Painting and Bodywork

Beetle is finally out of repainting. The overall painting job wasn't quite the quality what we expected but as is it is adequate and what was most important, all the rusty spots have been fixed and we also replaced both of the floor boards. Everything is now fixed, the ruby red color looks good and all we wait is to get the engine overhauled and put it back to its place.

Ready for Repainting and Some Bodywork

The Beetle has now stripped and taken to the repainting. At the same time the floor plates from both sides will be replaced due rusting and the stepping boards will be fixed as they've suffered some bumps in the past. While the car is at the garage our main focus will be on the engine. It needs to come out and have some serious TLC. Hoping to add the whole engine story together with the pics here in one months time.

Finding Painter

As a result of rust appearing here and there on the body we decided that it is time to take the car to repainting before the problem gets any worse. As we have decided to keep the car as close to the original as possible the only color option is the original Ruby Red. More about the original body colors and color codes in the previous posting. The rims will be light greay as described in the Tyres and Rims posting.

The biggest challenge with repainting is to find a painter one can trust the work with. We ended up choosing a painter from Centurion who has lots of experience in painting bugs, and in the related bodywork in general. there is always an old car or a bug standing at shop's front yard. For us that was a good sign. We have now met the shop manager, gone through the car inch by inch and made the paint and needed bodywork plan.

We will take the car to the shop at the end of July and expect it to be ready in two months time. While the car is in painting we will concentrate on fixing the engine, sourching rubbers and rechroming the front bumper.

Beetle Paint Colors and Codes

One can check the original color of one's Beetle from the chassis number plate which in our case was located in the front, under the bonnet behind the spare tyre. Please however keep in mind that the code printed to the plate might not always be the same with the actual body color. There are lots of reported cases where the paint code on the plate is different from the original color on the body. These things just happened way back then. Our case is also alike. The code written on the plate is 14 (VW Blue) even the original body color is 100% sure Ruby Red (code 11). So it is always a matter of cross checking the plate and the body. One can analyse if the body is repainted or if it is original color. In our case there is no doubt that Ruby Red is the correct original color.

The 1967 original Beetle body color options that we've fount are Black L41 (code 10), Ruby Red L456 (code 11), VW Blue L633 (code 14), Lotus White L282 (code 42), Java Green L518 (code 20), Zenith Blue L639 (code 08), Savannah Beige L620 (code 02) and Fontana Grey L595 (code 09).

One can find original colors from old Volkswagen brochures. TheSamba.com has a great archive of old original brochures for different years in their litterature section. We found ours from 1967 brochure "It Comes in 7 Colors" and "1967 VW Beetle Sales Brochure" which also included the interior options. The brochures are lacking actual codes so those we found from TheSamba.com Type 1 Color Combinations Chart which includes Beetle Paint Code Listing. The list also includes original interior color combinations used with any particular body color. Wolfsbürgwest has also highly recommended Beetle Color Charts on their web page where you can search colors according to the particular production year. We also found a Glasurit Vintage Color Recipe Book ie paint mixing instructions from TheSamba.com discussion forum.

Tyres and Rims

First things first, getting new tyres. Ours are bought from Hi-Q. In the beginning we wished to purchase white wall tyres fro the bug but they turned out to be almost four times more expensive than normal tyres so it didn't happen.

There are also white wall imitation parts available that are added between the tyre and the rim. They look relatively good and the price is reasonable. We've seen them on sale at the Volkswagen and old car events and they most probably can also be ordered from local VW part shops such as Volkspares. We however decided not to go to that direction; it is real white wall tyres or normal tyres. No imitation parts.

When replacing the tyres we also had a change to take better look at the rims. We've got 6 rims which all but one is in relatively good condition. They are just a bit mix match when it comes to color; metallic silver, white and light grey. Even according to the original Sales Brochure the correct color combination for the Ruby Red body paint is white rims we decided to go with light grey. For some reason it pleases our eyes more as the white just seems to be too white and shiny. The interior is black, white and grey combination so in that respect the grey goes well with the rim as well. The rims will be fully light grey without any different inner/outer stripes.