Hi there, this is my first post on the forum.

Thought I would give you a bit of info on what I am planning over the summer months in the UK.

I am looking at restoring a 1965 beetle sedan (which was my 18th birthday present, lucky me) and also a 1962 LHD beetle sedan which I aquired in my early 20's. I am 32 now so these cars have been in need of some TLC for a long time.

Being relatively new to the restoration of cars I was hoping to get some advice on where to aquire parts.

Both Cars will require new heater tubes and new Floor Pan halves, so my first question is where would be the best place to source these panels nowadays? I have read other threads saying that new copies of the orignal parts may be available this year is this true?

I would like to put both cars back to their original condition if possible.

Are you going to be doing the work yourself, or giving the cars to a shop?

Where are you based?

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Hi there, I am based in Bristol in the UK.

I will be doing most of the body work myself, and I will have access to a good garage with most of the tools needed.

My friend (who is a trained sprayer) will be overseeing the work and will also be doing the final spray job for me. I am quite excited as I have seen some other jobs that he has undertaken and the results were great.

Here are a few pics of the 65 and 62, I have a big job ahead of me I think.

Firstly the 1965.









Here are a few pics of the 62.







Hope you like them :lol:

Hope you like them :lol:

More than your neighbours do I'll wager!

Erm... blimey! Looks like you've got your work cut out. The 62 looks quite solid from what little i can see, and I think I might be focusing on that one to start with. Maybe use the 65 as a parts donor?

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LOL yeah my neighbour is pretty good and doesnt mind the cars.

I was hoping to restore both cars with a view to me using the 65 and my father using the 62, so would rather not cut up the 65 if I can help it.

Good heavy duty replacement heater channels with the correct outlets and floor pans for these cars however seem to be fairly rare.

Cant seem to find anything on the web.

VW Heritage have the heavy duty pans and channels you'll want to use, though the channels will require some reshaping to look correct. Stronger by a mile some of the other floppy panels.

I guess you could do them both simultaneously - its just a matter of doubling the money I suppose. Looks like that 65 might have some hefty rot going on in the gutters though. That can be a tough job, which is what made me suggest using it for parts. 65s rot like a bastard if my old car was anything to go by. How complete is the 62? Do you have the rest of it?

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The 62 is in relatively good shape, it could do with new heater channels and a new floorpan. Plus some general work around the inner wings and rear valance. I have all the parts stored from the car so that they are protected from the elements.

I am surprised actually at how quick the rot had set in on the 65? is there anything specific that VW did to this year of car that makes them more rust prone?

I must admit also the rust in the gutter is a real worry for me, I am not quite sure how to tackle it and get a decent rust free finish. I am hoping my sprayer can help on this one as it looks a tricky job.

Thanks for the tip on the heritage panels, I will contact them today. 😃

I'm not sure what it is with `65s, maybe a different grade steel? The doors have a stupid bitumen sound deadening panel stuck onto the inside that invariably traps water and rusts the middle of the door out. Gutters were bad on mine also. TBH if its rusted right through along very much of the gutter, I'd probably forget it and look for a better car - which is of course usually the cheaper option anyway. If its not rusted through, then you can pry open the seam and get it blasted, and then fold it flat again.

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