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Super Project '71: Part 18Part 18: Details, Details, Details From the March, 2009 issue of VW Trends By Ryan Lee Price Photography by By the Author
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Finally done, the Super Beetle... Finally done, the Super Beetle is rolled out of the garage to pose for the camera. It sits slightly high on all the corners because it hasn't yet been driven to settle the shocks and springs. Once it has covered a few miles, things will fall into place. Finally, we can honestly say that the Super Beetle is done. We've included all of the parts that we can find that will fit on our Super Project '71 and we've tried to cover each step in as much detail as these pages will allow. Although we could have easily filled each of the 18 issues that this series covered with the details of this project, we were forced to show you the important elements of the project and leave some of the mundane to your imagination, your innovation and your resourcefulness. Judging by the nearly 1200 emails and letters we received over the last 18 months, telling us that we did a great job covering the various aspects of this buildup, we are fairly confident that we've done something right. We covered the rear vent fins... We covered the rear vent fins in the last issue, but we installed the original ones. On the top is the aftermarket one, but it doesn't come complete with the aluminum trim, and the trim from original ones won't fit on the new ones. However, there's one last part that we need to cover before we turn the key on this restoration and drive off happily into the sunset, and that is to address some of the details, the final touches of the project that will show any judge at any show that you know what you're doing when it comes to Super Beetles. There are no special tools needed to handle these minor additions, and the steps are nearly straightforward. Good luck, as we're nearly done.With that last step, we are happy with the outcome of our project. We have taken what was once a seemingly near worthless misunderstood Super Beetle that has been rotting away in a driveway for 15 years, stripped it down to nothing and built it up to a beautiful car that anyone would be proud to own. If you have been following along these past 18 months and you too have put the finishing details on your project Super Beetle, stand back and take a good look at what you've done. You've recreated something of value; you've added to the fabric of society; you've rescued a hulk of metal from the elements and breathed new life into it; but best of all, you've done it yourself with your own two hands, and nobody can take away the pride you must feel from a job well done. Remember, always stay Super. You've earned it.  As you can see, the flanges...  As you can see, the flanges of the aluminum trim slide into channels cut into the plastic (arrows). The new vents don't have such channels. Even if ones could be fashioned, the trim won't fit over the molded plastic.  After all of that, the new...  After all of that, the new vents merely snap into place on either side. There is a right and left.  This is the rubber stopper...  This is the rubber stopper that screws into the bottom of the deck lid lip. It keeps the deck lid slightly away from the body to prevent rubbing and eventual paint loss.  On either side of the rubber...  On either side of the rubber stopper are these small grommets. They serve a similar purpose as the main stopper. By adding these and the stopper from Photo Four, the deck lid might need a little encouragement to closer securely, but we'd rather a tight fitting deck lid than a rattling one.  These four plastic caps fit...  These four plastic caps fit on top of each of the four door hinges. We didn't remove the old ones, so we had to pry them up through the layers of paint and clear coat in order to install the new ones. What do they do? They mostly keep out the moisture from the hinges and keep dust from the grease points.  Like we said last month, we...  Like we said last month, we didn't have access to a riveter, so we had to wait, but when we were at Octavio's Upholstery, he easily snapped three rivets on the trunk release for us. In addition, we had to remove the plastic aftermarket glove box to feed the two hinges into their receiver holes on the outsides of the glove box.  One of the problems we ran...  One of the problems we ran into while fitting the plastic glove box trim piece to the padded dash board were these little plastic clips. They are similar in design to those used on the outside chrome trim, but they weren't strong enough to hold the trim in place. We ended up using the original screws instead. We blame the padded dash as it had a little extra padding around the glove box area and made for a tighter-than-should-be fit.  Once the screws were in on...  Once the screws were in on the trim piece, they were strong enough to push the padding deeper into place. We fitted the rubber stoppers to keep the glove box door from rattling.  Finally, the locking glove...  Finally, the locking glove box door knob easily fits into place and is secured with the provided nut (provided you kept it!).  The two-piece dash grills...  The two-piece dash grills fit through the four slots on either sides of the speedometer. Originally, underneath the grills should be a pieces of mesh and a layer of leather (or vinyl), but we decided to skip those until we found suitable material.  On the back side of the dash...  On the back side of the dash the four tabs are then pulled and twisted to keep the grill tight against the padded dash.  Underneath each front fender,...  Underneath each front fender, we fed the headlight wires into the rubber boots, but we ran into a problem with the wires for the horn, which come out of the same hole in the body as the headlight wires. In order for the boot to have a tight fit on the body, we cut a slit in the side of the rubber and fed out the horn wires.  These are plastic inserts...  These are plastic inserts that help feed the wires into the headlight housing. The white wire goes on your left (as you face the car), the brown on top and the yellow plugs into the right. This holds true for both headlights.  These are small rubber tubes...  These are small rubber tubes that drain water from inside the headlight buckets, which catch a lot of water as you drive through rain and puddles or when you wash your car.  When we were rebuilding the...  When we were rebuilding the doors a few months ago, we forgot to include these small collars that keep the door lock knobs from rubbing on the freshly painted doors. Plus it looks nice.  Though slightly washed out,...  Though slightly washed out, this is a picture of us installing the very small white plastic tabs that cover the grease hole for the door mechanism.  This is the scary part. We...  This is the scary part. We couldn't remember exactly where the holes were for the sun visors, so we were forced to do a little exploratory surgery to find the main hole and the two screw holes on one side and the two holes for the hangers in the middle. One little trick is to shine a flashlight up onto the headliner and look for the dark spots.  Once discovered, two small...  Once discovered, two small holes are cut into the headliner with an awl and a single screw holds the sun visor hanger.  The same thing is done on...  The same thing is done on the mounting point for the sun visor. Be careful with the screwdriver or you'll end up with the mar in the headliner like we did. Note the small hole above the screw.  The mirror of the 1971 Super...  The mirror of the 1971 Super Beetle has a white stalk with a black backing, but the only aftermarket units we could find were all black. That wouldn't do so a stock unit was found. Though dirty and slightly worn, it cleaned up nicely.  This is where the rear-view...  This is where the rear-view mirror goes (and yes, we cleaned it better than this), but you'll have to cut about a one-inch X in the headliner, as you don't you'll cause the headliner to stretch awkwardly. It actually snaps into place and is designed to break away easily in an accident.  Last month we complained that...  Last month we complained that we couldn't get the rubber bumper guard strips to fit properly. It was because we were installing them incorrectly. There are two small rectangular holes in the bumper that the metal flange fits into. Then the strip is tightened by two screws on either end.
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