Scooter projects on hold..sidetracked by a 72 VW Super Beetle called Gretchen

 Gretchen came into my life in December 2012, I trucked her down from Canberra to give her a new life in SW Victoria.

In her past life in the ACT she was known as "The "Goose" due to the distinctive horn honk you get from an old VW. I asked my old Granny who was sadly on her death bed at the time "What's a good strong German name Gran?" ... "Gretchen" she replied.

So Gretchen it is..

Not a particularly well thought out purchase for SW Victoria as she has no roof!

The vinyl soft top doesn't block out a lot of water or weather so she really is a seasonal car.

I backed her into the shed last July and started to fiddle. I have renewed rubbers, missing parts, knobs, seals and hoses, new windscreen, wipers and added a motor to the bottle to get rid of the tyre pressure system. 

I've put on a new carb, air filter and got rid of the points (yeeha) we've retrofitted the wipers and water to the dash with nice new chrome switches, I have a push button ignition now and currently trying to fit a new steering wheel, still to go on are the 4 new CV boots, tie rod ends, new shockies, bump stops and steering damper bush, as well as door rubbers, engine seal rubbers, deck and bonnet rubbers...oh..and a new radio :)

The biggest challenge has been trying to figure out the "spaghetti wiring" under the bonnet...er...boot.

So no scooter projects on the go while I'm distracted with the veedub, nearly got her back on the road after many long months in the shed.

 Saw this gorgeous 1972 Superbeetle in Mount Gambier SA a few weeks ago, my VW and this one came off the assembly line just 3 months apart, mine in April, this one in July so at least I know what mine should look like ;)

Same colour too as the previous owner of mine didnt go to much effort when the respray happened.

  I mean for crying out loud..how hard is it to remove the rear light cover and paint it properly?? Grrr. 

So I have a challenge on my hands but it's going to be a long winter & hopefully I'll have a good looking little bug when I finally roll her out of the shed around October.