I have enjoyed my '64 Ghia for a few years. I bought the car wanting to build something different (always owned Beetles) but I found that I was really never very comfortable driving the car. I never quite fit comfortably while crusing down the road and when I raced the car my helmet was firmly in the headliner (not good). I never wanted to alter the car from its mostly original state, so modifying the interior with different seats, etc., wasn't something that I wanted to do.
One day I was browsing through the Samba ads and I came across a familar looking '62 Beetle. Yep, it was indeed my old '62 Beetle; well, it was the body of the car at least. I exchanged some e-mails with the owner and learned that very little about the car was original to when I owned it. For one thing it was on a '67 pan and he had cut the rear apron to fit pea shooters again. The whole thing got me thinking about my old car and I realized just how much I missed it. Not only was it more comfortable for me to drive, I just dug the looks and attitude of the car. So I decided I had to acquire another '62 Beetle.
I located a cute gray-colored '62 Beetle in Tennessee and bought it. Prices for these little cars have certainly changed from when I bought my first '62. And of course it was easier to find and transport one when I lived in Southern California. Finding one in the upper Midwest is more challenging. With the new car located in central Tennessee, I had to figure into the cost of the car the price of transportation back to Wisconsin. At the time diesel was over $4/gallon so making the drive myself didn't make any sense as I would incur significantly more expense. So I arranged a transport company. I did this before when I bought my Single Cab, so I didn't really worry about it very much. However, things were a bit more complicated this time around.
If you've ever done the transport thing then you've experienced how it goes. You go on-line and find a shipper or three. You fill out some basic information and begin to receive quotes. Lots of them... There's a general price range from the quotes, but the timing is key. The transport companies will only find your job attractive if they are going in the general direction of your location. Not very many transport companies were headed to NE Wisconsin. So it became a bit of a waiting game with some adjustments to my price. After more than 3 weeks I finally had a driver based in Northern Illinois coming my way. A deal was done and this arrived....
Updates!!! The "new" car
Cute, huh? Its a 1962 Beetle that is pretty original. The interior sports its original L469(18) Anthracite Gray paint. This no-frills car still has its original radio-delete block off plate, shifter, weathered steering wheel and what appears to be the original red interior.
I was disappointed to find the car in rougher shape than presented by the seller. The seller reported that the car was in fully operating condition with a new brake job and tune up. When the car was unloaded it was clear that the car was worst off than represented. Among the things I quickly found were....
The passnger seat was no longer connected to the pan. The pan is rusted terribly and will requite both sides to be replaced.
There were no brakes; the pedal went right to the floor. No idea if there's a fluid leak or if the master cylinder is toast. Either way, the only way to stop the car was by using the hand brake.
The engine ran poorly, which I quickly determined was related to the very old gas in the tank. The gas smelled so badly I thought it was shalack in the tank. In addition, the clutch chatters so badly that the car must have bad motor mounts.
I was really hoping that the little car would be a "driver" as the seller presented. I was hopeful that I could putt around in the car over the summer and fall while I worked on the other cars. No such luck. Disappointed, I trailered the car to an offsite storage and the car will sit there until the Ghia is sold.
Here's a few more pictures from the Samba ad:
Here's a few taken at home. While mostly original, somewhere over the course of its life the front hood was changed to a later model, non-crest year (63 or later) and the rear tail lights were swapped out for earlier units (pre-62). I've already sourced a nice original set of 62-67 tail light assemblies and will be selling the earlier pieces. Someone searching for "patina" will certainly scoop them up!
This will be a fun project. Its a good foundation for what I hope will be an awesome "Cal-Look" street/strip racer.
The following represents some of the "additions to the car that I've picked up over the past year.
Hurst Copper Shifter
While I have a cool 40%-reduced Berg shifter, I'm going to include some traditional "old school" Cal-Look items in the car. I located an original Copper Hurst shifter from the original owner. It required only a little cleaning to look like this.
I need to find a repalcement boot, but that's it. I've heard nothing but great things about these vintage Hurst shifters and I'm anxious to try this one out in the car.
This shifter was purchased 35 years ago!
Magneto
While at the 2011 Lansing Buggy Builders' swapmeet and show I picked up this Ronco Vertex magneto. Nothing says "old school" when you pop open your decklid than a magneto!
My plan is to send this out to Joe Hunt Magneto's for a refresh and once-over.
I've never used a mag before but know they make power!
Jaycee Spool
This is one of those "we'll see" parts that I've collected. Pictured is an aluminum spool by JayCee Enterprises. Spools have helped many a drag car by distributing power equally to both rear wheels. The problem is, they distribute power equally to both wheels - all the time! This makes turning a problem and can lead to disaster at the track if you break an axle or hit a slippery spot on the track. Either will send the car right or left abruptly often with devestating consequences.
So we'll see...
Camshaft Change
For my Beetle's new engine I'm planning to run a little known favorite amongst some racers. The CB Performance #2296 cam has slightly less duration than the famous FK89 cam, and can make a bunch more power when the rest of the combination is matched up well.
I've stepped things up a tad bit in the engine combo (more below) and this cam is likely to make it in the middle of that AS41 case with its 2332cc.
Cam Follower Change
For the past few years we've all read about cam failures. For my next street/strip engine I decided to step it up a bit more and invested in a set of Udo's tool steel lifters.
These amazing lifters do not require the traditional 20 minutes at 2500 rpms break in period. You simply start the engine like you would normally and let it idle. You can even set the valve train up with its killer spring pressures without worry.
These will work well with my CB Performance #2296 cam.
Rocker Upgrade
For the new 2332cc engine I'm going to be running the awesome CB Performance 1.4 Rocker assemblies. These ultra strong rockers measure out precisely at 1.4 so there won't be any of that higher than expected valve lift problem.
These will have no problem pushing open the 46 x 37.5 valves and K800 springs.
Denham Racing Heads
I will once again be running my original 040 German casting heads that Jeff Denham has massaged over the years. They measure 46mm on the intakes and 37.5mm on the exhaust.
Intake manifolds are real SKAT TRAK pieces that Jeff heavily modified.
Compression for this engine will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 to 1.
51.5mm IDA's
For the new "wilder" 2332cc engine I'll be running a set of JayCee-modified 51.5mm Weber IDA carbs.
I'm the original owner of these Italian Weber 48IDA's. I decided while planning my Ghia's "wilder" 2332cc engine that I would try to make more power with larger carbs. Some have benefited from the larger bore, some have not. I'm going to give it a try and see how it runs.
They are a work of art!
Folts Gearbox
I will once again be running my awesome Dave Folts-built gearbox. This super-strong box runs a 3.88 ring & pinion and has a 4.25/2.31/1.70/1.31 gearstack.
As pictured above, I may repalce the ERCO diff with the JayCee spool. Again, we'll see.
This particular box has always seemed to "loose" and not spin the left tire much on a burn out. Skids and launches seem even, but the burn outs often turn into a one tire burn out, which is not ideal when your engine is putting down in excees of 200+hp.
The Plan
My plan is to build a tough looking and quick '62 Beetle. My previous Beetle ran a best of 11.81 in the quarter mile and I'd love to surpass that time-slip with the new car. I continue to accumulate parts and hope to enjoy the car within a year or two. I'll provide updates here as I go along. For now, here's a shot of my old '62 taken on a quiet country road.
For giggles....
This picture of the new little car was taken in the early spring of 2011. We had a late-season snow storm and as you can tell by the car, it was not amused. I had to capture the tongue moment with the camera.
