Motor in the car was a stock 1600 single port which ran nice but had a flat spot in it.

I found out the next day when it got much worse and left me stuck a few blocks from home...

Turns out the metal plug in the carb body of the H30/31 had fallen out which is very common. The carb must have had a nice air leak for a while and finally the plug fell out. I borrowed some AC ducting tape and was able to seal up the hole on the side of the road and drive the bug home!

A memorable morning to say the least.

Here is the hole where the factory plug goes on the H30/31 carb body.

I got a dime and ground down the edges slightly and it fits the hole almost perfectly. Then a nice generous coat of JB weld and a 48 hour cure time and the fix came out better than the original plug.

Back on the road again and running better than ever with no flat spot at all.

So fast forward a few months and I have been driving the bug sporadicly while working on other projects. Its a nice car but it has its short comings. Mainly the suspension. The front beam was a 2 inch narrowed adjustable beam with no drop spindles on it. At the low height it was set at the ride was all over the place, bump steer, no travel etc. I had planned to change all that anyway from the get go. The rear had stock spring plates that were turned 1 outer and several inner splines so the ride was sloppy there too. The wheels were BRM replicas which are not my favorite and the tires were more suited to Bus sizes than a bug so those were always on the list to change as well. Brakes were stock drums all around. Like I said before, the interior was a mix of OG and TMI and none of it was really that great. I decided that the best part of the car was really the body. It needed nothing aside from some new brightwork and rubber.

So this is where I decided that I was finally going to do a car myself. The body would be left alone but everything else was going to get the resto treatment. All new suspension done the right way. All new freeway flyer trans. VW Paradise built stroker motor. Chrome and detailed Fuchs, new West Coast Classiscs interior. Powder coated pan, pretty much everything this car needed to be a killer patina cruiser.

I started to pull and sell all the accessories on the car that I did not plan to use like the wheels, rack, steering wheel and clear out the garage so I could have space to do this build. Having never done a build like this before, I planned for the worst and prepared myself for hidden rust, broken bolts, and all the other horror stories I figured I would run into along the way...