2017 | 1967 VW Beetle - Restoring A Vintage Volkswagen Bug

Don Hoopers’s vintage VW Uni-vents

12.30.2017 15 Comments

From time to time, we’re lucky enough that our awesome readers randomly share gems such as these with 1967beetle.com. Very nice. I mean, NICER! Thanks to Don Hooper for sending this interesting piece of vintage VW history our way.

Now that I have spread the word amongst the 1967 Beetle community about my 40 year affair with my 67 Beetle Type 151 Cabriolet, I thought maybe some would enjoy looking at some parts I bought years ago. I wonder how many here were aware that an in-cabin fresh air ventilation system was available for their 1967 Beetle? Well, it was available as an aftermarket, owner or dealer installed accessory know as the Uni-Vent Air Ventilation System. Produced by Uni-Vent Co. Inc. of Jacksonville FL and sold by authorized VW dealers, the kit included a plastic tubular vent pipe system with scoops for each horn grill, that routed up inside the inner fenders to 2” holes punched into the kick panels on sedans and Karmann Ghias. Two round vents units with spring loaded rotating caps closed the system or allowed for air to be directed up, down or sideways in the foot wheels. The assembly was not made to fit the unique convertible kick panel shape.

I bought my NOS set from Bob Scott at Vintage Parts in Glendale, CA in January 1985 for $80 plus tax, intending to install it in my daily driver 1967 Lotus White sedan.

My plan was to make my daily 40 mile drive on Los Angeles Freeways through hot summer months more tolerable. I know from the literature included that the set was extremely effective and would have made a big difference in my drives, but I never got around to doing the installation before I sold the car. Hence the set has sat on a shelf in my garage for the last 32 years. I thought it might be enjoyable for others who actually drove their 1967 beetles daily to travel back in time through this story and these pictures and remember sweltering days puttering along in the slow lane in the San Fernando Valley or elsewhere in obsessive heat. What a joy those days were!

SOLD – L456 Ruby Red ’67 Beetle

12.16.2017 7 Comments

Listed for our friends over at BaT, this L456 Ruby Red ’67 Beetle is an example of period correct along with a few modern upgrades. I can’t tell you how many emails 1967beetle.com has received about this car today. Who’s going to make an offer? Did I also mention that it’s a convertible?!

Status: SOLD
Mileage: 26,665
Location: Memphis, Tenn
Price: No reserve auction – BAT
Contact: BaT

“This 1967 Volkswagen Beetle Cabrio was restored by a previous owner approximately 20 years ago and has been with its current owner since 2002. Driven over 5,000 miles during his ownership, the car is believed to remain in stock specification apart from an interior color change. The single-port 1500cc flat-four is paired with four-speed manual transaxle. Records detailing maintenance over the past 15 years, including a recent clutch replacement as well as a servicing last week by the seller with the installation of a rebuilt German Solex Pict-1 carburetor, an oil change, and inspection. This Type 1 is now offered by the seller at no reserve on behalf of the current owner with a new uninstalled black interior kit, new black steering wheel, and a clean Tennessee title in the current owner’s name.”

’67 Volkswagen Beetle Collectibles

12.14.2017 2 Comments

On a regular basis, 1967beetle.com plays an important role in the trouble-shooting calls which I receive. Often, there is an article or discussion on the Site which deals with the question at hand.

I also review articles from times to time—just for the fun of it. And, so it happened that as I was reviewing Don Hooper’s Article. I happened to spy, in one of the photos, the key hanging from the ignition switch.

What’s this? A unique Leather Key Holder, I spied.

I entered a Comment about the Holder and pretty soon Don replied. He and I kept up
a running e-conversation for the day about Key Holders.

I referred him to a short Article which I wrote some time back:

Vintage Volkswagen Collectibles

I know that a lot of us either purposefully collect VW Memorabilia—or perhaps it just
“comes to us” from family and friends—as have some of the Collectibles which I display in our home.

Save 20% + free US shipping — ends 12/1

11.30.2017 No Comments

Hello, ’67 Beetle community. We’d like to let everyone know we have a special offer going on at Lane Russell for all ’67 Beetle owners and beyond. Here’s the perfect time to finally grab a set of ’67 beetle hubcaps, or put that correct and restored German Bosch 12V coil back in your pride and joy.

Save 20% sitewide + free US shipping.
Hurry — offer ends Friday, 12/1 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.

At checkout, use code: 67FALLSALE

It’s our way of saying thank you for all the support over the last 8 + years. Lane Russell grew out of the love and admiration for the ’67 Beetle, and the community here at 1967beetle.com. We can’t thank you enough.

– Eric + Amanda Shoemaker

Zac Porta’s L620 Savanna Beige ’67 Beetle

11.27.2017 10 Comments

Zac’s L620 Savanna Beige ’67 Beetle is an honest example of brilliant design and simplicity. At 50 years old, it’s still doing what VW of old had intended it to do as his daily driver. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Zac!

I’ve been saying for years that I wanted another L620 ‘67. I owned one once, about 18 years ago. As I typically do though, I sold it in favor of some other beetle which has long since been sold. I purchased my car on February 19th of this year. I had known about it more than a year or so prior, but passed on it in favor of a road ready savanna beige ‘67 since I had no garage at the time to get it roadworthy. Not that I regretted the purchase of the other car(who’s body was a little rough), but I still wanted the one I was originally after. About February 12th or 13th, I got a text from my friend Brad with the link to the Samba listing of the car. I’m friends with the seller, so I immediately sent him a text expressing how I still wanted his car. His reply was, “buy it!”, but I’m married with two kids who had only four months prior purchased our first home, so I had to convince my wife that I was making a good decision.

Surprisingly, I was able to talk her into it and a week later the ‘67 was in my garage. The deal was that when I got the “new” car ready for daily driving, I was to sell the other car, so that’s what I did. I had vacation planned for a week in March and I spent a lot of that week in the garage, getting acquainted with my new to me Beetle. I was a bit rushed though, as I had struck a deal to sell the previous car before the new one was ready. The idea was to get the new car ready in a week, while still driving the previous car, and seamlessly transition to the new one. As is generally the case though, things didn’t go as planned. The car did run, but that was about it. The doors were in pieces, the wiring was a mess, the wiper motor was incorrect and not even in the car, the headlight switch was wired up, laying in the trunk and broken, it had a faceplate for the radio, but no radio, door panels for the front were missing, rear panels weren’t installed, three flat, dry rotted tires, no brakes, the list went on and on. So I got to work, replaced the brakes all around, tracked down a ‘67 wiper assembly, a Sapphire V radio that worked, and I even had a spare headlight switch, so that was also fixed. A friend of mine has a shop, so I got some new tires. I needed seatbelts for the rear since my two kids would be back there, installed them. Vacuumed the car out, replaced the rubber floor mats, removed all the add on old man accessories, put the doors together, installed some pop out rear windows I had laying around, tracked down the ‘67 seat belts I needed for the front, installed them, replaced the transmission mounts, replaced the engine compartment seals, new trunk seal, door seals, deck lid seal, bumper bracket and over rider support seals, swapped out the steering wheel in favor of a spare I had that was in better shape, installed the engine and it was ready for it’s first drive. It ran great, but would not idle. It didn’t have the correct carb, so I needed to track down a 30 PICT-1. Luckily, my family is into VWs as well and my stepdad had one. I had it rebuilt by the local VW guru, installed it, and it purred like a kitten.