picked up a one owner '74 standard Beetle 1600 DP
been in storage since about '94
took some work, but with a complete tuneup and a little head scratching got it back up and running...
today I got the old school Gurneys mounted and installed the new muffler...then a complete hand buffing and partial wax...ran out of energy
next will be a redo of the interior, then front disc brake conversion
I owned a brand new '71 Super Beetle in the exact same Marina Blue color back in the day!
Having fun with this one....parts are available everywhere...and in comparison to 914s pretty cheap.

and now a bit cleaner...

next I will be doing the interior carpets and seat upholstery.

at least it is a driver now.

new exhaust and the original from '74 license plate and bracket!

That is one clean looking bug! Very nice!!!!!

Very nice car!

Been driving my 73 beetle for 15 years and everytime I stop for gas someone walks up a tells me a Beetle story. Seems like everyone just loves these cars. Ray

Nice car!

That'll be my next car! Very cool and very nice!

Fantastic find! Wasn't '74 the last year of the standard Beetle?

Might have been. I know it was the last year for carbs.

I wanted either a 71, 72 super or a 68-74 standard.

This one kind of fell in my lap. Covered, in storage for almost 18 years. Zero rust, original paint, and it hadn't been modded or hacked up!

Took me about two days to get it running, every time I drive it it runs better.

Will be rebuilding a 34pict3 carb from a 73 to install so I can remove the last of the EGR stuff.

got the proper clear shank mag wheel lug nuts/washers along with studs installed yesterday...they fit the wheels perfectly.
Will be getting my set of 7" and 8" Vw centered custom steel wheels next weekend...
now to see if the 8s will fit in the rear...if they do, these will be my AX wheels for the bug.

thanks to DaveK for the center caps!

Wow what a clean car. The DG wheels look great on it. I drove a 74 standard for a few years after high school. Brings back memories. Your car looks great.

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I parted out one non-super that was titled as a 1977. It was totaled and rusty. It was a FI body so if it wasn't a real 1977 it was at least a 1975-1976 car.

Nice looking Beetle. I had a 73 Super that my son drove to college in 1980. He later traded it because it wasn't a "chick magnet!" Not to mention he was sweating a lot in our hot southern summers!

cleaned, rebuilt and installed my 34pict3 carb yesterday....made a big difference from idle to acceleration...much smoother now. Will do some final adjustments in a few days after I run it in a bit.
That got rid of the last of all the EGR junk...
Had to make a blockoff plate for the intake manifold until I find a good dual port intake manifold without the EGR fittings.

Now on to the interior...well just the seats...the rest of the interior is very good, including the headliner...no rips or tears.

Nope the Standard, i.e torsion bar beetle stayed in production till 2003..

Since a bug is small and I am not, I sit with the seat all the way back. The stock shifter was a bit of a reach....so I purchased an EMPI repop of the old Hurst bug shifter. I had this same shifter in my '67 and my '71 super years ago. I got the 15" version so it now sits a bit higher and back towards the driver, plus I now have a reverse lockout...
This Bug stuff is dirt cheap compared to a lot of the 914 stuff, and just about every part is NOS or reproduced...at multiple vendors, so it is plentiful and inexpensive for most stuff!

found my first and second set of 914 Steelie Sport wheels! 5.5" ET40.

These work perfectly on a beam front end Beetle.

still need to order the correct VW center caps, but these work perfectly.
Tuck the tire wheel combination inboard just a bit compared to the VW 5.5s that are ET26.

I am running 195x65x15 Kumhos currently for street tires. The second set of wheels will be for shorter profile AX tires eventually.

these wheels were bead blasted, primed, painted with Argent Silver and then cleared.

Gives the car the "Rallye" look I am going for...will look even better when I mount up a pair of Hella driving lights up front.

Agreed, the last "Standard" or T1 beetle was built in Pueblo in 2003, but the last year of the hard top Super beetle imported into the US was 1975.
Convertibles continued to be sold through 1979 in the US.

Cheers, a great looking type 1! Enjoy it. It is rare for me to see any T1s from 1974 as most all 74s I see are Super beetles!

And YES, EVERYONE has a VW beetle story. Which goes to show you that a good car with character (and needs) leaves a larger impression than any boring reliable car of today.

My Neighbor just bought a 74 Super Cabrio and I am already looking forward to working on it!

Not too bad for 38 year old original paint
After hours of hand polishing and waxing it is now ready for my paintless dent removal guy!
The wheels are 914 steelie Sport wheels 5.5" with ET40
Wheels were bead blasted, primed, painted in Argent Silver and then cleared.
Stock steel lug bolts painted black and center caps with Wolfsburg crests.
Tires are Kumho Solus 195x65x15. The wheel tire combination fit perfectly

What a transformation! Looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks

Nice Dan, really nice. Ready for a Concourse.

Now you are going to want those shaved Kumho (225/50/15) that I have.

Engine has had a little hand cleaning, will need more before I am happy.
Will be installing a new DP manifold and new manifold boots...
and then some more cleaning

Thanks Randal...I still need to get the suspension sorted and get it a bit lower...nothing drastic, just a little lower with some camber...

That looks great Tom, nice sc:ore. Maybe it will motivate you on the 914

Huh?

little more motor cleaning!

polished the vacuum hard line and the vacuum canister....

a bit more oil and grease removed and cleaned the entire underside of the engine lid.

now for the q-tips and brushes to get the rest of the areas I can't get my fingers and rag into....

Very cool find Dan, and nice job on making it 'Yours'

Found a NOS muffler in Portland Oregon...had it shipped to me...original Leistritz stamped right on the muffler...never used..
'74 Cali bug had an EGR system and a double heat riser for carb preheat...can't find those anywhere...but I did...
Installed it with German hardware and twin baffle flared tips...looks very period correct.
Much quieter, car now runs better during warm up and warms up much faster....

Amazing what a simple muffler that is correct can do for a car.
Until I can change to a single heat riser intake manifold this muffler will stay on the car and it may just end up being permanent...although I do like to change mufflers and wheels/tires...
Still in the market for a nice set of polished Fuchs for the car eventually....but the sport wheels are fine for now and do look period correct on a late model Bug...
Been doing other little things as I work through stuff.
The muffler change also necessitated a retune of the carb...a bit more restrictive but worth it for the all around drivability!

I am constantly amazed at how totally original and untouched this car is...
Not only did the car come with the original unused spare tire (Metzeler bias ply), the original tool kit...but also a completely original windshield washer bottle...
when I bought the car it was not connected, but all the hoses were in place and in good condition...
So I installed the bottle in it's position behind the spare, hooked up the hose to the washers, and the hose from the bottle to the tire for air pressure...the valve worked as it should and after several pulls on the washer/wiper stalk I had two nice streams of washer water on the windshield...
SO far I have found absolutely nothing that does not function as when it was new...
All lights inside and out, all levers, and switches work...even the original AM Saphire radio works!
This car is a ton of fun to drive and to work on...a perfect candidate for restoration since all the original stuff is present and working...

Heck, I 'd say that car is a perfect candidate for PRESERVATION as restoration would probably decrease its value.

Beautiful bug there, makes me jealous of the SoCal bugs...

Enjoy!

Yes, it will probably end up as a "preservation"
Next up will be interior returned to "as new" glory with TMI complete seat upholstery.
I have a very good paintless dent removal guy I am going to let loose on it as soon as I try touching up some of the paint booboos...nothing big just little knicks and scratches.
The car was purchased new in Hangtown (Placerville CA). Has always been in Sierra foothills or in Santa Clara Valley area...(San Jose).

I am going to be doing another complete pass over the car with cleaning compound and another coat of wax to follow...this time I may use a buffer instead of doing it by hand like I did the first time...I wanted to see how thick the paint was and if there were any thin spots...there weren't! There is still VW from the factory orange peel on just about all of the car...which makes me feel comfortable using the buffer this time.

Interior upholstery is ordered from TMI...door panels and carpets are great so just the seats need attention...
Dash and rest of stuff looks pretty good for 38 years old.
Dash pad has a couple of cracks and will be replaced in the next phase after some other items are attended to...

Seats are done and reinstalled. Original style black basket weave!

Next up will be some 5" round H3 fog lights, mounted rallye style,above bumper inside headlights!

NICE

5" H3 fog lights....deciding on final mounting

Really nice T1.

I like the first fog light position, but does the truck open with them there?

Yes, it opens with no problem...I can even mount them in line with the edges of the license plate and still have room!

That's a great Bug, Dan! It's similar to the '74 I learned to drive in....it was my first car.

My first car was a sunroof '67 bug...and then I sold it and bought a brand new '71 Super beetle in the same Marina Blue color as this '74 standard.

My first Bug was a '62 ragtop sunroof

my first complete restoration was on this '67. Was my Father in laws car...it is the car my wife learned to drive stick in.
I did the body/paint/trim, all the interior, removed motor and painted all engine tin to match car exterior...was a great little car after I was done with it...should have never sold it...'67s are the one to own!
This was the second '67 I owned too....DOH!

I like that dark green....as a kid, my father had a Bahama blue '66 beetle and then a '72 Super; I still think about buying another one.

Factory Java Green. That was the original factory color on the car, so that is what I put on when I repainted.

My dad had a red '61
A red '65 sunroof
A dark blue '68 sunroof
All coupes

New 5" H3s installed and completely functional now. Installed correctly with fused circuits and a Bosch relay
Also installed new Sylvania silver star headlights

Been busy,
Motor rebuilt with 88mm P/Cs, increased CR, dual Kadrons, Pertronix dizzy and coil...
All tin bead blasted and painted...

Looking for a set of nice 4 bolt Fuchs!

Engine has been running great.
About the same power as a 1.7 type 4 with less weight!

Have now completed a front disc brake conversion with all new parts
2 piston calipers sure work better than drums

How come you ditched the Gurney/Western style wheels? I thought it looked nice and peppy with them

The gurneys have a much smaller offset (in the order of 25) and push the wheels out towards the fenders. I liked the look but they didn't accommodate wider tires very well.
Work great for stock 165x80x15 tires, but I wanted to run wider tires.
The sport wheels work perfectly with an ET of 40... I run 195x65s and could easily go with 205s if I want.
In the future I am either going to go with a custom widened stock steel wheel in 6.5" or 7" for the rear and 5.5 or 6" up front. Stock hub caps for a total sleeper look with lots of tire...
Or a set of 4 bolt Fuchs...
I am leaning towards the custom widened wheels. Not that expensive either.