May 2012.
I am still working on the brakes and gas tank to get it driveable, attempts to clean the tank myself  have not worked I am going to have to have a shop clean it. I found two shops that I am going to look into to clean and seal it. Brake wise the steel lines are corroded and I cannot break them free without damaging the line or rounding the brass fitting so I am going to have to replace the whole system, all the lines, cylinders and shoes, etc. I am assuming the master cylinder is in the same shape although I do have a kit for the earlier dual cylinder. I have been finding some good deals for parts on ebay with free shipping that is helping keep costs down some.

As usual life starts getting in the way of what you really want to do. Cleaning the gas tank myself was not getting it done so I found a radiator shop to clean and line it. Now summer is here and it is 100 degrees in the shade so it is too hot to work on Murl, thats the po's name I gave to the '68. I have been driving the '82 Westy alot and enjoying it. I will update this when the weather cools some, enjoy your summer :)

I've been shopping for brake parts and have decided on Vintage Parts Inc. in Calif. www.vintagepartsinc.com (web page is out of date) I used them several years ago for parts for my '55, the brake parts are German and at a good price. I can get the parts from my local O'Reilly store but they are chinese and anything that comes from there (china) is junk. I'm still looking for a place to clean the gas tank at but I may do it myself.
I finally got the title in the mail from the previous owner and called a VW friend who is an agent for Collector Car Insurance www.collectorcarins.com and it will be insured in a few days then I can title it.

Seperately, the '86 Cabriolet came back from the shop and is running again, it will be cleaned up and put up for sale. The '82 Westy is running fine.

Some 35 year old gas.

Took some pictures of the tank removal.

We've had some rainy days which prevented me getting anything done except after one heavy downpour I sat in the bug and looked for water coming in but there was'nt any it was dry :) The rain has washed off most of the dirt and there is a nice shine to the paint coming out.

Satuday I cleaned the inside of the mildew using a water/ammonia mix it came out pretty good better than I expected

I removed the carburetor, rebuilt it and installed it today. No surprises found during the rebuild, it looks like its never been opened before. Then I removed the gas tank, I pulled the front wheel to get access to the fuel line to drain it and after I pulled it off nothing but some drops came out. So after I removed it I just drained it out through the filler neck. While the tank is out getting cleaned I'm going to do the front brakes, new cylinder, shoes, hoses. It will be alot easier to get to them with the tank removed.

I was feeling confused about the distributor, all was there for it to spark but it was'nt so I asked my friend Kris to take a look at it today and he did some preliminary checks and then said "looks like everything is ok" I guess it was just his presence but it was working now so I rigged up the gas can and we fired it up, sounded like a fine tuned sewing machine, no noises, missing, or other uh-oh's. Unfortunately we could'nt run it long as gas started leaking out of the accelerator rod but we were ecstatic that it was running and sounding so good, more than 30 years after it last had run. So I'll pick up a carb kit and start planning the gas tank resto that still has about a 1/4 tank.

Apparently there is a short in the distributor which will require some troubleshooting.

First time out of the garage in about 37 years.

Replaced the battery cables yesterday and picked up a battery, turned on the key and LIGHTS! we have a gen and oil light, checked all the electical stuff and it all works, except for the horn which is a bummer. Engine turned over fine and I expelled the old fuel from the fuel pump then rigged up a gas can and line to the fuel pump but it would'nt start, the oil light would go out while turning which is a good sign. Today I checked the coil, points and condenser and the condenser is bad so I'm going to change points and condenser tomorrow. So hopefully tomorrow the engine will be running.

Coming out.

Spent some time on the bug today, freed up the other rear wheel, when we got the car all four wheels were locked up and we had to literally drag it out of the garage and onto the trailer. Took 3 hours to get it ready to tow home. Then drag it off the trailer onto my driveway where we went right to work trying to freeing them, we got the front ones done quickly the next day and I got the one rear done the other day.
The battery ground and positive cables need replacing so I removed them today. Took out the sending unit and it was toast so I added that to the parts list, which now is just brake parts. There is still fuel (or whats left of it) in the tank, about a 1/4 tank I will probably have to pull it and get it cleaned at a radiator shop. I removed the fuel pump screen and there is still fuel in the pump and the screen was clean which is better than it being dried and nasty. Nothing came out of the carburetor drain when I removed it so I am hoping it will still work. Tomorrow I will get new battery cables and a battery and rig up a fuel can to the fuel pump and try to start it. The previous owner said the plugs kept fouling so if I get it started I should get an idea of any issues with the engine.
The drivers seat was stuck all the way forward so I spray lubed it and was able to move it back so I can sit in it now.

Welcome to the 1968 Beetle blog, about a garagefind Beetle that I purchased 4/15/2012, it sat in the owners garage since about 1976. It is a complete and original with 56,186 miles. In essence this car was driven for less than ten years although it is 44 years old.

I'm no stranger to aircooled VW's having owned several continuosly since 1980. I will be going through the brakes, fuel, and electric systems to get it running as soon as possible.

Follow along the adventure of bringing this rare vintage VW back to life from it's long sleep.

This picture is from inside the garage before dragging it out.