'71 bug hotrod project

'71 bug hotrod project is born

I have wanted to build this car for years. I originally bought a '56 oval from Peter Brink to base this car on. I got as far as fitting wheels and tires to get the "look" I wanted and tore apart the front end to fit adjusters to drop it. Then it sat in my garage taking up space for years. When I took on a restoration project of a WWII jeep for a friend, I needed space. The '56 ended up in the driveway and despite being tarped, it began to deteriorate. I finally decidede that it was a shame to let it rot away, and sold the '56 about a year or so ago. But the thought of that hotrod lingered on. It ate at me. I dont have the time or money right now for another project. I sure dont have the room. I really dont need to get into this....but.... I had looked at a bunch of freebie and cheepo cars (I can justify it if...) and came across an ad in the CVA newsletter for a '71 bug, floors done, recent paint, no engine or tranny, $200.00. Interresting. I called and drove all the way to Plainfield CT to find a real roach in a field. Floors done were with sheet steel, and body welded to the pan. It had been hit on the drivers side and a new quarter fitted. The recent paint was 7 or 8 years ago just before it went into the field. lots of bubbling rust, some visible rot. I walked away saying that if he wanted offers..... Months later I ran into Mark at the Litchfield Bug Inn and asked about the car. He said a guy offered him $100 for it but didnt show up (big surprise) It was mine if I wanted it. I did, didnt I. Well anyways, my dad and I drove out on a saturday morning, picked up Clay Smith's trailer and dragged home my new project, complete with bees nests and a title.

why am i doing it????

This page last updated 9/20/97

Here are a few of the many patch panels needed for this project. If it doesnt look like much, dont forget, in most cases I need to replace both the drivers side and the passengers side.

join me while we build a hotrod

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 8/12/97

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 8/15/97

Thanx to UPS I'm still waiting for the wheel adaptors for the rear wheels. According to tracking, they were last seen in Grande Vista CA. over 2 weeks ago!!!! These are only temporary for me to fit the rear tires that I'm gonna run and see about clearace to the modified rear quarter panels. I'm running 31x10.50x15 rear tires on a widened stock rim at the moment and for the front it will probably be the favorite 135sr15's that I love so much. Until UPS delivers I'm kinda stuck....DARN!!!

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 8/19/97

Spent last evening removing last nuts and bolts and chunks of other unnecessary goo from the body shell, also spent time banging around to see just what is solid and what is not, (more not!!). Sunday was spent gutting the drivers side door, right down to the bare shell. It had previously been replaced when the car was broadsided. The door was tan and had been repainted "clemintine" orange to match the car. Hope to find some of the needed parts Sunday at the Terryville Bug-A-Fair. The swapmeet is one of the best in the area. You dont get too many chances to pick through this many goodies in one place. Things to look for include, passengers side door shell(cheap), many patch panels especially heater channels, might consider a complete floorpan if it's in better shape than mine....oh well that's it for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 8/20/97

HOORAY THE UPS STRIKE IS OVER...and on their first day back to work, guess what showed up at my door....yup, my wheel adaptors!!!! OF course I went out and fitted the rear rims this evening, you dont really think I could wait do you? I also touched base with Chuck Pisconski, The promoter of the TERRYVILLE BUG-A-FAIR, tonite and discussed a few of my parts needs for this project. He may have a few goodies that I will have to incorporate in the project. Ill check it out further this weekend. The chassis sits better now....It looks more like a HOT ROD. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 8/25/97

As I said above the Terryville Bug-A-Fair was a hiuge success, for me in the swap meet as well. Early in the show I scoffed up a balljoint front beam, complete from trailing arm to trailing arm, with adjusters and a fairly nice coat of grey paint for $60 bucks!!! Later I got my heater channels from Wil at Der Kaferstadt. The price was right and the quality looked good. They were marked as '68 and up, but when I got home I realized that these were actually earlyer model. I like them better and since heat is not important in this car, I'm gonna use them. I also grabbed a new repro front valance for $5 bucks. I might need it and the price was fine. The real treasure came at the end of the show when I looked over the remains of the bug stuff car, a '74? super beetle. Chuck said to see if i could use anything and guess what....I sure can. The passengers side door is in better shape than those that were going for $50 bucks at the swap meet and the rear seat floor and the area where the heat passes into the body is virtually rust free. The rear valance is in very salvagable condition....so, Chuck is gonna get me the entire rear clip to cut up for parts! Awesome day. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/1/97

Well its about 11:30am on Labor Day and the first chance I had to work on the '71 this weekend. I was away on business Friday thru Sunday morning and slept all day Sunday. This morning I got up and since there was nothing left to do to the body to prep it for sandblasting, I deceided to Mate it back to the chassis for transport to the sandblaster. It was a piece of cake with the exception of having to remove the large rear tires to claer the body as I rolled the chassis under it. A couple of shifts of the chassis as the body lowered with the jack and a couple of huge blocks of wood and voila, right in place. I refitted the rear tires and got the first good hint of how rhis thing is gonna look. AWESOME!!!! Well its off to the inlaws for a picnic, and besides it just started raining. All for now.

first 2 pix of the hotrod with the body back on pan

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/6/97

Well its about 3:30pm and the first chance Ive had all day to sit down, got my keyboard and my tv dinner, umm umm good eatin. The hotrod is at the sandblaster and despite the fact that we flat towed the stripped beast all the way across town with my dad's camry, we didn't get stopped and ticketed for towing an unregistered and incomplete car. Frank, the old guy that ownes the sandblaster place told me to park the car in a field across the street next to an old farmall tractor. There sure is alot of stuff here (all ahead of me?), including Frank's own very solid low milage late model bug (automatic...ugh). My dad's neighbor recomended this guy very highly, but when I told him I dropped the car off, he said "dont be this guys buddy, keep after him or he will have that car sitting in the field forever" Drat. Oh I finally took some shots of the hotrod as well as my driver and as soon as I finish the roll Ill have some pix (about time) All for now.

1 shot of the hotrod waiting at the sandblaster

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/7/97

Quick update. I was worried about what Dennis (Dad's neighbor)said about the car never getting sandblasted, so I grabbed another part that needed blasting and headed over to see Frank. Sunday and he wasnt at work!? I headed back to where the car was to leave the part inside and as I was leaving, here came Frank. I told him I had left the part and mentioned that I was going to take a weeks vacation on the 15th thru the 19th to work on the car. I wanted to be sure it would be ready. "No problem" I still have my doubts, but I have to give him till thursday or friday to see. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/8/97

Drove by the field today and the car is gone. He must be working on it, wow!!. I got home and no more than a half hour later, Frank calls to ask if I can come down and go over some of the details with him. Sure thing. After I finished dinner I ran over to find the car half done...alright!!! He was blasting everything (even some of the areas I said he didnt have to) He was blowing holes everywhere, but I expected it. The firewall looks like swiss cheese. Oh well I love to weld...so. We went over the estimate for the job and ouch. It's gonna be about 9 hours plus he's gonna prime the whole thing. We pick it up Wednesday nite. All for now.

all the white spots are light coming thru the rear package tray floor, and get a look at this sorry front quarter panel

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/10/97

Well, its wednesday night and the hotrod is back in my driveway! No problem towing it home (only passed 1 cop this time). It's all sandblasted and primed and only a little worse than I expected, so I guess I'll start working on it in the next couple of days. I think I'll start with the panel behind the pedals and then work back with the heater channels, but first I need to hang the doors and get them lined up. I might have to rework the drivers side where the rear quarter was replaced. I just dont like the way it lines up. Should finish the pictures tomorrow. All for now.

2 pix of the hotrod back from the sandblaster

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/17/97

Yes it is wednesday again and it's been a while since I updated here, but what the hey, I'm on vacation and a few big things happened aside from the project that slowed progress a bit. The '64 panel van that is on my main page has been sold. It all happened so fast I didnt know what hit me, but enough about that, check the main page for more. As for the hotrod, the first pix are back and I will post them next monday, as soon as I have access to a scanner. The doors have been refitted for position even though the passenger door is only a temporary until the bettwer one arrives. Last night I cut out the drivers side heater channel (what was left of it). I still have some clean up to do and before I fit the new one I have to fit a new section to the front pillar. I dont know how high I'm going yet, but it will definately include the lower hinge mount. I'm starting to get a little nervous here, but I'm in too far to stop now. All for now.

doors refitted for position and look at the warping that this old patch panel caused

Later that same day

Check out the pix and you will think I'm nuts. I just wrapped up for today. This is what I got done. The inner front fender area is gone up to the height of the patch panel. The front door pillar is gone to a height of about 8 or 9 inches up from where the heater channel used to be. The replacement heater channel has been slid into place(not much left to stop it) to trial fit it. Some trimming is needed at the door post base at the rear quarter panel. I'm tired. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'll take a break and pick up on Friday. Goal is to fit heater channel and lower door pillar area and at least tack it all in place. All for now.

here is some of what fell out when I cut out the rocker and notice anything missing???

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/20/97

Well Thursdays rain that didnt happen, did today. No problem, Ive got to go out of town anyways. The car got pretty far along yesterday. I fitted in the lower pillar area with the lower hinge mount and welded in the drivers side heater channel. Just a little cleaning up and its done. Still have to remove the lower quarter panel and replace it. I hope I can do this with less warpage than the guy before me. The pix below show the entire heater channel replacement procedure. The drivers door is re hung and it swings and fits just right. Whew,I feel better. All for now.

the pillar replacement was cut from this panel

the pillar replacement fitted and then tacked in place along with the new heater channel

see how the door fits and this is where I left off

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/23/97

Got home last night and finished the welding on the heater channel(only the inside as I will be cutting the quarter away and replacing it...why weld it?). It is supposed to rain today, so I wanted to be sure to get a coat of primer over everything. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 9/28/97

Lots of news. Yesterday the panel van went bye bye. It took about 2 hours to load it onto a rented trailer with only one terrifing moment as the van began rolling off the trailer and down my driveway heading right for the hotrod!!!! Len (the buyer) tried to grab the tow line, only to be dragged down the trailer as well, but I managed to lock the line just 6 inches from contact....whew. Anyways, now that I have an empty bay in the garage, inside room for the hotrod...right???...nope. My wife informed me that she wants to park her 12 year old Honda in there this winter....ARGH!!! What to do? I can see her point, with all the back problems she has been having, it would be great if she didnt have to clean snow and ice off every morning. Great, we have that established. I get 1 bay, she gets 1 bay. IDEA!!!! Yesterday and today were spent fitting 3 cars in a small 2 car garage. After cleaning out both bays a very little at a time, a trip to Home Depot for 2-5 foot pieces of chain solved the problem. I hung the jeep frame (1944 Ford GPW that I have been restoring for the past 4 years, not mine, I get paid for this) from the main beam in the center of the garage between the 2 bays. It is a great place to work on it. The repro body was tipped on its side off behind the frame. Now I rolled the hotrod into it's new home for the winter, and my wife has a place to park as well. This will make for a much happier winter and a much happier wife!! Also as an added note, Chuck will be delivering the back half of the "bugstuff car" on thursday along with the passenger side door and my front beam that he was holding for me. Now the real cutting can begin!! He also mentioned having a nearly mint pan sitting on the side of his garage that will need far less work than mine!! We are gonna have to discuss this further. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/3/97

Just a quick note. Chuck stopped by with my parts last night. We also discussed my obtaining one of the clean pans he has kicking around, as well as the window clip from the '47 split hulk he has. All for now.

The rear clip as Chuck dropped it off

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/6/97

Friday we dragged the rear clip into the garage to get it out of the rain. Friday and Saturday I removed the tarboard and cardboard covering the interior firewall area. I used my trusty 1000 degree heat gun which made quick work of this. The area that I need to use is in mostly excellent shape with only a couple small patches needed as well as a good sandblasting of the underside. I began to drill out the spotwelds holding the firewall/floor panel to the sides of the shell and then used a hammer and chissel to slowly separate the panels doing as little damage as possible. One side is done from the heater channel to the base of the firewall, and came out pretty good. The key here is don't get impatient or you will screw it up, guaranteed. All for now.

the rear clip being dissassembled

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/11/97

Well I just finished cutting up the rear clip and loaded the floor section into my trunk (big buick) to take to the sandblaster. Drat he isnt there. Oh well back to the garage and lets cut out the passenger side heater channel. This one was a lot more stubborn to get out than the drivers side. There was more still intact plus some ugly patches that helped hold it all together, but it's out and next step is to clean up the area to prep the new heater channel to go in. All for now.

the new passenger side heater channel in place and ladies and gentlemen....the door!!!

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/12/97

Finished off welding in the passengers side heater channel. This one was harder than the other one. It took 3 tries to get it right. Each time I welded it in the door didnt close right. The third time It seemed to work OK, but the old patch of the rear quarter panel is in the way an binds the door a bit. When I replace it all will be well. I also had to rebuild the base of the B pillar, which was rotted out. I used a section of the donor rear clip and cut it in. No problem. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/19/97

Lot happened last few days. Parts finally delivered to the sandblaster and as of yesterday he still haden't gotten to them. Spent Friday afternoon cutting the rear package tray or floor area out of the body. This is done up to the base of the firewall. That goes next. It did reveal additional rust #%&!%%#!!!! Picked up 4 swivel casters at the TyRods swapmeet at Stafford Speedway this morning. These will be used to construct a dolly that the body will sit on in the garage, as the sawhorses are too high to fit the car in the garage. Spent a buck a piece for them, so with some scrap wood, this whole thing should come in for under 10 bucks! I also picked up a quart of Bill Hirsch Miracle Paint. This is similar to POR 15 but I've been told it actually works better and unlike POR 15, you can paint over it, in fact, you have to as it is UV sensative. I also talked to a guy who handles classic and rod insurance at the show and he gave me some interresting tips on how to get arround the stiff DMV regulations on hotrods in Connecticut. This alone made the trip worth it. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/26/97

All the parts are back from the sandblaster and look great. The package tray section came out great, we lost a little bit right at the base of the firewall in the corner, but it will be a very easy patch to fabricate. I had Chuck Pisconski and his wife Dorothy over to dinner last night and we discussed some of the parts that Chuck has available for the project. Well it looks like a '47 split window clip will be going in for sure, and we also discussed the idea of doing something different for the dash area. How about the dash out of a '47 split window!!!! This will probably happen as well, but the glove boxes are going to require quite a bit of patching. I think it will be worth it. We also discussed adding semaphores to the chopped top, but i dont think that they will fit in the late pillars. You can bet we are going to measure it though. All in all I may not have gotten any physical work done this week, but plenty of planning and negotiation, and thats a big part of any project. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 11/11/97

Just a quick note to say I'm not dead, but nothing new has happened on the hotrod project since I last updated. I've been way too busy to gat the parts from Chuck and I don't want to do any more cutting till I know exactly what I'm gonna be working with. I hope to get with Chuck this week, but predictions are for snow on friday and if that happens I dont expect to see the split parts till spring. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 11/17/97

Well I got the split clip. Check my rebuildit page to see what the car looked like before we cut it. Yes it did snow and no it didn't stop us from dragging the '47 out of the woods and sliding it on it's roof up hill about an eigth of a mile to Chuck's garage to do the surgery. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 12/17/97

Yes it is 1 month later, and yes I am still alive, and no I haven't acomplished a darn thing with the hotrod project in the past month. I did thaw out the split clip and look it over good. It's a good thing I didn't pay too much for it, because there is alot of fabrication work needed to bring it back. There is major rot and rust in a good portion of the lower areas. I got a spot weld drill from the MATCO guy and am going to seperate all the panels before sandblasting. I don't expect there to be much left when I get it back, but no one said this was going to be easy. All for now.

heh heh heh.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 4/22/98

Boy time flies when you aren't working on your hotrod. No progress on the project since december. I did pick up a pair of streetrod headlight buckets at the tyrods swap meet a couple of weeks ago. The spring swap is a great motivator to get you going after a totally unproductive winter. Sunday is Dust Off and I hope to get there and renew contacts with all the folks that I haven't seen all winter. I finally got my new digital camera working (problem getting the camera to talk to the computer) and am looking forward to being able to post more photos quicker. The hotrod is expected to progress fairly slow at this point. I finally have to make some progress on the WWII jeep that I have been sllloooowwwwllllyyyy restoring for a friend, as well as increasing responsibilities with my business requiring more of my time, so be patient, I'll try to squeeze in some hotrod time soon. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 5/15/98

Wow, I haven't been in the garage in nearly a month. What a slacker. Well today I rolled the '71 outside for a couple of pics with the new dc210 digital camera. I bolted on the new headlight buckets just to see what it might look like and snapped a couple of shots, then pushed it back in to the garage again. All for now.

It feels good to get outside

A hint of what's to come

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 6/8/98

Well this past weekend there was actually a bit of progress on the hotrod, not much but better than nothing. Friday I spent some time cleaning the inner rear fender wells where I had cut out the rear package tray. There was still some residual metal left that needed to be removed. I also have to decide what I am going to do to patch the wheel wells. Not sure. Then on Saturday I headed down to Total Performance in Wallingford CT to research some suspension parts that I am considdering for the rod. These guys are the best. They are best known for their T bucket kits. I spent about half an hour explaining what I wanted to do, and walked out knowing these guys could give me just what I was looking for, even if they had to custom fab it. Check out their websight at http://www.tperformance.com/ All in all a worthwhile trip. All for now.

the inner fender being cleaned up and some new front suspension ideas to make this a real hot rod!!!

picture this replacing the old ball joint beam!!!

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 6/16/98

I spent a little time in the garage last night making a bunch of noise. I decided that the rest of the firewall had to come out. I used an air chisel to seperate the base of the firewall from the piece that holds the upper rubber seal at the back of the engine compartment and left that part intact (not that it is in great shape, but the replacement firewall and package shelf part doesn't have this piece) I cut up to about 2 inches from the seam with the body below the rear window. This will make it easier to make a clean seperation of this joint, as I may reuse part of the area behind the air vents, not sure yet. At this point it is a real good thing that the body is bolted to the pan, otherwise I wouldn't have much more than a pile of patch panels on the floor. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 7/9/98

Last night I got the bill of sale for a '67 beetle. For lack of a better term, I'll call it a project/parts car. It is rough but I can use the roof clip for the chop top doner roof. I will probably be able to use the front clip and hood for the nose of the hotrod and go to the longer hood. The rest of the car will probably be sold off. If anyone needs a '67 rolling pan, give me a call. The best part is that the car came with a barn full of parts. Engines, transaxles, tons of sheetmetal, boxes of small parts, mostly used, but some new. I am picking it all up on Sunday. Most parts will be sold off to aid in financing further work on the hotrod. I'll post a list soon. Get your wallets ready. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 10/22/98

Or how about "Lack of Progress Report". It is not that I haven't been updating this page, there just hasn't been anything to update. I have not even touched the hot rod since June. Well I did actually touch it once when I had to squeeze by it to get to my toolbox. Other priorities (primarily a major Business Project that I have been working on with some professionals and other business owners) have kept me very busy. I am considering moving the hot rod out to the backyard and wrap it in tarps to free up garage space for the WWII jeep that I have to get going on as well as my new Cadillac (Very tough to impress a potential client or customer when you drive up in a beater super beetle). I pick up the caddy tomorrow and then should spend some time this weekend deciding the short term fate of the hot rod. All for now.

HOTROD PROGRESS REPORT 4/23/02

OK I figure I owe you an explaination as to what has happened to the hotrod project over the past few years. First off, the '71 was moved to the backyard and tarped for storage. After the better part of a year and a half of inactivity, I decided to check on it. Water had leaked thru the tarps and had caused the entire body to be coated with a layer of rust. A buddy needed a pan, and in a fit of anger, I rolled the body off the pan and ended up selling the pan and the rear wheel/tires. In late summer 2001, the idea struck me to create a garden "statement" on my front lawn and the abandoned body became the raw material for the "bugarden" (i will elaborate on this elsewhere). So the hotrod project was dead, at least physically, but it was still alive in the back of my mind. During the winter of 2002, a friend informed me of a '72 bug that he had for sale. it was a former hotrod from the '80's and was in kinda rough shape. I had become involved with the volksrodder's forum and was ripe to bring the hotrod back to life. I bought the '72 and the VOLKSRAT was back. So far fenders have been removed and body removal is beginning. Parts are being acumulated and we are on our way. I will have some pix up soon and hope to get this thing rolling again. Stay tuned.

here are a couple of pix of the '72 on the day I first saw it

Watch for photos and sketches of what promises to be a radical creation from the warped mind of DAN CLIMAN "OBSESSIVE VW FANATIC!!

© 2002 vwfanatic@hotmail.com

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page