Crazy Coincidence!

When we decided to build a class 11 lookalike bug we talked about how we had never seen one in Utah before. That was one of the reasons we were excited about building one. We looked at plenty of pictures and planned out how we wanted to raise it and modify it but we had never seen one in person. Well today we did! I sell bug parts pretty regularly on KSL.com and on a local VW club site here. I had been communicating with a guy that was interested in some parts I had and so we set up a time for him to come over and look at what I had. He drove up in this awesome bug! I couldn't believe that he had one and drove over to my house in it. We talked for an hour and parts traded hands but the best part was that we were able to check out his bug. This is pretty much how ours is going to sit when we are done with it and his suspension is almost exactly the same way we are going to do ours. The only difference is that he was running a cut and turned beam and we are going to run raised spindles with an adjustable beam. I think ours may ride a little better with the spindles but time will tell. I loved this bug. It is sitting perfect and he says it goes anywhere. He offered to bring it back over and we can jack them up and compare them side by side. It would be a blast to do that and then I can find out his angle on his torsion arms also so I can match mine up to them. He is an awesome guy and hopefully we can cruise together on some cruises and check out some trails when ours is done.

I am making some progress even though it's slow right now. I have almost all the tin stripped and sand blasted. I just need to find some time to stay late at work or go in on a Saturday to do some powder coating.

I also stripped the stock wheels that we are going to run. They actually were quite a mess and a lot rougher then I was hoping for. It took a long time in the sand blaster to get them looking like this. I did manage to get all 4 done though.

 I took them home and sprayed a coat of primer on them before they had time to rust. The weather turned cold so they are still in primer right now. I am hoping that tomorrow will be warm enough to hit them with some paint. I am going to paint them satin black. I have found that paint holds up pretty well on wheels. I powder coated the wheels on my first bug and they started rusting right away. I must of not prepped them right or something but I primed and painted them and they are holding up really well. That's why I decided to do the same to these ones. I am still not sure if I will keep them satin black also and paint is easier to strip then powder coating.

So that's the latest update on the bug. Tomorrow most of the day will be spent doing yard work getting it ready for winter but maybe I can squeeze some time in on the bug. I need to make a list of everything that needs to be done to it and then prioritize them so I can get working on the most important things first. Anyways, Until next time, if in life you have a big silt bed in front of you, remember to keep your foot in the gas and don't let up. Don't give up even if you can't see. You'll make it through it, hopefully without getting stuck!