I bolted on a piece of 2″ angle iron with spacers to the front beam attachment points. In the center of the angle iron is a large bolt that the hoist hook attaches to. When I need to flip the chassis, I simply hoist the front up a little and then lift the rear frame horns by hand and slowly lift the chassis off the saw horse to rotate it 180 degrees. Super helpful and easy on the back!

Once the floors were welded in, primed, and scratch sanded, it was time to paint the chassis with black Rustoleum Farm & Implement paint. I added a reducer and hardener for some extra durability. I used a combination of brushes and rollers to get at least 2 coats coverage and the paint flowed nicely – I couldn’t ask for a better finish for the intended purpose.

The paint was allowed to dry for about 48 hours before black 3M seam sealer was applied to all welded joints and seams.

The high quality floor pans from Wolfsburg West were pdropped onto the chassis and the fit was remarkable. These are great pans!

First order of business was to temporarily secure the pan halves to the chassis with self-tapping metal screws so they wouldn’t shift, and then test fit the chassis to the body. All the holes lined up perfectly and then it was time to once again drop the chassis and punch out some spot weld holes.

A 1/4″ pneumatic hole punch made easy work of creating the spot weld holes along the inner edges of the floors. These were spaced approximately 1″ to 1-1/2″ apart.

A few more of those self-tapping metal screws helped hold the pans tightly to the chassis for spot welding and then those screw holes were later welded closed. This simple technique made the job so much easier.

Both floor pans welded in as well as the driver’s side seat rail. A quick coat or primer to protect the welds from flash rust and it’s nearly ready for paint and seam sealer.

Airkewld’s rear air ride components are extremely high quality and fit the 1967 chassis with very little modifications. It’s a really well-thought out design but installation is not for the fainthearted – the body absolutely must be removed to gain ample access from above.

The lower bag support links are made up of high quality parts and went together pretty quick.

The spring plates needed to be notched for extreme lowering potential. The Airkewld kit provides a template for cutting. I used a my Jet 16″ floor model bandsaw to do the cutting rather than a grinding wheel. This helped kept the dust levels down in the garage.

Here’s the basic lower link structure mocked up before work on the upper bag supports began.

The right-side upper bag support tacked in with the bag mocked up. This is starting to look pretty cool!

Left and right upper bag supports tack welded in. This is beefy!

Fully welded, primed, and ready for paint! (after the floors get welded in, of course)

“Crusty” is an understatement!

The transaxle spent a good bit of time sitting in a shallow bath of industrial cleaner. Through the use of chisels, scrapers, brushes, and MANY wire wheels, I finally was able to see bright magnesium again.

The axle tubes got the same treatment. The axles themselves were in very good condition.

A few coats of primer and Farm & Implement paint later, all my elbow grease was starting to pay off!

Installed! Note: The red polyurethane mounts where eventually replaced with solid mounts.

NOT PICTURED: the transaxle got completely flushed and cleaned out, new swing axle tube packing “daisies”, new gaskets, and stainless steel lock nuts. I also installed an upgraded throw out bearing conversion kit that allows use of a more modern throw out bearing and pressure plate. While I was in there, I also upgraded to a heavy duty throw out bearing cross shaft and bushings.

With the chassis separated from the body and new floor pans from Wolfsburg West delivered, I mocked them up before the process of striping the chassis began.

My sawzall made quick work of cutting out the old pans but not before some measurements were recorded. One of the Wolfsburg West pans did not have the seat rails welded in so I took measurements off the originals. Once the old pans were off, I prepped the tunnel flanges by removing the old spot welds with a grinding wheel.

I destroyed at least a half-dozen wire wheel brushes in an attempt to remove the paint onthe tunnel and nearly vibrated my teeth out using an air chisel to chip off the tar boards before I realized there has to be a better way! A quick call to Glory Sandblasting in Orlando got the chassis scheduled for proper paint and crud removal.

It only took a few days before stripped chassis was ready to pick up – it turned out so nice and I didn’t need to waste time with those wire wheels any longer!

A coat of primer was absolutely necessary to avoid flash rusting which happens quickly in humid Florida air.

First, I pulled the heavily mud and oil-caked transaxle out and set it aside for a good cleaning and refurb later on.

Amazingly, all the body-to-pan bolts came out without breaking , although a few of them needed to be coaxed out with plenty of rust penetrant and prayers. The four front firewall pan bolts were an absolute nightmare and made horrible noises while being extracted. I made it a point to NOT use impact wrenches for these as the process required a delicate feel for what was going on. It took about 2 hours just to get those out – lots of forward and backward wrench turning. It was a miracle that none of these bolts busted off – corrosion had eaten half the diameters away in some cases!

The fuel tank was removed and the front body support bolts were relieved of their duty. I couldn’t believe how dirty the front beam area was… what a mess!

I used 4×4 fence posts placed on a pair of modified jack stands bolted to tire dollies at the front and rear. These beams were placed under the bumper brackets. Using a floor jack, I gradually raised the body off the pan and locking the jack stands as they went up. Now, the whole body can actually be spun around inside the garage independently of the chassis. There was a method to my madness: I positioned the chassis on a homemade dolly in order to roll it out from under the body whenever I needed to – kind of like a VW trundle bed! Turned out to be a great space saver solution in my already cramped garage space.

With the pan out from under the car, I could now direct my attention to rebuilding the whole chassis, starting with new floor pans.

My Castrol-inspired tribute Bug had to be slammed.

How might that look?

Using an actual side view of the car and with the help of Photoshop, I “lowered” it and put it on some Porsche Fuchs look-a-like wheels and mocked it up in an urban setting. I was locked in.

There are many ways to lower a Beetle, some better than others, but after much research, I landed on Airkewld – their PRO Built air ride systems proved to be the best solution. Their knowledge, high component quality, as well as customer service and support is what sold me. I made a couple of calls to Pete, he answered all my questions, and before long, a complete air ride kit with assembled beam was ordered! Per the Airkewld website this package is described as:

“This kit includes a fully assembled Stage 2 PRObuilt Air Ride Front Axle Beam, a complete swing axle rear air ride conversion, and air management—engineered to eliminate mismatched parts, guesswork, and rework.”

Just what I was looking for!

A few weeks later, a large shipping crate with all the parts arrived via FedEx Freight. When I opened it, I could see that the team at Airkewld took great care to protect their work. With all the parts laid out in front of me, I felt inspired to start the rebuild.

• “It’s got to look like a barn-find
• “Perhaps a company car from the late ’60s”
• “Castrol Oil? Hmmmm…”
• “This has to be a tribute car for my grandfather!”

It was a no-brainer for me as my beloved grandfather inspired me in so many ways growing up. I know he is smiling down on this project and it will be such an honor to show it along with his story someday.

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

The following is a write-up of my grandfather who appeared on the cover of the Wakefield REVIEW, a monthly publication of the well-known British oil company Castrol.

Heinrich Wilhelm Stollbrock

October, 1956

To undertake the marketing of an oil in a country where it has been virtually unknown for almost twenty years is no easy task. When that country is also in a financially unstable condition after many years of total war, the difficulties which have to be overcome are legion. That is the problem which presented itself to C. C. Wakefield and Company when, early in 1949, they decided to rebuild the Castrol Organization in Germany.

Fortunately, the most friendly relations existed between the house of Wakefield and the well-known German firm of Schliemann (as, indeed, they still exist with the present partnership of Schliemann and Deutsche Erdoel A. G., known as D.E.A./Schliemann). Schliemann suggested that the man to see the project through successfully was Heinrich Wilhelm Stollbrock. They knew that Herr Stollbrock had a sound knowledge of the oil industry. They knew, too, that the planning of a large organization would present few problems to a one-time regular army colonel who, during the war, had served in Africa as Rommel’s personal adjutant.

So it was that the new company of Deutsche Castrol-Vertriebs-Gesellschaft M.B.H. was formed in July 1949, with H. W. Stollbrock as Manager. A small office was rented in the neighbourhood of the Hamburg docks and there a staff of only five or six worked, often day and night, to build up the new Castrol organization into what it is today; a self-contained structure of about one hundred employees.

Some time passed before the first supplies of Castrol were available. When production commenced there were still more difficulties to be faced in distribution. It was not easy to find sales representatives for Castrol, which had not been imported into Germany sınce about 1933, but Herr Stollbrock had already decided upon his approach to the question of staff. From the start, he insisted on a happy relationship with his representatives and other employees, and this enabled him to form
a “Castrol family” modeled on the established English pattern. His readiness to show consideration for the staff, rather than to make bureaucratic decisions without referring to them, was the primary factor in overcoming all the initial difficulties.

Within a short time, contact was made with the more important car manufacturers, and in particular with those who participated in international motor racing. The most prominent, of course, were Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, whose many successes have contributed so much to Castrol advertising. Steadily the German company grew, and it has now established a complete selling organization in Western Germany and in Berlin. Herr Stollbrock now looks forward to the time when he will be faced with a new task: namely, the setting up of a similar organization in the Eastern Zone of Germany, where he was born.

It is one of Heinrich Stollbrock’s most salient characteristics that he is something of a cosmopolite, and a strong supporter of the concept of a united Europe. In consequence, he enjoys meeting Castrol representatives from other lands, and is particularly pleased when he is able to entertain overseas visitors at Hamburg. Fortunately, this occurs frequently, and recent visitors from Britain alone have included L. M. Broadway, W. F. List and L. G. Packham.

Herr Stollbrock takes a keen interest in sport, and in his younger days took an active part in horse racing, show riding and other equestrian competitions throughout Germany. Nowadays he is understandably more interested in horsepower than in horses, but he is still fond of riding for exercise. Winter finds him turning his attention to skiing, and he likes to spend his holidays in the Swiss or Austrian Alps with his wife and four-teen-year-old daughter, who also share this interest. In less active moments he finds relaxation and enjoyment in music, particularly classical and operatic.

Life happens. It has been awhile since I tinkered with the bug as it had to go into temporary storage while we moved into another home. After awhile, the garage got sweetened up with the obligatory tool boxes and most everything needed to work on the car again.

PARTS, PARTS, PARTS!

At first, my intention was to simply install the spare 1835cc engine I had, get it running and just have some quick fun driving it around. It didn’t take long before I realized that wasn’t really the smart thing to do. The “right way” would be to take my time, remove the body and in the interest of safety and reliability, address the more serious issues like rust and corrosion. This decision required 100% commitment – a bit scary!

As I disassembled the Beetle, I began to compile a list of necessary pieces and doodads to rebuild it. I then ordered a ton of stuff including a new wiring harness, new brake lines and drums, wheel bearings, seals, gaskets, etc. As the parts started to trickle in, I continued my research and strategy of taking the time to “do it right”.

This was going to be enjoyable and rewarding.

BODY

The vin tag indicated that it was indeed a 1967 but some things just weren’t right. Due to a slight front end collision many years earlier, it no longer had the original front fenders, hood, or bumper. The repair job involved sourcing German early fenders and OEM Hella headlight assemblies. The front bumper had been Frankensteined together using various overrider parts that looked kind of ridiculous.

The front apron and right inner fender well showed obvious crash damage and had been beaten back into enough of a shape (not quite the right one) in order to bolt fenders back on. As a result of the damage, the bottom of spare tire well is rusted out pretty bad.

The Beetle’s original color was Ruby Red but at some point was painted over with yellow (possibly to match the later model yellow doors), and then eventually white when someone got the idea of creating a Herbie. Based on typical Herbie “standards”, the stripes are not the correct width or spacing and the number 53 was never painted on the doors or hood. Oddly enough, both doors had been replaced at some point with a later model variety. Unfortunately, the door and ignition keys did not come with the car, but replacement door handles and new ignition switch are easy fixes.

A few cracks can be seen in the windshield but otherwise all the glass including the rear pop-outs are intact.

There are a few rust holes and bubbles under the paint here and there, and some pretty good sized holes in the bottom of the hood below the handle.

Aside from these issues, the body is in surprisingly pretty good shape for being a southern car. There’s a fair bit of old grayish-black undercoating peeling off everywhere underneath but I believe this is what saved the car from rusting completely out over the years. In my opinion, this bug is a great candidate for what I want to do with it.

CHASSIS

Both heater channels have moderate rust but are structurally intact. The floor pans have holes in all the typical areas such as behind the driver’s seat and under the battery compartment where a piece of tin had previously been riveted in over the corrosion. The rear luggage shelf is as holy as swiss cheese and will definitely need to be dealt with.

INTERIOR

The black front and rear seats are more than likely original and in pretty bad shape. The carpet has almost literally turned to dust and very crispy evidence of OEM floor mats were found. The interior is painted white and the headliner has a few pretty good-sized tears and will need to be replaced.

ENGINE

There is an engine in the car but it is not where you’d think it should be… the passenger seat had been removed and placed on top of the back seat and then sitting on the floor board was a 2.0L Type IV long block. Piled on top of the engine were boxes of extra parts including clutch components, two sets of down draft carbs (Dellorto and Weber), linkages, Type I and Type IV intake manifolds, a spare set of pistons and cylinders, spare Type IV heads, a generator and fan, a starter, gaskets, jars full of bolts and nuts, and an original early DTM fan shroud!

Fortunately, I have a spare Type I 1835cc engine with very low mileage that will eventually power the bug until I can get the Type IV rebuilt.