I enjoy photography, scuba diving, fishing, and tinkering with my vintage aircooled VW’s.
21 thoughts on “About”
Merlin Klotz
I greatly enjoyed your pictures and log of your VW. I’m currently starting a restore on a ’55 Stude Speedster and will be going through many of your steps. And, I have a gallon of Master Series on the shelf for the project.
One Question… As shiny as it looks, did you brush or spray this on? If brush, what type. I have some surface rust on the outside that I intend to use this on and would be delighted if I could brush it.
Hi Merlin. Thanks for your inquiry and I’m glad you found my project log useful. I brushed it all on. I used a china bristle brush for the larger areas, and then a foam type brush in narrower areas. The Master Series product line is great, and doesn’t leave any brush marks. Good luck on your project and keep me posted. Would love to see pictures as it progresses!
Hey, I really found your vw pics and your “one man body off pan” video (you Tube) extremely helpful and inspiring. I recently bought a 74 vw Thing and plan to take the body off to replace the pans next spring. I am quite nervous to do this as I have never taken on a project this big. I have a 69 VW bus which I purchased 7 yrs ago and with the help of a buddy built a new engine for it and did all the mechanical stuff on it that needed addressing. It came from New Mexico so it had no rust. I live in B.C. Canada where VW Things are very rare I
have been looking for a long time one. So I jumped on this one buying it almost sight unseen. Have you ever replaced the floor pans on your VW thing? If so do you have any tips, tricks or info that would help me? I am starting from scratch; youtube, the internet and your blog have been most helpful so far. So thank you
Hi Cam. Thanks for the kind words. I kinda miss my Thing, but having fun with the ’66 Beetle now. I never replaced the pans on the Thing as they were pretty clean. I do know that the Ghia pans will fit in the Thing perfectly though. Not sure if you’re aware of that, so thought I’d throw that out there. Good luck with your Thing! Will have to share some pics as it progresses. Thanks again! -Wolfy
I am curious if you have your car on the road and if you are happy with the engine that was built for it? I’m thinking of getting an engine from William. Just wanted your advice.
Hi Frankie. Yep, the car is on the road! Engine runs great! Willie has been great to work with, and has been very helpful! There’s a blog post with a video showing my inaugral drive around the block too. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Thanks!
I also own a 1966 VW beetle like yours. I am planning to do some restoration as you did. Where should I start and how much should I allocate to do the entire car.
Great site! For it through you posted video on undercoating removal. We are currently starting a restoration of a 68 912 in need of metal repairs. Our first love of air cooled begone with a 1966 beetle, customized.
Cheers from one scuba enthusiest to another,
Trevor
Started watching some of your videos today as I’m debating doing air ride and more fun stuff to my new 2012 Jetta SE OR buying a late 60’s early 70’s beetle to rebuild. For someone with not much experience (I’ve done a bit of suspension and engine bolt-ons on past cars) to restore a classic beetle to the shape yours is in? Would the beetle be a challenging start?
Hi Hunter. I think a mid 60’s bug would be a great project for you to start with. Anything up to ’66, IMHO, is considered original classic style bug. There’s a lot of one year only parts on the ’66, which makes things a bit challenging. They started changing for the worst, again IMHO, starting in ’67. Bugs are really easy to work on. If I can do it, then anyone can. Figure out what you think your budget will be, and then double it.
You can buy mine if you’d like too. I’m considering selling it. ๐
Hey Scott,
I bought “Karl” from Chris once I saw you blog and documentation. Just drove karl from Chris’s place in Rockland Co. NY to my Place in upstate NY. The car runs real well. reply w an email & I’ll send pic’s of Karl in a new loving home ๐
Cheers,
Hugh hjquigley@me.com
Just wanted to say thanks for this superb blog. I’ll be the owner of a 1966 in October and your site has answered many questions I have about restoration.
It’s been a while since I visited your site (long cold winter), so I’m sad to discover that you sold Karl. I totally understand why you needed to though, and it was an amazing ending to the story. I hope you’re able to keep this website up for a while though; it’s a great resource for other 1966 Beetle owners such as myself. ๐
I greatly enjoyed your pictures and log of your VW. I’m currently starting a restore on a ’55 Stude Speedster and will be going through many of your steps. And, I have a gallon of Master Series on the shelf for the project.
One Question… As shiny as it looks, did you brush or spray this on? If brush, what type. I have some surface rust on the outside that I intend to use this on and would be delighted if I could brush it.
Hi Merlin. Thanks for your inquiry and I’m glad you found my project log useful. I brushed it all on. I used a china bristle brush for the larger areas, and then a foam type brush in narrower areas. The Master Series product line is great, and doesn’t leave any brush marks. Good luck on your project and keep me posted. Would love to see pictures as it progresses!
Scott
Hey, I really found your vw pics and your “one man body off pan” video (you Tube) extremely helpful and inspiring. I recently bought a 74 vw Thing and plan to take the body off to replace the pans next spring. I am quite nervous to do this as I have never taken on a project this big. I have a 69 VW bus which I purchased 7 yrs ago and with the help of a buddy built a new engine for it and did all the mechanical stuff on it that needed addressing. It came from New Mexico so it had no rust. I live in B.C. Canada where VW Things are very rare I
have been looking for a long time one. So I jumped on this one buying it almost sight unseen. Have you ever replaced the floor pans on your VW thing? If so do you have any tips, tricks or info that would help me? I am starting from scratch; youtube, the internet and your blog have been most helpful so far. So thank you
Hi Cam. Thanks for the kind words. I kinda miss my Thing, but having fun with the ’66 Beetle now. I never replaced the pans on the Thing as they were pretty clean. I do know that the Ghia pans will fit in the Thing perfectly though. Not sure if you’re aware of that, so thought I’d throw that out there. Good luck with your Thing! Will have to share some pics as it progresses. Thanks again! -Wolfy
I liked your method of installing the glass in the window lift channel.
I’m looking for a lift channel for my 66 and cannot locate one. Where did you get yours?
Thanks,
Dan
Yeah, the method worked really well. It made it really easy to do. I think I got my replacement at Wolfsburg West. Thanks for reading!
Hi,
I am curious if you have your car on the road and if you are happy with the engine that was built for it? I’m thinking of getting an engine from William. Just wanted your advice.
Thanks,
Frankie
Hi Frankie. Yep, the car is on the road! Engine runs great! Willie has been great to work with, and has been very helpful! There’s a blog post with a video showing my inaugral drive around the block too. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Thanks!
Glad to hear. thanks for the response!
You’re very welcome.
I also own a 1966 VW beetle like yours. I am planning to do some restoration as you did. Where should I start and how much should I allocate to do the entire car.
Great site! For it through you posted video on undercoating removal. We are currently starting a restoration of a 68 912 in need of metal repairs. Our first love of air cooled begone with a 1966 beetle, customized.
Cheers from one scuba enthusiest to another,
Trevor
Hey Wolfy,
Started watching some of your videos today as I’m debating doing air ride and more fun stuff to my new 2012 Jetta SE OR buying a late 60’s early 70’s beetle to rebuild. For someone with not much experience (I’ve done a bit of suspension and engine bolt-ons on past cars) to restore a classic beetle to the shape yours is in? Would the beetle be a challenging start?
Thanks,
Hunter
Hi Hunter. I think a mid 60’s bug would be a great project for you to start with. Anything up to ’66, IMHO, is considered original classic style bug. There’s a lot of one year only parts on the ’66, which makes things a bit challenging. They started changing for the worst, again IMHO, starting in ’67. Bugs are really easy to work on. If I can do it, then anyone can. Figure out what you think your budget will be, and then double it.
You can buy mine if you’d like too. I’m considering selling it. ๐
Good luck! Let me know what you end up getting.
-Wolfy
Hey Scott,
I bought “Karl” from Chris once I saw you blog and documentation. Just drove karl from Chris’s place in Rockland Co. NY to my Place in upstate NY. The car runs real well. reply w an email & I’ll send pic’s of Karl in a new loving home ๐
Cheers,
Hugh
hjquigley@me.com
Just wanted to say thanks for this superb blog. I’ll be the owner of a 1966 in October and your site has answered many questions I have about restoration.
Are your front turn signals in the headlamps BTW?
Excellent. Glad you found it helpful, Steve. Good luck with your project, and let me know how it goes! I look forward to hearing from you.
Oops, almost forgot. Yes, the parking lights in the front headlamps are now the turn signals. I swapped out the clear bulbs with orange bulbs.
It’s been a while since I visited your site (long cold winter), so I’m sad to discover that you sold Karl. I totally understand why you needed to though, and it was an amazing ending to the story. I hope you’re able to keep this website up for a while though; it’s a great resource for other 1966 Beetle owners such as myself. ๐
Thanks,
Jason
Hi Jason. Thanks for the nice words. As long as I’m breathing, this site will be up. =) Keep in touch!
Wolfy
Thank you for the posts, they have helped me a great deal in replacing the front beam on my 66 beetle.