Red Beetle Rehab

A quick update.
Got the car back from Greengeeker last night and it drives amazing! The new (used) transmission shifts so much smoother and is super nice. Its honestly better then the other trans ever was (will explain later with pics hopefully). This pared with my axles I rebuilt makes for a way smoother drive. The car finally doesn't vibrate on acceleration as it used to. There was a bit of slop in the drivers side axle and Nick told me it should be replaced 2 years ago, but i was lazy about it lol. I will soon be posting pictures of the original trans and the damage done to it. Hopefully I'll find time to do so this weekend.

So its been for ever since I have updated the thread. I will post some pic's later. Sadly a couple months ago the bug was in a crash and needed a bunch of front end work. Everything is back together and working perfectly as before, but sadly she just doesn't look the same.
Today I got a new grill for the car and slowly it is turning into donut media's lemon's miata lol.

So much has happened that I don't know where to start, but I guess I will cover the big things and forget the little stuff.
pic's to come soon from my phone...

1st. The wreak. This was definitely a sad day in the history of my driving. Thankfully everyone was ok, and the damage to my car was minimal enough to fix.
2nd. Cut and weld day. It took a day to get the car fully running and driving again and then another to tear it down and put it together. Ended up putting on a different oil pan, Ps pump pulley and resivior, cutting and welding another fender mount, putting on a black bumper and all the headlight shenanigans.
3rd. Post recovery trip to Wisconsin dells. Took it for a trip to Wisconsin and GB was able to meet bumblebee.

The car of many colors. I've been wanting to try and find some ways to make it look a bit better and more like this is how it is supposed to be with the black front end and all but I haven't thought of anything yet. The green grill probably won't stay green, but for now a little bit of the original GB lives on!

I don't have pic's of it at the moment for whatever reason, but last fall I went and drove Tail of the dragon. This was an awesome experience and I would love to go again. I will try and add those later and write a little review of what I found and did while in TN.

Nice, wi dells!

GlowBugTDI said:

The car of many colors. I've been wanting to try and find some ways to make it look a bit better and more like this is how it is supposed to be with the black front end and all but I haven't thought of anything yet.

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Only way to do it right would be geek squad style. Black rear fenders, hatch and roof. Glad you are safe and its back on the road though.

bigsexyTDI said:

Only way to do it right would be geek squad style. Black rear fenders, hatch and roof. Glad you are safe and its back on the road though.

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Fender flares would be fun!!
I have thought about wrapping the roof and hatch, but then I questioned if a 22 year old car is worth it lol.
Maybe I'll go that route anyway.
Than again a red bumper and it'd hardly be different.
My biggest problem with fixing it up like new again is that it will only depreciate, and its still not perfectly straight. The front end seems to be maybe 3/4" to the drivers side. Its noticable by how the hood sits. And the hood doesn't seem to be crooked.

I have thought about lifting it and making a bumper guard with more aggressive looking tires. Then it might even the damage out a little lol.

Next Beetle I pick up I have already decided... I am taking the front and rear fenders off (or at least trimming them considerably) and then fabbing up a front and rear brush guard and big lift kit. Baja Attack Beetle FTW

bigsexyTDI said:

Next Beetle I pick up I have already decided... I am taking the front and rear fenders off (or at least trimming them considerably) and then fabbing up a front and rear brush guard and big lift kit. Baja Attack Beetle FTW

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All i need is the steel resources and better weldung skills, but only one way to learn!

GlowBugTDI said:

All i need is the steel resources and better weldung skills, but only one way to learn!

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Go take a basic introductory class at your local community college. You won't be upset that you did.

bigsexyTDI said:

Go take a basic introductory class at your local community college. You won't be upset that you did.

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That really would be fun, but i have to finish my current degree first . My dad is a professional welder, and he has taught me some stuff. I just need a lot more practice on different thicknesses of steel, and better knowledge of adjusting the welder. Our welder doesn't like thin steel and it seems thats always what im dealing with lol.

Oh man, you have a true wealth of knowledge at hand. Learn everything you can. Real experience and knowledge like his is worth more than gold.

Also, not to be a downer, but coming from someone who lost his father not too long ago, it sounds like good bonding time with the old man.

Before the center bracket was removed.


Yesterday I picked up some brackets and went to my parents house to make a roof rack so I could deliver these rims to another member here. I lucked out easy finding this industrial storage shelf that my dad had left over from the shelving he installed in his pole building. Thankfully he was good with me taking it so I took out the center support, did some grinding/sanding, and its darn near perfect!
While in the pole building I found my brothers longhorns that he's had for the last 15yrs or so. I decided they'd go nicely on my new rack so I took them, made a wooden mount and added the license plate for asthetics. Now My car looks ready for the gambler 500. The rack should work really well and hopefully there will be very little decrease in mileage with just the rack up there once the tires are gone.

GlowBugTDI said:

The rack should work really well and hopefully there will be very little decrease in mileage with just the rack up there once the tires are gone.

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Besides the fact that it still looks very obviously like a piece of pallet racking... lol
Nice job repurposing existing materials though!
And I like the hood

J_dude said:

Besides the fact that it still looks very obviously like a piece of pallet racking... lol
Nice job repurposing existing materials though!
And I like the hood

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It was that or break out the welder. Was quick and easy which was what I wanted. As time goes on I my make it into something better I just needed something that would work.

Thanks, I like the hood as well. I dressed it up for july 4th, and just haven't gotten around to taking it off.

GlowBugTDI said:

It was that or break out the welder. Was quick and easy which was what I wanted. As time goes on I my make it into something better I just needed something that would work.

Thanks, I like the hood as well. I dressed it up for july 4th, and just haven't gotten around to taking it off.

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Hey as long as it works dude!

How did you do the hood anyway? Is that a wrap?

J_dude said:

Hey as long as it works dude!

How did you do the hood anyway? Is that a wrap?

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I couldn't find a wrap that would work for what I wanted so it's actually flag pattern fabric that I was able to wrap the car with and mount underneath. surprisingly it really doesn't beat in the wind or anything so I haven't damaged the paint.

GlowBugTDI said:

I couldn't find a wrap that would work for what I wanted so it's actually flag pattern fabric that I was able to wrap the car with and mount underneath. surprisingly it really doesn't beat in the wind or anything so I haven't damaged the paint.

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Oh cool!

GlowBugTDI said:

Before the center bracket was removed.

20230814_145943.jpg

• GlowBugTDI
• Aug 14, 2023

20230813_154247.jpg

• GlowBugTDI
• Aug 14, 2023

Yesterday I picked up some brackets and went to my parents house to make a roof rack so I could deliver these rims to another member here. I lucked out easy finding this industrial storage shelf that my dad had left over from the shelving he installed in his pole building. Thankfully he was good with me taking it so I took out the center support, did some grinding/sanding, and its darn near perfect!
While in the pole building I found my brothers longhorns that he's had for the last 15yrs or so. I decided they'd go nicely on my new rack so I took them, made a wooden mount and added the license plate for asthetics. Now My car looks ready for the gambler 500. The rack should work really well and hopefully there will be very little decrease in mileage with just the rack up there once the tires are gone.

Click to expand...

I like the flag on the hood.

I don't currently have a picture but GB has been parked back behind my parent's pole building where it was in those first photo's of the car in 2019. It's been about 5 years since it sat there and honestly It's kind of hard to believe that I have owned the car for that long. Man time fly's as you get older. My wife is now driving the newest addition to our fleet that was also my latest "partial restoration" if you will. A 1997 Buick park ave ultra with 94k miles. It had been sitting since 2019 and was definitely the worst car I have ever cleaned both inside and out. Now it looks very nice and drives great as well. It's not a TDI that is for certain as this car averages 22-24mpg but she likes it and that's what matters most. If I'm honest though as long as I don't watch the fuel gauge or the pump meter I love driving it. This spring I will pull the bug back out, do a few fixes, and keep driving till the wheels fall off.
The park ave...

Nice!

Nice! Those are very comfortable cars. My brother owned several LeSabres of that vintage and one time we drove 13+ hours from Moose Jaw SK to Kelowna BC non-stop. And when we got there we weren't even tired out from the drive, felt like we'd been driving for a couple hours at most.
Not bad fuel economy for what it is, 90's boat lol.

J_dude said:

Nice! Those are very comfortable cars. My brother owned several LeSabres of that vintage and one time we drove 13+ hours from Moose Jaw SK to Kelowna BC non-stop. And when we got there we weren't even tired out from the drive, felt like we'd been driving for a couple hours at most.
Not bad fuel economy for what it is, 90's boat lol.

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cool, Ya all the leg room is awesome and ohhh, the bench seats so plush. I agree for it's size and weight the mpg isn't all that bad. If I could stay going 65-70mph for more then 8 miles without stopping and taking off it would go up I think. Instant mpg shows 27-32 on the hwy if I'm not stopping and it's not hilly. Even will slight grade hills it only drops a little.