Beetle Build - Day Two

It was raining today, we didn't have much time to start on prolonged or intricate work, and Roger didn't have any small plans. So we only did demo work. But today did have one interesting exception: Liam came to help.

First on the list was the dashboard. It had clearly been removed at least once. And the last time it was put back in place,  it was done only half-assed.  Whomever did it ruined the screw holes and used all different screws. Not to mention that it wasn't very attractive any more. Cracked and faded. If it could be salvaged, it was waaaay beyond our limited skills.

Liam helped track down the screws and removed all of them. Then it was a matter of angling the dash correctly and lifting it over the steering wheel. Finally we had to disconnect a couple of wires and the radio. And it all came out, destined for the quickly growing junk pile.

Mister Super Helper stayed busy, grabbing pieces and hauling them over to the side of the house or putting stray stuff into trash pile. Being old and lazy, both Roger and I were glad to have him there.
For his effort, I took an action shot of Ol' Slick. Him and his screw driver and the dashboard he helped conquer. Oh, for the energy of our former youth. And hopefully he learns something from the experience. It is all new for me. I never helped my father do ANYTHING when I was a kid. Didn't build anything, didn't work on the car, didn't work around the house. Nothing. Yet thirty years later, I find it all interesting and relaxing. Strange how things have a way of working themselves out like that. And these days I'd rather work with my hands than work on a computer. God-only-knows where My Boy will be thirty years hence. Maybe he'll have the flying car that I always thought I'd have by the time I was out of school.

Anyway, once the dash was out, we targeting the seats. While extremely comfortable, the front ones didn't work very well. The passenger side took an act of Congress to get it in reclined correctly. And the driver's side wouldn't adjust forward or backward. It was pretty much rested into place. So Roger gave me the stinkeye for photographing him in action and we got to work removing everything.

The Germans did a good job of fixing things in place. We had to unconnect the cable mechanism used to adjust the seats' position, bend a metal clasp that was cleverly concealed under the rug, pull a retaining bar backwards from under the seat, and skid the seats off their rails. Fortunately, the backseat was easy breezey mac n cheesy to remove.

Ripped up the stanky old carpet. Scraped up the accoustic pads. Peeled off most of the cracked firewall. Cleaned up our mess. And called it a day.