1966 Convertible VW Beetle

The Beginning	The Donor	Floorpans	Wiring and Interior
Cutting out the rust	Heater channels and support rails	Brakes	Reassembly
The motor runs!	Paint Prep	Paint	Top

The Beginning

July, 2000 This jewel in the rough is the first convertible I bought. I paid $300.00 for it in 1990. In the deal I got some Karmann Ghia front seats, a motor and this fine piece of history. The body is in pretty good shape, although it will need pans, support rails, a new top, of course all the usual stuff like new wiring, paint, other odds and ends. But its straight, with the exception of some putty in the front fender and most of the pieces are there.

Start to Finish

November, 2005 I drove the car to work on Election Day, 2005. The ride to work was fine, it got a bit exciting on the way home in the dark with those fine 6 v lights, no seat belts, everyone in a hurry. Made me reflect on whether I'd tightened everything down. Certainly is a different car now than when I started! Read the page, using the links at the top to see progress in building this car. I sold this car in July, 2006. (I lost the pics I took as the new buyer gassed up and drove the old girl away, so no shots to add of driving away. The car went to a good home, VW people who appreciate it!)

I've separated the body from the pan at this point and built a rack for the body. Here's where the trouble starts. See, it has a 68 pan underneath the 66 body.

A front view of the car on the "rack."

The Donor

November, 2002 I've finally gotten around to committing sweat equity to this car. A couple of weeks ago, I traded a Karmann Ghia for a '66 sunroof sedan. This way, I can switch some stuff over, and have the car match up better using the 66 pan. The pan, front axle, tranny and fenders from the sedan are in better shape, plus it has seats and even the 1300 motor! So I've been taking the sedan apart, removing the body, then fenders and other vitals that can be salvaged. Here's the car with the "new" 66 pan.

Here's the donor car. I spent some time contemplating whether to just do the sunroof and pitch the convertible. The sedan's roof was pretty badly dented, from hail to the typical junk VW caved in roof. Mostly the body was ok, but the heater channels were shot, much worse than the convertible. So I decided to keep with the plan for doing the convertible.

I built these "feet" for the pan so I could roll it around the garage. Here's the one on the driver's side. It's got a caster on the bottom, followed by a piece of 4x4, then a piece of angle iron. U-bolts hold the beam to the leg. There is one on the other side, then I have a 3-wheeled platform that holds the rear at the transaxle off the ground. This way I can roll it sideways or around sharp angles in the garage. I considered building something i could roll the car onto, like a creeper, but this one keeps the wheels off the ground. I figure I can work on the brakes, axles, etc. with this design.