"Oscar" my yellow 1970 bug.

[Fowvay]

Let me start this off with just a little bit of a back story.

My very first childhood memory is of me climbing into the back of a brand new Red with cream interior 1970 Volkswagen Bug. I can still very clearly see myself reaching up for the grab handle, stepping on that running board, smelling that unusual (and to me seductive) VW smell, feeling the unique texture on the vinyl seat and hearing the fweeeeeeep of that glorious lil engine.

I bought a 74 Super Beetle to appease my need for an old bug and had a pretty good time restoring it but in the back of my mind was that lil 70 gnawing away.

I got into the water cooled scene and quickly put to rest those ancient, archaic, unsafe and noisy lil relics from my past.

That was untill I joined the Org and starting meeting people addicted to both air cooleds and water cooleds. I started becoming obsessed with the idea of owning an air cooled myself but since most of them have gone to the big junk yard in the sky (at least around here) I satisfied myself with day dreaming and looking at pics of other peoples air cooleds.

That was untill April 2004 when one of my wifes coworkers started chatting about "The Bug" and how she has no idea of what to do with it, now that her Dad has passed away.

She had encouraged her Father to buy it for her and in turn restore it but after he passed on she didn't have the heart to drive him anymore so he just sat outside for 3 years.

Well I of course volunteered to step in and help her to sell "The Bug" (Her name for him). He was pretty rough and neglected after sitting outside for 3 years but he still had a ton of potential and the big selling point to me was that it was a 1970. Finally here was my chance to make that childhood dream come true. So after some quick negotiations and some transferring of money. "The Bug" came home.

Don (Don_and_Herbie) eagerly offered to assist me in the restoration process (i.e. he spent the entire summer wrenching on the little guy) The first day we started to dissasemble the little guy it occored to me that "The Bug" was more of a last name (like "The Grouch") so I started to call him "Oscar The Bug".

We spent day and night wrenching on him, painting, ordering parts and finally after 3 months he became the pretty lil bug you see in these pics.

Thanks for all the hard work you did for Oscar, Don.

Thanks Mom for the use of your garage and cough credit card.


Tom aka Fowvay

1600 Single Port
15X5.5 Chrome Steelies
185/65 15 Pirelli P400 tires.
Blaupunkt CD player
2X6.5 Blaupunk speakers (front)
2X6X9 Blaupunkt speakers (rear)
Ralley seat (drivers side)
Bugpack shifter
12.5 inch wolfsburg sport steering wheel
Corvette competition Yellow paint
electronic fuel pump
other wise bone stock

[JonK]

Hi,

What a nice bug, I Also remember as a child being in a vw bug, and wanting to have one and it does not go away. I Hope to have one someday, But it is funny when driving the new beetle, at times something takes you back to those vw bug days. I Am sure glad they Started to make the beetle again. I Sure love My new beetle and cant seem to stop driving it.

Thanks for telling your story and showing your bug,

John K.:)

[dnyed]

I knew you had Ocsar, but I didn't know the entire story. That's beautiful! :kiss:

[mentalVdub]

very clean bug!!!

i must say, i don't care for 67 and on bugs, but this one is quite amazing!!! job well done!

[CyberGreenBaby]

OMG! He's beautiful! Awesome color too!! :goodjob:

[Don_n_Herbie]

Your very much welcome Tom I had a blast

[ccain529]

Very-Very NICE! WOW!
Beautiful OB!!!

[Beetlescott]

Felix and I both Love Oscar. Especially since I drove him.

[Fowvay]

I did this photoshop for another thread but after a bit of consideration have decided to post it here. The look is begining to grow on me.... whatcha think? :confused:

[SPIRU]

I like the paint! Nice.

[squeebug]

Hrm not quite sure how I like it lowered. But looks cool none the less :goodjob:

[Oyveychris]

Very nice! I ove that color of yellow!:D

[CyberGreenBaby]

Yep! Oscar looks hot with those BBSs! :goodjob:

[FineExampl]

Sorry Tom, Oscar looks much better with his old shoes. If it's not broke, don't fix it...in this case. Nah, the ol skool rims and caps are so much sexier on the car.

[AddisVWNewBeetle]

Looking good Tom. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to more pictures down the road!

[mentalVdub]

definitely stick with the OG rims!

[roamerr]

I like the old type rims better -- the others make me think of the Mexican Beetles that are 10 yrs or so old....

I went to the SEVWA (South East VW Association) race/show/swap at Farmington Dragway (in Mocksville NC) this last weekends. I definitely liked the original looking Beetles. Made me really want one..... (of coarse the 6sec 1/8 mile ones' were cool too....).

[treasured yellow bug]

Hey! I was just playing around with the computer and typed in "1970 yellow vw bug" and your letter came up. Well, I have a 1970 yellow bug, too! It is a pale yellow and belonged to my mother. She died in the 1990's, so it is a real treasure to me. I feel like I still have a part of her. It has 50,800 actual miles on it! And, believe it or not, it is named Oscar! So, you can see why I wanted to reply to you.
Best to you and your Oscar!

[Fowvay]

Thank you so very much for sharing you story and joining the org just to do so. :)

Take a look around.. you might have stumbled upon something you really come to love.

Good Luck with your "Oscar" may he provide you with many more years of fond memories. :)

[Fowvay]

I think it's high time I added a few more pics of Oscar to this thread so here they are. :)

[Lnzbug]

Stop rubbing it in already! I should post pics of my old bug so you can see why I'm drooling over Oscar :)

[JonK]

Hi Tom,

:) Great shots of Oscar!!!

John

[Toad]

Yay!! Oscar went to Giant Eagle today!!! I bet he loved it.

[Fowvay]

I am looking thru old pics and found a few more to load up.

here are a couple of before and after pics. :)

[Breez]

Wow, you did an awesome job... its great to hear other org members that got involved and helped with this amazing process...

Thanks for sharring your story.

I am in love with oscar.

[Fowvay]

Wow, you did an awesome job... its great to hear other org members that got involved and helped with this amazing process...

Thanks for sharring your story.

I am in love with oscar.


:o :) :o :) :o

[Fowvay]

:banana:WOOOOOHOOOOOO:banana:

[iScott]

Congrats, Tom! Great job, you whole ass. ;)

[yellowherbie]

Looking Good Tom. I love the color!! You lucky guy you!!:)

[Fowvay]

Just for fun a few more pics of the resto

[Breez]

Tom, you must be so proud... oscar looks great!

[Fowvay]

Tom, you must be so proud... oscar looks great!


I am at a funny point in my ownership. I really like how he turned out but I am seriously tempted to sand him all down.. refit a couple of panals, drop in a 1641 Turbo or an 1885cc, pull off the dash pad, fill the holes and paint it to match the body.

Sigh...when a project car takes to long to sell and you are desperate for another project one is often tempted to redo the one he just finished... errr at least I am. :lol:

[Bichondi]

Oscar rocks!!!!:banana: :goodjob: :guitar: :clap:
Have you seen the "Last Edition" Bug??? I hope I can get my hands on one of those one day, I just completely love the VW bug.

[Beetlescott]

Tom, he looks better than ever!!!!!!

[JuggBug]

After seeing your before and after pics, you give me hope Tom!
My son's BUGHOLE is in pieces right now! :cry: But hopefully one day it will be super hot like Oscar!

[Fowvay]

Took a couple reflection shots... thought you might like to see them :)

[Fowvay]

Picture 2

[Fowvay]

I have never been able to fit behind the ginormous steering wheel in Old beetles but after losing 157lbs (Im still a giant fatty) I decided to dig out the old wheel and see if I fit and ... I DO!!!!

So after much contemplation of what to do with it I decided to go with a light restoration vs over restoring it. I like the patina the 36 years of scuffs, cracks and gouges. Oscar has earned each and every one of those thru his long adventures in life. So instead of filling them all in I simply gave it a nice sanding and sprayed it black. I then polished up the horn ring and mounted it up.

The sparkling wheel however brought into contrast the dingyness of the stock grills next to the speedo so I sanded those down and coated them in the same black. :)

Oscar still has his patina it is now just shiney patina. :lol:

Tom aka Fowvay

[bugsy98nb]

Nice job Tom !!!

[BaldyLox]

I love it!

[Fowvay]

Ok this might seem nuts and it probably is but around 7:30 I found a 70 speedo for Oscar on the Samba and only 1.5 hours away. By 8:30 I was in Pomelo headed out to Canfield to pick it up.

By 11:30pm I had it in pieces and meticoulsly cleaned it up and replaced the plastic spur gear just in case. :)

Now its 1:30 and she is all bolted back together and looking like new :D

[Fowvay]

Here it is all prestine and new looking :)

[jdesigns]

Ah! The love of a Volkswagen! Isn't it great! :D

Looks great Tom! Can't wait to see it installed! :goodjob:

[callisto9]

Gimme. :)

[Fowvay]

I was searching thru some boxes in the garage this afternoon looking for some bulbs for my speedo when I came across my missing clutch pedal cover so... just for you, Jerry. Here is a pic of it. :lol:

[Fowvay]

hmmm how do I start the tale of "The speedo"


Well ok here I go.... I installed the speedo on Monday and immediatly took it for a drive where upon I immediatly noticed I had all the little bulbs in the wrong places and worse yet my fuel gauge wasn't working and my blinkers froze up.

Then suddenly my speedo starting making those Oh so refined noises of a garbage disposal digesting pea gravel and forks. :eek:

So out comes the speedo and I glumly walk away from it to try again another day. Well today was that day. I dissasembled it completly and could feel no slack or other issues to warrant such noisy behavior but just to be certain I degreased all the little gears and bevels then liberaly greased them up with some graphite infused axel grease. :D

I then tested the tickler with a volt meter and it checked out and so did the fuel gauge itself. I can make it read full by hot wiring it. So I must have F'd something else up in the process... sigh :(

Now my high beam idicator lamp won't work, the blinkers don't blink and my horn has gone awol. I think I may have accidently broken a ground wire. I suck at reading schematics so I'm home Don_and_Herbie can get his butt over here and help me out. :confused:

The good news is that the speedo is working great. I even drove past one of those lil radar posts that show your speed. I drove past at different speeds to from 25 - 45 mph and it is reading slow by about 2mph which makes sense since I have smaller tires then stock. :)

The speedo is super smooth now and makes Zero noise. I have never driven an old bug where the speedo didn't jump around. Not even Oscar :lol: This was a first for me. I guess I did something right today after all. :D

[Breez]

woo hoo!!!:D :D :D :D

BB and Bree :heart: Tom, Oscar and Pom!!!

[Herbie3Rivers]

Cool. Looks good in there.

[Fowvay]

Brrrrr it's cold close that garage door! :mad:

[BaldyLox]

Quality! Fine German technology!:cool:

[Ghia_Roadster]

thanks tom you give me alot of hope! more suspension shots PLEASE! at least i don't have to replace my head liner if i don't want to!

[Fowvay]

Shot a couple small videos today. Thought all y'alls would like to see Oscar in action. :)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/th_MVI_0324.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/?action=view&current=MVI_0324.flv)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/th_MVI_0286.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/?action=view&current=MVI_0286.flv)

[Ghia_Roadster]

I am at a funny point in my ownership. I really like how he turned out but I am seriously tempted to sand him all down.. refit a couple of panals, drop in a 1641 Turbo or an 1885cc, pull off the dash pad, fill the holes and paint it to match the body.

Sigh...when a project car takes to long to sell and you are desperate for another project one is often tempted to redo the one he just finished... errr at least I am. :lol:
you can have mine tom!
:p :p :p

[Fowvay]

you can have mine tom!
:p :p :p

Cool

Do you deliver?

Seriously I would love to attack the body.

[Ghia_Roadster]

sure! where do you live?!?!ill even buy the body filler and primer for mine!:D

[Fowvay]

sure! where do you live?!?!ill even buy the body filler and primer for mine!:D

meh... body filler is for beginners. I do all metal restos. :)

mapquest 44017

[Ghia_Roadster]

ill be in indianapolis this june!

[Fowvay]

All this talk of restorations got me off my ass today and into the garage. I finally tackled my 37 year old oil bath air cleaner. It had been repainted at some other point in its past life and they had painted directly over the rust and caked on oil from years of use.

3 hours of sanding with 220 grit, 440 and finally a couple coats of primer got me to this point. :)

[Fowvay]

A little more sanding, a coat of sealer and finally 3 coats of high temp paint. We have this :D

[mojo_trixie]

That's kinda pretty... hehe

[Ghia_Roadster]

looks very clean, tom. how much will you do mine for?

[Fowvay]

Oops I broke the links so here ya go agian!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_0286.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0286.flv)



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_0324.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0324.flv)

[Fowvay]

looks very clean, tom. how much will you do mine for?

$20 an hour plus materials.

[JonK]

Oops I broke the links so here ya go agian!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_0286.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0286.flv)



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_0324.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0324.flv)

Hi Tom,

:) Nice Video,

It makes me want to drive thru the Parks again!!

Take Care,

John K.

[bsvwoc@msn.com]

My old beetle bet you can't guess the year it was built?

[Fowvay]

Just realized I don't have an engine picture in this thread so here is one. I still need to do a bit more detailing. I want to repaint all the engine tin. I painted it flat black but now I want to powder coat it silver or yellow. I also need to clean up a bit of overspray from when I sprayed the firewall with undercoating. I also want to get a blue coil in there with a reconditioned strap. Always one more thing to do. :D

[bugsy98nb]

My old beetle bet you can't guess the year it was built?
1958:)

[Fowvay]

Can you tell that there haven't been very many people needing my help lately? Here is yet another "I'm bored so let's see what I can restore today!" projects. It might be a small thing but it sure makes a difference. :D

['01vwbeetle]

You make me want my own!!! Thanks alot!!
Not to worry, I will have someday soon. (I hope)


Seriously, Oscar looks Great!!

[Fowvay]

That pic of the engine made me get busy and do a little detail work... still have a long ways to go but it's a start.

[Fowvay]

Just for fun! :D


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_0727.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0727.flv)

[Fowvay]

Just for JohnK... No one else is allowed to click it :p


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_0726.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0726.flv)

[JonK]

:) Thanks Tom!!!!!


John K.

[Fowvay]

Oscar had a pretty good day today.

He had his valves adjusted (only 3 needed any fiddling), finally after about 300 tries over 6 months I got his dwell angle to read 47* (Thanks Don for the help) and Don and I sorted through some wiring issues. Wooohooo I have a working horn and blinkers again. Totally my fault they stopped working too. When I installed the new old speedo I accidently mixed up some wires and I must admit that my biggest weakness is wiring. So once again... Don to the rescue. He can actually make sense out of that schematic in the Bentley manual.

I have been fearing some bottom end issues for a little while now since I keep hearing a clicking sound on run down and a shuffing rythmic metallic scrapping sound at idle. I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles a mile high that I had excessive crankshaft end play but after man handeling some of the engine tin... the sound magically dissapeared.

Seems that the clicking sound was the tin clicking against a heat riser and the shuffing sound was the back side of a peice of tin lightly ... ever so lightly touching the crankshaft pulley.

It is much smoother sounding now with no untoward scary mechanical sounds. I am feeling a great sense of relief. As a reward I took him on a nice long 70 mile cruise. Which he seemed to love.

Bonus is that my topspeed has once again climbed to the mid 80's. It has been slowly dropping into the mid 70's I suspect that had a lot to do with my lack of expierence adjusting that stupid point. In school we literally spent about 2 minutes discussing points and carbs... and about 6 months discussing fuel injection. Guess which one I'm better at ;)

Anyhoo... Thanks for keeping up with Oscar. :)

Here is a video from today. I posted it in another thread as well but thought it should be here too. :)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/th_MVI_1053.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Fowvay/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_1053.flv)


Ooooo I just realized I've put 600 miles on him in the last month. Cool. :cool:

[Emi]

OMGosh, I absolutely love it!

[Fowvay]

Update Update Update!!!

Except it's not really about Oscar it's more about his soon to garage mates. No I didn't buy new cars but I am about to work on both of this crusty old bugs. Blue Dare bug is a 72 and Ohio's first D.A.R.E. mobile. Kind of a historic car however it looks so cheesy he wants it back to stock and there is a lot of cancer hiding under that powder blue paint. Number two is a 1970 just like Oscar. In fact he was born with in 3 weeks of Oscar. They probably hung out in port together at some point. :D

The 70 is in much much much worse shape and may in fact turn out to be worth nothing more than a Rat Rod candidate or maybe even a dune buggy project. The pans are completely gone, the doors are being held together by mouse farts, good wishes and a thin layer of faded paint. Those are THE highlights on that one. :lol:

Either way I need to set up a serious of appts. Create a schedule etc. I'm thinking of creating a step by step follow the progress thread so keep a look out in the future. I'm not starting them today but I will probably be starting them sometime in the next couple of months. :)

[katwalk]

this mean some income for you?
poor little bugs, good luck with them

[Fowvay]

this mean some income for you?
poor little bugs, good luch with them

Ya.... actual real life income from a job other than some lil touch up work. I just hope I'm physically up to doing this job. It's going to be a lot of work for me to do and I'm not in very good shape right now. I will probably end up having to farm out quite a bit of it but even so I'd still earn a fee for setting it up. He has a serious love of old dubs he just doesn't know anything about them and wants them done right.

I'll probably do some of the work and set up the rest. :) Either way it's going to be a lot of work and a LOT of fun.

He has a 76 Vert as well and wants a Karman Ghia and Thing in the mix somewhere soon. :)

[katwalk]

Ya.... actual real life income from a job other than some lil touch up work. I just hope I'm physically up to doing this job. It's going to be a lot of work for me to do and I'm not in very good shape right now. I will probably end up having to farm out quite a bit of it but even so I'd still earn a fee for setting it up. He has a serious love of old dubs he just doesn't know anything about them and wants them done right.

I'll probably do some of the work and set up the rest. :) Either way it's going to be a lot of work and a LOT of fun.

He has a 76 Vert as well and wants a Karman Ghia and Thing in the mix somewhere soon. :)
yay for you :)

[Ghia_Roadster]

cool!!!:bigthumb:

[dnyed]

cool!!!:bigthumb:
VERY Cool! :clap: