Father and daughter VW Bug restoration

This is a Slight custom 1963 VW Bug I worked on from 1997 till 2001.



The time I spend was priceless.

It all started when mu daughter was 15, she said she wanted a bug like Herbie the Luv Bug.

A co-worker said he had one he was going to restore, just never had the time so for $600 it was mine. When I arrived to his house it was in the grass, as well as the grass in it. the seats were weathered and the top was well past weathered. The floor boards were rusty and I was overwhelmed with what was going to be my easy fix her up.

My Dad was with me as well as Daughter and we thought this would turn out to be a good first car for very little investment, wow was I ready for a wake up call. We towed it to my apartment and I started the clean up process.

First I removed the floor boards and went out to get a few parts. Soon there after my girlfriend (now wife) asked me to move in with her and I could work on it there.

I bought a canopy garage at Costco and placed it in the back yard. I rolled the car in there and went to work. First I completely removed all the paint from the car, this was a work in it self, layered on this car was several different colors it wore from birth. I think I saw yellow, white, blue and someone painted it with a roller. Some of the paint pealed off some was stuck on there hard. Every night I would work on this and every day off. I think I spent 2 rears getting it to a base to work from. I sealed and etched the metal and primed the body in a 3 layer process sanding between each layer. I then painted her a sage green with white trim Inside and out thick enough to sand down to a smooth coating. This was about a 500 hour wet sanding process that turned out looking like it was dipped in paint. Other than a few scratched on this from driving it to people bumping into it in the garage still looks great. With tool's, compressor, paint gun and all I spent about $1500 for the paint. Keep in mind it was still in the vinyl garage with gravel floor.

I was now ready for parts so I headed out to Bow Wow. I walked in and asked for assistance. I told the guy I had a 1963 body/shell and wanted everything new starting with long block and everything it would take to make her run, roll. I bought new brake lines, drums, pads and all it needed to start the engine and stop the car. I asked him to stop when I hit $4000 I would latter return for all new interior trim, exterior trim... That trip was a about $2,000. Then I needed wheels and tires that was about $1500. As you can see this was adding up to a new car price tag and my daughter was afraid that when I was done she would never get to drive it. So I went out and bought her a Orange Super Beetle to drive while I finished so she would get use to the VW Bug experience. Well that turned into a Dad, I don't want to drive this as a daily driver so I found a 1968 Convertible Mustang and traded the Orange bug for that. I started the restoration on that until I discovered rust from the underside eating away the underside and realized it was more than I could handle. (A whole story of its own)

So I decided to make this a show car and went on E-bay to find every OEM accessory I could. The obsession began and so did the parts from all over. I have German mud flaps, a 1959 bug guard, Bud vase, gold key, Coco Mats, Bamboo shelf, Tissue box... I went for every part in chrome I could. This turned out to be a fine looking slight custom restoration and a blast to drive.

Amber wound up with a Geo Storm (Ask me about the fence story) as her first car in the end and I still have the Bug and take her out on nice days. I think I have put 500 miles on her since I finished in June 2001.

My First car was a Chevy Nova 3 in the tree

When I was 16 (1978) I bought my first driver. This was one of many but a great story.

It was a Light Blue Chevy Nova 4 door with a 3 speed transmission. At the time my family lived in Granite Falls Washington. I found it in the Seattle times for $200. I talked my Dad into driving me to the Everett location to help me make a decision on this as well as showing me how to work the column shift. So My sister Mom and Dad and I headed out to get my first car. After we looked it over and my Dad said this looked like a good car, I paid the man cash and he handed me the title. My dad then jumped in his Olds and said, Dan I will see you and your sister at home and drove off. My drive home was exciting and stress full as I was not sure I could work the shifting in the city. We made it home ok and I spent the next few days polishing it up.

My sister needed to get to work so I let her drive it. It was about a month into owning that car when she slid off the road and hit a stump bending the drivers door and back door, never really drove straight again.

So being a teenager and living near power lines, we took it for what we called stump jumping. Wearing helmets we drove like we were in a race stunt car fashion even tried roiling it, driving it over small tree's having a blast. One time we drove through what we thought was a big mud puddle, in the middle of it the car died, to much watter in the exhaust water poring in the door jam. So my friend who was with us in a jeep asked should I push you out? Of course I said. What I did not realize was his intentions. As he came from behind, he did not slow down, Bam he hit us and the car popped forward a few feet, them bam again he hit it again, we got out of the mud all right , but with 2 flat tires and a engine that needed to dry off. The next day I went out and fired her up and drove it home on the rims, leaving ruts in the road I saw for the next couple years when I drove on that road. Latter that year when it snowed I fired up my Nova and drove like a wild man learning the slides and how to spin out and control a car in the snow.

I loved that car and it is a memory I will have for the rest of my life. On occasions I tease my sister about how she wrecked it and never paid me back.

Tell me your Car story

Hi, I wanted to create a blog that is about cars and some special stories that can be shared. I named this the The glove box chronicle. My idea was to share what we remember about or past cars, current cars or future cars. Also what is kept in the glove box. I personally remember a time when what was in the glove box was much like what is in the medical cabinet at home. If you looked in you could tell a story about the person. So please share your stories here and lets have some good Ole fashion car memories to pass on.