TOPIC:

Thought i would start a new thread for this as it looks like it will be a long term rebuild

This was also mixed in to my Bullhead thread so thought id start a thread of its own.

I picked this up from a guy from feepay and on first inspection it looked pretty much ok see the pics below but after stripping it down i have found a long list of parts that need replacing

Pics below are how she came to me not bad for £40.00 i thought not so sure now:

Last night i stripped it down to bits and found the following parts to be cracked and needing replacement this is what i thought would be the final lot:




However this morning i started cleaning everything properly and started to reassemble the badword thing until i got to the front steering hubs and found parts j3 and j5 also have small hairline cracks in them seriously telling you the wheelie bin was an option at this point for the whole car only joking

the pic below is how she is currently standing on my desk after a little scrubbing and reassembling i have managed to reuse the servo mounts for now they look ok but the top black mount is knackered and i will need to replace that in the future at some point.

The bodyshell will definitely need a repaint the paintwork is awful so sadly i had to remove the original decals some where already pretty scratched up anyway. The bodyshell is an early one i think its white plastic. It has two tiny hairline cracks that are nearly invisible near the two corner where the nose cone mounts. the glass seems ok too but the nose cone is hammered but may be reuseable with a little epoxy resin and sanding

The sunroof dropped out in one piece as i was washing the body in soapy hot water which was a bonus. I will strip the paint with de-solv-it graffiti remover before repairing and repainting. Pics below are how it stands at the moment:








Tyres had been glued to the rims but i managed to seperate them with really hot water and working them loose slowly the tyres will be replaced with new items eventually not sure if i like the gold rims i might change them for blackfoot yellow ones they are less bling. I have already ordered a rear body mount brace in alloy to replace the broken item as pic below:

I know it has a few missing/broken bits, but TBH 40 quid for that was still a good deal - some people have paid that much for a Techniplop motor on its own.

It could be worse - my MB was meant to be a boxed unused/new built car, but turned out to be a pile of papier mache, 4 rotten/crumbling tyres, everything rusted, a body that looked it had been painted with a wire brush, and lots of parts (including the nosecone & manual, rear suspension/body post brace etc) missing ... it still pisses me off every time I look at it. I've still got it as selling it & loosing money on it would make me feel even more sick. If fact its only saving grace was it had an original set of decals I sold on & made back a little of the 160 GBP I paid for it


MB chassis without wheels or bodywork seem to come up regularly on eBay, that might be the best way of getting the parts you need ... aluminium rear body post braces too

Yeah i know you are right JR i was just very dissapointed with what i thought would be a great car i was hating the thing at one point this afternoon but i have been on a monster beetle forum tonight and the guys on it are real enthusiasts and have given me a few mods i can do to reinforce the chassis for running with some CRP bits and bobs and a little drilling and bolting bits properly. Im hoping for a good runner from this hopefully ill sort the bits i need cheaply ill just take my time and make a slow project from it.

How do you know that it is a first version of the body?

stingray-63 wrote:

How do you know that it is a first version of the body?

The body was moulded in white on early versions, red on the later ones

Decals are also different - orange stripe on early ones, lemon yellow on later cars

thanks Jonny

Cool build.

Way to go whoever put it together earlier - tiewrapping the wires to the motor.

Looking good so far.