engine more reliable and hopefully more powerful. Stuff like an improved crankshaft pulley, oil cooler, and whatever else would be a practical and affordable upgrade for the engine to last longer and maybe improve fuel consumption. Maybe a carburetor or air cleaner upgrade but not dual carbs. Yet.
Customization. This is where the dream goes sort of wild. I'll be "rambling" in the following paragraphs.
New front and rear seats, definitely with headrests. It would be nice if the rear seats were 60/40 fold forward for easier access to the luggage space. Three-point seatbelts for both front seats, as well as two or three seatbelts for the rear seats. Honestly I would like it if a horizontal bar could be safely and securely placed behind the rear seats so I could have three four-point harnesses installed for the rear passengers.
For the interior I would install new dome lights with LED bulbs. If I remember right there were lights above both doors, but I'd rather have the lights moved to the center above the rear view mirror for the driver and front passenger, and maybe another light in the back for the rear passengers and to illuminate the rear luggage space. I would also want to install a racing steering wheel, if not the Momo Prototipo then the Sabelt SW-465.
Aesthetics. I'm a big fan of the stuff Vintage Speed Taiwan is selling. It's pricey but I've read great things about them. I really like any variant of their Black Mamba sport shifters, their roof racks, and their custom door pullers.
New pedals. Honestly I would prefer a racing pedal box since I'm totally daydreaming. If I can't have that then just new pedals.
As for the dashboard, I'd rather remove the padding if it was really ugly and beyond the state of repair. I would install a speedometer/tachometer combo gauge as well as a volt meter, a fuel gauge, an oil pressure gauge, and an oil temp gauge. Standard stuff I think I would need to make sure the Beetle is running well.
The sound system is something I haven't discussed yet, and I'm not really sure what I want. I was thinking of getting those Bluetooth rechargeable speakers and just having a custom made attachment on somewhere for it, but the quality and volume might not be good. So I'd like to have a decent basic sound system set up with (gasp!) a decent 1-DIN modern stereo system with Bluetooth and auxiliary USB. I may be a fan of those retro looking modern stereo systems but they're just too expensive. Maybe a smallish subwoofer to be placed in the rear luggage area as well as some decent mid-range speakers.
Exterior mods. I'm talking about rims. I still have a thing for RS Watanabe style rims, but I'm also starting to grow fond of the Fuchs Porsche rims for the Beetle. Additional front fog lamps mounted on the bumper, and a rear LED chase light bar to act as not only the third brake light, but additional turn and reverse lights. A Thule roof rack with their roof basket (I know I wrote I was a fan of the Vintage Speed Taiwan roof rack but the it's either that or Thule). Headlight eyebrows.
Yeah this blog is pretty long already. Basically made a link dump for this. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to at least achieve my dream of owning a classic Beetle. We shall see.
Out.
