Semi-OT: New addition to the fleet, VW Superbeetle Convertible Options

[campbellcj]

I guess it's a 914 cousin or whatnot. My wife has wanted one of these since she was a kid and it was our 35th anniversary the other day so we grabbed this for her. It's a 78 and was a color change (from orange). California car with extensive fresh resto work including paint, engine, trans, new fuel tank & pump, suspension, brakes, tires, seats, carpets, windshield, and top. Nice solid tub, one floorpan was replaced and at least one fender. Not smog exempt (yet) unfortunately, but passed no prob on Monday prior to transfer and we will likely move it out of California by next time...

Needs details sorted including some overspray and finishing the radio/dashboard but should be a fun car & project. My wife wants to learn to work on it herself which will be fun, and helpful as we've got a bunch of older cars now and my hands are overflowing.

[campbellcj]

Well true to its roots, the bug tried to "self-immolate" i.e. sprung fuel leaks. It was a backyard resto with a bunch of new parts including the fuel tank, an Empi I think, which turned out to be defective and seeped. An injector (not new) went bad as well so now it has another new gas tank, evap canister, injectors and all remaining fuel lines/hoses that weren't already replaced...

My wife really loves the car and has tackled a few other things such as swapping-in a much nicer condition steering wheel. Was kinda a trip seeing her hands-on wrenching on a car (if not anything whatsoever) for I think the first time ever. She didn't do the fuel system work herself but is psyched to learn more DIY stuff. Grabbed her a Haynes manual from ebay and also I just got a few more Element fire extinguishers for the fleet.