Volksworld Feature

Bit surreal feeling :) But just awesome.

2010 X-treme Car Show

Holy fook!! Looks like I won 3rd prize of the Retro Class in X-treme Car Show meanwhile I was at home watching the Italian GP (which turned into crap with El Banco's win).

Cabriolet Summer

Ah finally. First week of Summer holiday and got the 'Vert out.


I missed buying the hooks that secure the top in down position and the new padding plus the piece of shit TMI hood bag lifts the top slightly, but enough to mess up the rear visibility. Found the worn out original (moldy) hood bag some time ago which is like one size larger than the TMI one. Too bad I didn't realize to have Lenny re-pop one based on original measurements. Anyway when I get the hooks in place they'll do the trick.


While the interior smells like new everything in the rear smells still burned. Probably remains like that for some time before the new paint, rubber etc settle down.


The only trouble with my 25Kkm driven 30hp was oil smelling gasoline when I got the car running for the MOT tests in last October. Assumed first the carburetor causing it as it was oxidated internally beyond belief and cleaned/installed carb repair kit during the Winter, after the Volksworld trip (heh, driving the car on/off trailer 3 times..) oil smelled gasoline again. Oberschlachter supplied (thanks "Rusakko"!) a repair kit for the pump really quickly.

And where else but from Kotten's stash would you expect to find the tool to preload the 30hp fuel pump diaphgram :)

Interior Shots of my Vert

Couple of interior shots I forgot to add earlier. Seat covers and door panels came from Lenny Copp, carpets from Himmelservice. Kai Aulankoski installed the seat covers and modified the carpet kit. Going back to TMI in the future would be very difficult.

Time to get cracking..

In Wallace&Gromit speak; time to get cracking..


Few weeks to season start and some tasks still remain. Biggest thing is the decision about which wheels to run.


New interior is in the plans as the current TMI kit just doesn't cut it.

On the move

Probably one of the last nice, chilly but sunny and dry, days of Fall, so last moment of moving the 'Vert back home to Helsinki. Didn't have time to lower the rear but lowered the front somewhat from the MOT/technical inspection in order to get the tracking closer to where it was originally adjusted for the home drive. Strange feeling to have working heater too in Volkswagen for a change :)


The way 'Vert was moved from Kaitsu's garage to my (in Doctor Evil's speak) secret lair. It was kinda "interesting" to follow that dude through the smaller country roads as the highway was closed due to crashed tanker truck.


On the way from Kupla Kopla garage to Kaitsu's garage for top upholstery.

Better late than never :)

Driving the 'Vert first time since 2003.


Off to the our equivalent of MOT tests.


Well, saved some MOT-mans' time for rust checking :)

On the road for a while..

(as usual) the sucker won't start.. <in homer simpson's voice>Stupid reserve tank handle..</in homer simpson's voice> Got it eventually running and over the ramp to the street level.


First time driven into daylight with it's own power after 2003.


Big thanks to Juse for trailering the 'Vert to Kaitsu's place.

Decisions, decisions..

Gas Burners vs. Fuchs

While doing the last tasks before the car will receive the new cabriolet top had some time to play with 901-wheels.

Extreme VWs DVD #4

Didn't realize my '55 was in the Xtreme VWs #4 / EBI 1 DVD until some weeks ago. Here's a link to a trailer from Youtube.



Must have been these guys :)

Late POC for my Cabriolet Top

Little proof-of-concept for the brown cabriolet top. I got the top material bit too late to fit in the upholsterer's schedule for this Fall and that pretty much screwed the idea about finishing the car this year.



Bit too late now as I have the material on my hands :) Still easier/cheaper to switch back to black in case I change my mind. The black fender beading and running board mats somewhat bother me. One option would be buying beige fender beading and running board mats from Wolfsburg West and getting them dyed to brown.

Gas Burner time

Tested how the Gas Burners from my Oval would look like. Not sure how good they looked due to lack of shine. Maybe repros would be better as I'll never polish them again since maintaining original Gas Burners is bit tedious.

Askartelua paskartelua

One lesson learned was double check that all cable tubes are cleaned from debris while the body is off. Somehow missed accelerator pedal cable tube even I had quite explicit task list. I would have never believed how much crap from sand blasting and old grease it can contain.

Yeah, I am using the cheapo EMPI disc brake kit in rear, I guess they work okay but they weren't as much as bolt on as I had hoped for.

CSP, buy the best and cry once :)

Soldier.. eh.. solderer of fortune

I'm still in process of putting the 'Vert back together. I got a Wiring Works reproduction wiring loom via Powerhaus earlier in the Summer and that's going into the car at the moment (I can recommend John@Powerhaus for Volkswagen parts needs, very good service and fast delivery.)

I have drooled over neat wiring in photos and in shows (Foxy, Rick etc) but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted and as much as I love neat custom wiring I wanted to have original style colour coding in wires.

So I bought the kit but I am not all that happy with it. As it is exact repro of the factory original for certain year it doesn't offer much alternative routing options nor there is just no extra wire and it is also put into heat shrunk tube. Would have been nicer if there had been little bit more DIY stuff left.


The spaghetti incident. The front 4-fuse box is bit messy.


Buddy from Luftsick, Alhoracing, dropped by and we fitted the original 30hp into the engine bay. The rear suspension got sorted along with the extra weight :)

That small diameter 12 volt Porsche (thanks Mikko) generator caused little extra head scratching in dismantling the rear of the wiring loom and re-routing the wires to hidden regulator, as there was no nice way to mount the voltage regulator near the generator. I didn't neither manage to find a period correct looking generator mounted regulator.

Damn 'Vert side windows

Lesson learned; make sure that the ventilation window frame is aligned properly before installing the door window glass :) The passenger side needs more tweaking while the driver's side turned out just fine with first try.

Slight progress with 'Vert last week

Juhani arrived to help in installing that damn molding to the windshield. Thanks dude!


Wolgsburg West repro sealings and trim fitted like originals. Nice :)

New glass for my 'Vert

Picked up new glass to my 'Vert from Kuttilan Autolasi. All the photos and notes I took when I teared the car apart in October 2003 were one job and cannot remember how many laptop replacements ago. Looking forward the quality-time spent in the garage :)

Misc Cabriolet Stuff

Started assembling some easy parts to get the car look like a Beetle again :) Most of the parts I stored when teared the car apart now look like shit when compared with new paint, new repro parts and some NOS goodies. Damn..


NOS steering lock and proper NOS 6-wire indicator switch with powder coated steering column. I got very nice deal of powder coating various parts from Tmi Jouko Koli near Hyvinkää. I was going to use my EMPI GT wheel, along with some NOS EMPI stuff like EZR shifter and wooden dashboard knobs etc, but not so sure anymore since the ivory looks very good against the red and would like to keep the number of different colours minimal.

We teared the old Cabriolet top apart yesterday since it also requires little bit of tweaking and new paint. The top frame was actually far better than I have thought, first such surprise in this project :) Since the amount of shit in my life is static, I wonder what other surprise I am going to face in near future..


I hadn't realized that the wooden top parts were originals in my car, they're bit busted though. The wooden part around the rear of the body was totally shot and it was a small miracle how it managed holding the rear of the top in place over the years. I was going to replace all wooden parts except the header bow but now also the quarter window facings look still usable. CSP parts that I had bought couple of years ago were also nice surprise qualitywise, or actually not, since CSP-stuff has't never let me down. Originals on the left, very good match in shape. (Thanks Helge!)

One task that I am not looking forward is polishing the better set of Earlies. I am going to use 4.5" and 5.5" combination.

My Cabriolet returned home

I am extremely pleased how my Cabriolet turned out in the end. Big thanks to Kari Kuusharju who did the hardest parts in the beginning of the project and Juhani Laaksonen who finished body work and painted the Cabriolet along with his brother Marko. Just awesome work!

Now lots of opportunities to me to screw up other's hard work while assembling the rest of it :)


Nicely tucked among my '55 Oval, Luftsick Takis' 90's looker and Vilho's Sonderbus project.

This is what the cat meows..

Just came home from re-uniting the body to the pan.

More L452 Paprika

More shots from paint booth today..