Out with the old, in with the old!

It has been a very productive week. I was able to get the baja licensed, so watch out it's legal. Sorry to all my neighbors for the loud exhaust in the morning. I really do try to baby it out of the neighborhood. It's a little hard when the choke isn't working. Anyways, Tugger doesn't travel down the freeway as good as Ed does, but I am still working on that. I think I have a vacuum leak and haven't had the time to fix it. I did buy the gaskets and boots for the intake manifold so I am ready to fix it, I just have to find the time. Today I had some time so I tore out the interior. It had to be done. Every time I drove it I was covered by fibers from the headliner that was shedding. It was really pretty gross. Dixie went for a drive in it a while back and wore a hat and safety glasses. ( It really was that bad) I even tried to vacuum it and that seemed to make things worse. Anyways I tore it out and I replaced the seats with the ones I had originally in my other bug. I also put the BF Goodrich tires on the back and that helped it on the freeway. Here are some new pictures:

My 2 bugs hanging out in the garage. It seems like they spend a lot of time there.

 Here is the old interior. Someone had spent a lot of time redoing this bug many years ago and I am sure it looked pretty sharp then but now it's old and pretty gross.

 The drivers side. The guy at master muffler gave me a "new car" scented air freshener. He said they give it to all their customers but I think he was making fun of me. (It did improve the smell of the bug though).

 I removed the bottom of the back seat when I removed the voltage regulator and never replaced it. The seat is falling apart.

Here is the infamous headliner. It would of fit in awesome in the 70's. It use to be a dark red color but it faded a lot. If you look closely you can see my vacuum marks on it. I tried to save it because it was so ugly it was cool. I just couldn't handle being shed on every day.

 I started by removing the front seats. I also vacuumed it out really good.

 Here are the remains of the headliner. I found some more rust. It's sad to say but I think this run for the baja will be it's last rodeo. In a few years it will be returned to the ground from where it came.

 This picture looks really bad. It's the roof of the bug after the headliner is out. It's really not as bad as it looks. Most of it is just glue from the headliner. I have an idea in my head for what I want to do with the headliner. It will take some help from my wife but I think it will look good when it's finished. Right now it's really ugly up there but it's still a ton better then what was there.

The door panels are not savable. I removed the back ones and when I get some new ones I will replace all of them.

 Here is the seat that was originally in my other bug. I had it stashed in my basement and works good in the baja. I am looking for an Indian blanket or horse blanket to cover it with. I can't seem to find one. I want it to protect this seat from the sun and I think an Indian blanket will fit in better with the baja style.

 I installed the front seats also. These covers are old but in better shape then the other seats. I might get some new covers if I can find a set for a good price.

 So here is how it sits. I put the BFG's on it. I think they look a little small but they definitely go better on the freeway. They will handle better in the snow also.

 The results of the poll I took last time favored the mud swampers. It was close though. I will probably end up running both depending on what I am doing. Next on the agenda is to fix the vacuum leak, Reinstall the old distributor and carb, (I borrowed the ones off Ed temporarily) polish the paint to see if it looks any better and work on my headliner idea. Keep checking back and see if any of it gets done!