Airheads
The term “airhead” certainly carries less-than-endearing connotations. It’s one of those things I’ve always shied away from. Pity never moved me to commiseration, and thankfully, my level head kept me out of their camp.
But in the fall of 2009 I bought a car, and in so doing became an airhead. I didn’t realize it at the time; quite to the contrary, I thought myself exquisitely fortunate. This is probably typical of airheads. The very thing in which they exult is but proof of their foolishness.
Today I know, as I did not when buying my car, that Volkswagen enthusiasts call themselves airheads. The stereotypical classic Volkswagen needs near-constant mechanical work, so the owner must be somewhat of a gear-head or motor-head. And since vintage Volkswagens sport air-cooled motors (rather than common water cooled motors) Volkswagen enthusiasts found a way to differentiate between common motor-heads and special ones who drive classic Volkswagens: Airhead. In the motoring sense, there is nothing derogatory about the term. So, being the proud owner of a classic VW, I gladly embraced the name.
After owning my Volkswagen for some time, and getting to know it better, I began to worry that I might be the silly kind of airhead. Silly because I’d been blind to a vast number of maladies afflicting my car. It made me think of the French queen’s quote in Ever After. “Choose wisely, Henry. Divorce is only something they do in England.” I wasn’t married to my car, but the saying rang true anyhow. I’d messed up on the “choose wisely” part. My car and I were in it for the long haul, since finding a buyer for my car in its current state would certainly be a miracle. Divorce was out of the question unless I could really pull the wool over a buyer’s eyes.
And now I could describe the car, but I have given you photos instead. That allows me to indulge in listing specifications: something I love doing.
The car is as follows:
1966 Volkswagen Type III Fastback
Passenger Capacity: 5 (I added a seatbelt)
Air-cooled 1600cc 4-cylinder single port engine producing 53 horsepower
Top Speed: 65-75ish. The speedometer needle tends to bounce between those numbers at high speed.
Transmission: 4-speed manual, rear wheel drive.
Special options: Sunroof (rare-ish, I’m told), custom Porsche headlight grilles, custom rear air intake, working dome light.
The things I didn’t discover until later were along the lines of rusted floor pans, bent frame-head, bad window seals, and so on. But despite these, the car has been just great, and I’ve embarked on an adventure unlike any in my personal history. Its an adventure where the “get out” part means getting out to the garage. Its an entirely new kind of getting out which I have come to enjoy thoroughly. I didn’t fully realize this until last week when Dane made a comment along the lines of, “Yeah, but once you get it all back together you won’t want to tear it apart again…” I thought about this for a moment, but wasn’t sure he was right.
Before I started tearing anything apart, though, I drove the car for a while and accustomed myself to it. Most fortunate was my engine, which worked fine and needed little or no help. That helped me to forgive other problems, because engine work scares me more than most things. It’s like messing with someone’s heart. I’d much rather be the doctor who deals with hangnails – there is so much less to go wrong. And since my car’s healthy little heart had no trouble pumping me about town, like a little oxygen molecule in the blood-red shell of my car, I remained happy. I would deal with the hangnails as they came.
In the first eighteen months I owned the car, I managed to make good progress on pesky ailments, adjusting a crooked hood panel, tightening loose bolts, replacing a bad battery terminal, and finally, removing all the carpets so that my rusted floor pans could be replaced. Certainly, this was more than a hangnail, but a senior surgeon handled the cut and paste operation of removing and renewing the damaged floor. Volkswagens are unibody vehicles, meaning that they have no frame or chassis, like most autos, but instead rely on the combined strength of the body and floorpan assembly to maintain their structural integrity. This being the case, it is important that patch panels in the floor pans retain the strength the original floorpans had.
With so many repair jobs behind me, I figured I could cruise for a while. In preparation I replaced the bald, low profile tires with a set of tall, narrow tires like the car had when it rolled off the assembly line. Though different tires changed the look of the car, I had heard they were far safer than the fat “hotrod” tires I’d been driving on. As I drove out of the tire shop, I discovered that my car would turn right, but not left. To make a long and painful story short, this was because the left arm of the frame head had been bent back – about 1.5 inches – and as a result the left front tire had been pushed back a corresponding 1.5 inches and now rubbed on the wheel well.
I said earlier that Volkswagens don’t have a frame. While this is true, the front of the floor pan has an appendage with two arms which hold the front beam. This is known as the frame head. Mounted on the front of the frame head is the front beam. And mounted on each end of the front beam are the two front wheels.
The frame head issue led to four months of pre-surgery research. Suffice it to say that after consulting half a dozen skilled mechanics, reading hundreds of pages of online VW forums, and jacking the car up too many times to count, I decided to pull the body off the floor pans. Someone who has done this before will tell you its really not that hard. Remove 32 pan-to-body bolts, four wires on the engine, seats, carpet, gas tank, steering column, speedometer cable and hood panel. Thats it! Oh yeah, and make sure to take the shifter out. Otherwise you must lift the car an extra 15 inches.
The simplicity of the information, however, did little to bolster my confidence in pulling the car apart. Seeing as I had little choice whether or not to remove the body, I went ahead with the process. As I dug in, my confidence grew until I felt something akin to enthusiasm about the project.
The actual raising went swimmingly. Two comealongs slung over the beam in our garage provided the mechanical advantage necessary, and once the handful of bolts and wires were removed, I ratcheted the comealongs up. The body did not separate, and some inspection revealed welds in two places holding the body and pans together. Some past owner, ignorant of basic VW anatomy, had provided a great opportunity to break out the angle grinder – one of my all time favorite tools.
Welds aside, the body lifted right off. Now it’s sitting on a stand, the disembodied pans rolled off to the side. I’ve taken a breather to accustom myself to the next task which, as usual, seems scarier than any before it. I’m to remove the tie-rods and all the other “stuff” from the front beam. Most difficult will be the metal brake line, which must be bent and pulled back through a hole in the frame head. Cutting and replacing a section of the fuel line rates pretty high on the scary list, too.
But, what must be done must be done. My collection of parts won’t be a car again until after I get the frame head fixed, and my car won’t drive again until it’s no longer a pile of parts. That said, I’m going to stop writing and get out – to the garage.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Dude, that’s freaking awesome!
Wow, awesome car! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed. I just got a matchbox 1962 VW van and beetle lol. They look a lot like your cars.
All that hard work is definitely worth it. Beautiful vehicle. And what gorgeous countryside to drive around in. I’m sure you’ll find that unique name soon enough 😉
Reblogged this on Ace VS.In My Mind and commented:
First time I’ve reblogged .. just inspired by Iozeo’s this CAr is following me then stumbled on this car. Oh and the blog is awesome too ..
Thanks for the reblog. I’m glad you enjoyed my blog.
Xtremely talented freak 😉
love you man really picks are good………..i love your blog so much………..
Very nice work!
Nice transformation. Thanks for sharing. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I’m hoping to complete the transformation very shortly… and quite eager to get the car on the road again!
Great piece. Great car (tho the overhead shot of it without the 2 front wings (sorry fenders, is just weird). Superbly entertaining piece of writing, I enjoyed it immensely. Take care 😉
I agree… the car looks pretty strange without its fenders. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
awesome…….great work…nice car…love it……………………..i must come back……………
Beautiful restoration. Looks like you had a great time doing it as well!
The restoration came as a complete surprise. I thought I’d bought a daily driver… but I discovered that auto restoration is a real joy.
COOOl stuff
Love you..!
Great car! I had a 59 Bug that got me through college and my first job. Nice post, and congrats on getting Freshly Pressed!
The earlier beetles are such beautiful cars… I’m constantly amazed how many people have owned an classic VW at one time or another.
Thanks for the congratulations. Being Fresh Pressed came as a total surprise.
Didn’t know VW owners called themselves Airheads!
Pretty cool. Better you than me. Body work is definitely not something I’d want to tackle. I’d much prefer to work on the chassis and engine.
Eventually I’d like to get my own vehicle that requires near daily – if at least weekly – mechanical attention; a pre-74 MGB.
Before buying my car I was scared to tackle more than an oil change. Fortunately, most of my restoration work has turned out to be easier than I expected.
MGBs are charming little cars, real head-turners if you can keep them on the road 🙂 I’ve heard a lot about MGB maintenance requirements, but perhaps that is part of the charm.
wow…what a brilliant effort!!!glad you were featured on freshly pressed!!! cheers!
Thanks! Being Freshly Pressed has been an honor.
Thanks for sharing this awesome journey with us!
This tale of days and nights spent in a garage brings back some cool childhood memories…
It’s been my pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings.
Love the VWs great project, nice job. You look good in the poncho too!
P.S. I went to school in Missoula, Grew up in Lewistown… moving back to Whitefish soon.
The guy in the poncho is actually my brother, but I look good in a poncho, too 🙂 The car is to be my daily driver, so you’ll probably see me on the roads around Whitefish. Cheers!
Sweet, Juest so you know I’m not a psycho if I am standing next to our car, but I stick out my thumb when you go by. 🙂
A friend of mine drove her dad’s VW wagon when we were teens. She named the car Louie, and unfortunately, the VW like so many pumped out gas fumes, which would cause me to feel queasy. Oh, but my friend loved that little car.
I’d be pretty worried to ride around in a car full of gas fumes. But I can relate to your friend’s love for her VW… even problematic VWs are hard to dislike.
Nice pictures!
internetfavs.com
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
I love the look of the old VW Fastbacks and Notchbacks. Good work!! I really like the pic of you driving!
I’d never seen a Type 3 before buying my car, but the car looked so unique I didn’t deliberate much before buying it!
Looks good. My Dad was an airhead, back in the day. 🙂 Fun post; thanks. 🙂
My dad was also an airhead… he still owns his first vehicle – a 1970 VW bus. I think that’s what infected me with the VW “bug” (no pun intended). I’ve wanted a classic VW for as long as I can remember.
Dad’s was either a mid ’70s Passat or Rabbit (aka: Golf); can’t really recall. Fun cars, though.
Great stuff and you’ll have the fun of time travel everytime you drive it. Bruce
The car is definitely a joy to drive. Now that the roads are dry and spring is here, I’m itching to get it back on the road.
Clearly awesome work that you’re doing here. What a beautiful specimen of a car! Your photography tells such a great story. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed my post. Even now my car’s story is unfolding, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
VW envy!
It is refreshing to hear a young man speak of his adventures with the total remake of a car. Nice job with the photos and the narrative too. You are a multi-talented mechanic.
Greeeaaat post, and a nice car that will morph into a beautiful car.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post… I had almost as much fun writing it as I’ve had working on my VW.
Cheers!
You may be interested in our blog: http://www.thelongroadtoparis.wordpress.com. We drove our 1987 air-cooled VW Beetle in the 2011 World Rally, 14.000 miles west from NY to Paris. Crossing China, Russia, Kazakhstan and 8 countries in Europe. That was last April. We are about to depart on a NY to Alaska rally with another group of antique cars in May. You can follow these driving adventures on our blog. I will subscribe to yours.
J&E Howle
Brilliant! I love to hear of VWs making long trips… it dispels the myth that old air cooled VWs are too delicate to make long trips. I’ll definitely follow your blog, though I wish I could follow you down the road as part of the rally!
Cheers!
Congratulations on being freshly pressed…
The type 3 VW fastbacks are very cool cars and have allot of character (which your car has – a great color and proper stance), and obviously you are enjoying your experiences. Nothing like rolling up your sleeves and diving in to make the necessary repairs and learn about your car and yourself. Those skills will serve you well on any future automotive projects you encounter. Nice photos and commentary; keep up the good work.
Regards,
Chris
I agree with you about the low stance. Unfortunately, when lowered, the car really eats tires. But buying my car cured me of mechanic-phobia and brought me to love restoration work. I’m excited to find out what the next big repair job will be.
Thanks for the kind words!
Cheers!
like it, my father had the same car in the 70´ in Germany.
I find it amazing how many people owned Type 3s at one time, yet today they are so rare.
NICE – Being an airhead in this case is something to be proud of. An air-cooled boxer engine, that’s where it’s at. In this day and time, I think, it is a great character building tool to own a air-cooled VW. Mechanically, they are pretty simple and you can do everything by yourself with simple tools. No need for an electronics lab. Simple, well working German mechanics. I love it.
You hit the nail on the head. Had I tried to restore a car full of electronics, sensors, and modern “innovations” I’d have given up long ago. The simplicity of VWs is beautiful. Last week I adjusted the valves for the first time… turns out engine work isn’t as scary as I expected.
I had a 1966 Squareback. I cried when I finally sold it. One of the best cars I’ve ever owned.
Congrats on being Fresh Pressed. Your post definitely deserves it.
Classic VWs have such personality… I can’t imagine parting with mine.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I really appreciate the interest everyone has shown.
This may be the single most impressive post I’ve read this year. GREAT BLOG!
Many thanks for the complement. The response to this post has been tremendous.
Cheers!
Excellent blog! You would make a dad proud.
Dad
a true story of making dream car……..!!!!!!!
great work
superb man…like these pics very much
Thanks! I’m glad you liked them.
awesome post and one awesome car man!
~ barry
Thanks Barry… It has certainly been an awesome journey restoring the car. I’m glad I can share that journey here.
What an amazing transformation of a car! I’m impressed. Congrats on Freshly Pressed.
Thanks so much! Being Freshly Pressed has been an honor.
Cheers!
Lovely car!
wow,.,..,.,
“Restoration”. That’s a great theme. Love to see more Blogs on subject. (I used to own a Austin Healey Sprite – ‘Frog-eye’ Sprite!) Not only cars but how about peoples lives Restored.
I agree. When I began working on my car, I discovered a vibrant community of auto restorers… but the internet/blog world doesn’t reflect much of that. Austin Healeys are cool little cars. I really like classic British sports cars.
i love classic Volkswagen, nice car, yours is color red, a good color.
That is one gorgeous car!
Beautiful car! Well done.
great work, great car, great blog! if you visit germany someday try to visit the aircooled event on 1st of may (every year) in hanover…the page is unfortunatelly only in german…but the pictures 🙂
http://www.kaefertreffen.de/content_photos/2011/index.html
greetings from home country of volkswagen. jade.
fantastic……………..
Great restoration story! And it’s looks fantastic! You’re hard work paid off! And being the gear head that I am (I do like VW’s, but I’ll never be an Airhead) I can appreciate the blood, sweat and tears that went into it (I own two vintage Mustangs)! Here’s to many happy trails with your car!
Vintage Mustangs… fantastic. I must admit, I sometimes wish I had a powerful car – not just a cute one.
Cheers!
You’re young….there’s still time and there’s hundreds of them out there! Go for it!
great post! beautiful car…enjoy it!
Oh those rusted floor pans! That very phrase brings back memories of being a little girl and how I always wanted rides in my aunt’s ‘bug’, because looking down to see road racing under my feet was almost as much fun as a trip to the amusement park.
VW floor pans are certainly known to rust out. I hadn’t realized how bad mine were… until I nearly stepped through the rear floor.
Reblogged this on facade..
Seriously, I love every red and yellow cars. They’re sort of, very attractive. I love this blog entry. Great job.
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the post… and my red car 🙂
I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to your other entries.
What a great post. Makes me feel like I need to wash the grease from under my nails. I am looking forward to your further air-headed exploits.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m currently in the midst of re-assembling the car… trying not to get ahead of myself and make an air-headed mistake!
Cheers!
A friend of mine rebuilt a 1962 T-bird from the frame up. I asked him if it frustrated him sometimes. He said yes of course but used a little trick to get him through. He made a list of all the little things needing to be completed that took 30 minutes or less. On a day the rebuild was not going as well or as fast as he wanted, he would make sure to end the day by completing one of the little tasks from the list. This way his day ended on a high note. By the way, the result was one bad-ass car ride. Best of luck to you.
Reblogged this on bsaglam00.
Such lovely piece! I really adore classic cars but this only makes my love for them to grow fonder 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Classic cars are even more lovable when you get to know them personally. My VW is quite a character, but fun to drive and fix.
Nice work and nice write up!
Wow this is great. I just love vws. I really hope to own one someday. Preferably a microbus. I could have so much fun with one of those.
VWs are really great… for those willing to do a bit of work, they are a fantastic vehicle. I can’t believe how much fun my Type 3 is, even though it lacks a radio, A/C, and many other modern “innovations” and “improvements.”
Looks like a lot of work but the result is stunning … thanks for sharing
These pictures look so awesome! I really have thought about rebuilding cars, and it looks like fun work.
thanks for sharing
Reblogged this on anissette.
Dude – I spent more than five years working on vdubs. I felt every rusty bolt in you story. You have done your fastback proud. Now you have to find a type III engine for her. Excellent work!
Rusty bolts… no kidding. I took the car apart in a bath of PBlaster and WD-40! Even then I broke a couple bolts 😦
A “pancake” engine would be great. The front cargo area is small, so the extra trunk space would be welcome…
I’m glad you enjoyed my post – it’s been a joy for me to share it.
Cheers!
It brought back so many memories … Thanks
Great trip back to memory lane…nice restoration job. At one time or another, I’ve owned (or been a slave to) a ’56 bug, a ’65 fastback like yours, and a truly beautiful ’69 Karmann Ghia. I liked the Ghia the best–it was sporty, had sleek lines, and was fairly easy to repair. However, life interferred (got hitched to a beautiful person who, for some reason, still thinks I’m worth all the trouble) and had to change vehicles to something more practical. Oh, well, indulge yourself in the VW madness…many of us were “airheads” in the past. Good memories all around.
Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii….Russ
You’ve owned a wonderful lineup of VWs. I must admit that Ghias are super nice… I’ve been severely tempted to pick up a project Ghia, but one resto project is enough for now.
Cheers!
Good story, great pics and a really nice car!! Good luck with your projects. We’re “airheads” around here too, only besides having had a split window coupe and two 69 bugs pass through our hands, and of course my daily driver a 79 Westfalia, we’re Porsche folks. a 60 roadster and a 79 911. The Roadster was a full restoration done in house. Now we just work on carburetors!!
The photos are amazing. Keep up the good work with the projects.
Restoring cars is definitely NOT my thing. But I am definitely jealous of your car – it rocks. Nice work.
Cool! Great job! 🙂
Nice car!
You are killing me…stop it!!! The car I drove from Massachusetts to New Orleans in 1974 was the exact same as this one only mine had been painted chocolate brown and it was a good paint job and I had the “Manual Of Step By Step Procedures For The Complete Idiot” and could adjust my valves in 20 minutes flat…loved that car…drove it straight through to Yankeetown Florida in 28 with a little pharaceutic al help of course…had the car in New Orleans for about one year before it finally threw a bearing in Mississippi and I had to leave it and hitchike out…thanks for the memories…what fun to totaly strip one down like this…I had a couple of buses too and a beautiful super beetle with 1600cc motor…my sister had a 1963 window bus with no 4th gear but that didn’t keep us from having fun…great cars…miss all of them….
Nice build you have going on there. You = airhead, me = rotorhead (or at least an aspiring one).
What are cool car and a beautiful place!
you’re really a good webmaster. The website loading speed is amazing. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterpiece. you have done a great job on this topic!
It’s good to rebuild classic car and make it can run again.
Hey awesome,
welcome to the airhead club. I own a ’69 Westy (more vw jargon you will learn about, Westy short for Westfalia) and a ’65 Vert (convertible) Bug (Beetle). I’m pretty impressed with your do-it-yourself courage, keep on going for it. It’s one of the things I love about my VW, being able to fix it myself.
love this car! 😀
Nice build you have going on there.
A very nice car with fantastic climate. Love to read it buddy.
’66 VW Fastback was my first car. I miss that car; wish I’d never sold it. Great pics, thanks for the memories!
Sweet!
Wow! I can’t get over the amazing colours in your photographs!
Thanks for sharing.
Great job, the car is gorgeous!
Nice remake of a great car
Really the car is looks awesome. you have nice creativity
That’s soooooooooooooo awesome!!! I’ve never seen one in China. Thanks for sharing!!
Reblogged this on motor workx and commented:
yuuuuuuuup!
Great Type III! Glad to see more airheads out there. I’ve not gotten to play with old air-cooled VW’s in a long time. It’s nice to see such a detailed restoration on a not-so-common car.
Reblogged this on finnegan2749.
although I’ve graduated to 1977 and 1978 Toyota Chinooks, the first new car I ever bought was a white 66 VW Squareback Sedan. Nice fit and finish, mechanically no comparison with the chinooks, and wandered in the wind. But we enjoyed it.
Where in Montana, by the way?
Ranger Don, blogmaster at http://georgerstewart.wordpress.com/
I am a fan of VW’s. I have had three and am currently enjoying my ’72 Westfalia. Rock on bro!
That seems like a lot of work. All of a sudden I am glad I’ve never been a car guy.
Reading this blog and reviewing the pictures brings to mind the Phrase, “Labor of Love.” Thank you for sharing your love with the WordPress family.
I had a ’72 fastback. Selling it has been the biggest regret of my life!
Great photography, great writing, interesting car. I’d definitely like to see more!
That’s a beautiful car. Well done for sticking with your project, seeing it through and documenting it for us all. 🙂
What a classic! What kind of mileage do you get? I remember a pal’s Karmen Gia…another great VW; another great road trip car, skiis and all. Go Pacifc Northwest!
On my low profile tires, I was getting around 28MPG. I have larger diameter tires now, so I’m curious to see what the milage will be this summer. Some beetles can get up to 35 MPG, so I’m hoping for at least 32.
Reblogged this on Ash's Blog and commented:
Nice modification. Say cool B)
nice car buddy !
Very cool! Congrats on being freshly pressed!
very nice
What an incredibly detailed post you’ve put together about the restoration of your VW. I’m a sucker for fastback designs.