76 Swallowtail - Ocean Blue

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Great to see it coming apart and it's pretty solid still all round!

I would have thought the bumper iron can be repaired no problem, not a close up pic but I'm guessing it just need persuading back in to shape?

Ref dash removal, I would only guess that generally it will be a similar order to an S2 car - i.e. removing facia plate, switches, clocks etc.

Take a look on Partsbase - partsbase.org

The exploded diagrams should show all fixings and save you from any surprises  

Yes your bumpers can be restored as I had mine restored. Mine are genuine vw chrome bumpers and were warped and had dings in them. I had them done by a place in Coventry called marque restore. They took their time with them but they came back perfect. They take photos of the repairs that need carrying out and give you a little pack of all the work done once completed. Think it cost me £450 - £500 to get sorted out. 

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Hairyarse - many thanks for the link.. that is similar to the 'vagcat' version I found also

Baggie82 Re: bumpers.. many thanks for the info… they aren't too bad - but want them 100%. I will hunt this company down and investigate further, cheers

nice what colour will you respray this beast? may i suggest mat grey? with a g60 lump?  

sorry not been on here a long while!

dojodubber said

nice what colour will you respray this beast? may i suggest mat grey? with a g60 lump?  sorry not been on here a long while!

sorry to disappoint  .. the colour seams quite rare - only painted for a limited time in '76 so it is staying 100% and for me.. small block is a thing of beautiful and getting fewer of them around so no conversion planned.. just the stock engine as it left the factory..  

Loving the build thread.

I'm with you on keeping it original, engine and colour wise, it will look so cool.
There is plenty of later cars out there to modify/ruin but hardly any early cars left now.

My mum had a 1976 1.1 base model back in the early 80's and that's where my adventure into VW's all started when I was a young kid.
Keep up the good work.

well done mate, glad you're cracking on with it

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Hi Jonathan great to see progress keep pics coming.

Love the colour combo. Will be a nice car once its restored.

ivortheengine said

Hi Jonathan great to see progress keep pics coming.

many thanks Ivor, i'll keep the pics rolling in..

heartagram said

Love the colour combo. Will be a nice car once its restored.

thanks heartagram - the colour is quite rare as it was only painted on 76 mk1's.. but the seats are more unique - never seen another Mk1 with this 'cognac houndstooth' interior option. the contrast against the ocean blue paint is cool  Cheers

Just caught up with this thread. It's nice to see a new resto in progress and a 'return to original' goal.

Excellent!

gone

Wow what a find…. They definatley don't come better than that!

Great to see and it looks very solid, thumbs up to the previous owner for keeping it garaged and untouched all those years….

Agreed of course standard is the only way to go with this one.

You'll be a very happy man

Care to spread the joy and share what bargin price you got it for?


A lot of enjoyable frustrating hard work and money to be spent but it will be well worth it and one of very few project cars these days that won't owe you money

 

One of the issues building mine after a full strip down if finding the parts much later. I am still missing some!

It is possible that you might not assemble the car in the same place the car was dismantled, as in my case.

I cannot emphasise the importance of taking pictures, especially electrical connections and assemblies prior to dismantling and marking up packaging.

Really looking forward to seeing the progress on this project. What a find!

Dano said

Just caught up with this thread. It's nice to see a new resto in progress and a 'return to original' goal.

Excellent!

Many thanks Dano - OEM is the goal and it now finally feels like I'm making positive progress!

Dubbuds said

Wow what a find…. They definatley don't come better than that!

Great to see and it looks very solid, thumbs up to the previous owner for keeping it garaged and untouched all those years….

Agreed of course standard is the only way to go with this one.

You'll be a very happy man

Care to spread the joy and share what bargin price you got it for?


A lot of enjoyable frustrating hard work and money to be spent but it will be well worth it and one of very few project cars these days that won't owe you money

 

Thanks Dubbuds - I as so pleased to get this and will take great care and time to get the refurb as close to OEM perfect, owe it to the previous owner!

Regarding the price.. sorry bud, but not gonna post this simply cause acquiring the car was never about money, for the owner (or me), it was about passing it onto the right person who would cherish it and bring it back to life. Discussions about the car and plan showed him I was the right person to let it go to. The deal was 'pay me what it's worth' and I did that honestly to the point were he tried to give me cash back saying it was too much. Think he was surprised what the rate was for it.

Thanks guys for the positive comments and support   .

Malcolm said

One of the issues building mine after a full strip down if finding the parts much later. I am still missing some!

It is possible that you might not assemble the car in the same place the car was dismantled, as in my case.

I cannot emphasise the importance of taking pictures, especially electrical connections and assemblies prior to dismantling and marking up packaging.

Really looking forward to seeing the progress on this project. What a find!

Thanks Malcolm - yes the pictures are a good idea.. I've also done the usual 'bag and tag' everything and started a journal documenting bits that come off, need to be returned or replacements purchased.

Something else I have also done that may help others.. I've even made several videos with me talking an audio description of how bits went together and came off - feel like a right tool doing a "news report" style piece but I think they will be very helpful when it come to putting all the bits back together!  

Great idea doing videos. Like Malcolm says take as many photos as possable, you can never take enough.  Keep the updates coming.

  I never thought you would, it was just out of interest tbh.. I wouldn't be able to resist  some coilovers and a set of hoops thou