My plan is to take it around Australia to see the "Big things" - and it has already been the the giant merino as part of our trip home. It had been sitting in their yard for 4 years - even had the last rego sticker in the window from 2005 - but after getting it home and hooking up a battery it fired up on the second try.

I was a herbie tragic when I was little - insisting on watching herbie goes bananas 7 times in a row one day. As I got older i lost interest in them, was excited by japanese sports cars for a while, but at the end of 2008 I thought "Why haven't I owned a beetle yet?", so it was my new years resolution to buy one in 2009 - and I did. Infact I bought 2, but I'll get to that later.

Since buying it, I've had rust cut out and a few sections rewelded at East Koast Kombis (Literally round the corner from my house).

Ground back the drums and painted them in KBS, along with the pan (Inside and bottom - done without removing the shell),
Rebuilt the brakes with new cylinders, shoes and hoses, as well as a new master cylinder and reservoir.
Stripped the interior and am still working on getting rid of all that glue.
Replaced the battery and grounding strap.
Installed a simple multimedia player in the radio slot
Rewired the lights, indicators and ignition system
Replaced the standard coil with a GT40
Replaced driver's side front guard
Replaced driver's side rear guard
Replaced the oil bath air filter with an Empi sponge filter
Replaced the speedo (it had it's original with the km/h conversion sticker) with a european 1955 model km/h speedo
New sunvisors
Replacement badge work
Repainted and lined the fuel tank
New fuel lines throughout
New steering box
Had the rear drums machined (still need to get around to doing the fronts)

Plus I've picked up a few bits and pieces like shifter knobs etc that will go in later.
     

The only things left to do are to get the gear stick reseated (It's not shifting since I pulled it out - I just can't get it to sit right),replace the oil seal on one of the back axles (have done it twice, but it is still leaking out.) and weld up a small hole under the tank which I'll get to next week.

Lately I've been working on the body - sanding back the panels and respraying them. Eventually it will be it's original colour again - bahama blue. I'm getting them as smooth as possible with a power sander and I'm painting it all white as I can get it in spray cans at supercheap and spray it in my garage. The finish isn't fantastic up close, but overall it will look fine and help highlight the areas that need a re sand when I do it all properly.

I've got a proper spray gun, which I've been practicing with on Dad's beetle, but they are a bit messy for suburban use. So, it will be white until I can get it to our country block and spray it green up there - i.e. after rego.

Dad's beetle is the second one I bought in 2009 - I went halves with him on a 1973 super. It is in terrible condition, but a good one to learn on. Not too much rust, but covered in spray paint and has spent 10 years too many under a tree in a yard. It's getting sprayed white too - and is starting to look awesome.

So that's it really, though like a lot of VW people I've named my beetle - Cosmo. I think it was it's last owner's name as I found it on a receipt in the glove box - but it kinda fitted.

I printed out some pics of my bug on monday and took them to work yesterday. Jen said I should email them to you as you would get a kick out of them.

I spent my long weekend spraying the front end and although it is far from perfect, I am happy with the results.

Thanks

Paul