Glenn's 1974 Beetle Restoration

I decided to do a full restoration of the body, using all new rubber and seals, rebuild the drivetrain and restore the interior. I planed on using as much NOS parts as posible. I want to keep the body stock looking, but the drivetrain and suspension were already modified and I would take the mods a bit futher.

I always knew that I would keep the car for a long time, so I've been saving NOS parts for the past 15 years. I started by making a list of all the parts that needed to be replaced. I then took inventory of what I already had which left me with what I still needed find. I decided on using West Coast Metric (WCM) as my primary source for rubber parts. Their parts are generally of a good to excellent quality and they have almost all of the parts availible as either OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) made in Brazil and Mexico or as Rerpo (Rerpoduction) made by themselves. I will also use Rocky Mountain Motorwerks (RMM) for some of my parts. They also have a very complete catalog. They carry rubber, body, electrical and mechanical parts. Their quality is fair to good. Some of the parts I purchased from them were returned because I didn't like the quality of them. They never gave me any problems about returning them, but I lost the shipping costs both ways, so always inquire about the quality before placing an order. Another source is your local VW dealer. I was able to get some parts from them. Just remember that they will be more expensive than the other, but the quality is the BEST.

I purchased all my drivetrain parts from Gene Berg Ent. (GBE). Gene was one of the pioneers of high performance Volkswagens in the early 60's. His parts are expensive, but they work and they really can take alot of abuse.

Now for the first step. Plan your budget, then double it. It's going to cost alot more that you think. Once you take the body apart the rust and rot will be alot worse than you thought. When you start adding up the cost of all the rubber, trim and other parts you'll be surprised how much it will be. Also plan on replacing more than you first thought of. As the project progresses some parts that you didn't plan on replacing will either get damaged or will break.

You are going to need some tools. A good set of metric sockets in 1/4" and 3/8" drive along with a few 1/2" drive sockets. You will need a few screwdrivers in Flat and Philips. Larger tools will include a floor jack (not a cheap one) and a set of jack stands (get the 2 ton ones).