Hello neighbours! My name is Undis and I am from Latvia. I have been a VW enthusiast as far as I can remember and actually my first car was a beetle during school and university years. Since 1985 I had 4 beetles.
Pic. 1. The first was a 1969 1500
Pic. 2. And then a 1967 1300.
Those I had when I lived in Australia. Then I moved to Latvia and I had a 1973 1303. Then, last year after too much time in watercooled wilderness I finally decided to start looking for another beetle. I was checking online ads in Sweden just to get an idea of the market. As many may know Sweden is the best place in Europe to find good, unmolested VWs for a reasonable price.
In the beginning I thought I would get something sensible like a Ã62 to Ã64, but I found myself drawn towards the early cars as I have always loved the looks of splits and ovals. First I thought I would never go for anything older than Ã56, again for the sake of being sensible. I was in contact with several sellers and then I saw this Ã54 advertized. In the description and in pictures it looked good, so shortly after I decided to go for it despite all my previous cool-headed reasoning.
Arrangements were made regarding the sale and everything went reasonably smooth. I knew the car was sold with stock wheels. At that time I saw some Empi five spokes advertized. Initially I was not too keen on the black painted rims, but after visualizing them on a black oval, I decided to get them as well. Some last minute phone calls and e-mails and the wheels were off by bus transport to the seller of the car. The idea was that I would pick up the car with the wheels loaded in the back seat.
Sweden is pretty close to Latvia, so an overnight ferry trip is all it takes. In the morning I was in Stockholm. I had arranged that the seller would bring the car to Stockholm because my time was rather limited as cars have to be checked-in by 4 p.m for the trip back. We met at lunchtime. This was the first time I saw the car in person. Exciting of course! It was lowered and riding on crappy stock wheels. Otherwise it looked just as good if not better than in the photos and the EmpiÃs were there too. After paperwork was done and money exchanged hands, I was left in a parking lot by myself with a 54 year old car. This was the moment to take a deep breath! Then it started to rainÖ (pic. 3-4).
Driving the car onto the ferry went ok, but coming off in Riga was a bit more difficult because of the angle of the ramp. It started to rain again, but this time I had already put some Rain-X on the windscreen. The 30 Km trip from the port to my house was kind of scary as I had to really concentrate keeping the car straight.
Home finally! (pic. 5)
... to be continued....
My 1954 oval (Undis from LV)
The first thing I did was to raise the backend by two notches and put on the EmpiÃs. I am pretty happy with it. It is reasonably rust-free and original. The interior is gone. The seats are from a 1959 car. The decklid also seems to be a later W style The rear H apron is there but it has exhaust cut-outs, so it has been changed at some point. The fenders seem to the correct front and back. The front hood also seems to be right (pic. 1-2).
Mechanically it has some changes done over time. The engine and gearbox are from 1964, but the front beam could still be original but has height adjusters installed and seems to be narrowed slightly, but I need to measure that. It has been partially converted to 12volts. I had to put in voltage drop for the wipers and have for now disconnected the semaphores (pic. 3-5).
Mechanically it has some changes done over time. The engine and gearbox are from 1964, but the front beam could still be original but has height adjusters installed and seems to be narrowed slightly, but I need to measure that. It has been partially converted to 12volts. I had to put in voltage drop for the wipers and have for now disconnected the semaphores (pic. 3-5).
After putting on some turn signals and fixing a few small things, I was ready to get it registered. The first mechanical check-up it failed because if high CO levels, bad brakes and misadjusted headlights. Very soon I had all that fixed with new brake parts, machined brake drums and a good tune-up.
Before (pic. 1).
After (pic. 2).
The seasonÃs closing was coming up fast, so a little more work on the heater and and a change of oil in the gearbox and engine, I was ready to go. The car performed very well. With two adults, two children and a huge amount of luggage it felt a little out of breath especially on hills, but I guess I cannot expect too much from a tired 1200Ö
)) (pic. 3).
New registration at last (pic. 4-5).
On the way to Valka (pic. 6).
Before (pic. 1).
After (pic. 2).
The seasonÃs closing was coming up fast, so a little more work on the heater and and a change of oil in the gearbox and engine, I was ready to go. The car performed very well. With two adults, two children and a huge amount of luggage it felt a little out of breath especially on hills, but I guess I cannot expect too much from a tired 1200Ö
)) (pic. 3).New registration at last (pic. 4-5).
On the way to Valka (pic. 6).
This winterÃs project is to make a new interior and just check a few potential problem areas. One thing I have already done is cleaned out the fuel tank and the reserve tap just to make sure there is nothing in there that could spoil a trip.
Before (pic. 1).
Now (pic. 2-3).
One of my wishes in the future is to get a 1600 twin-port motor for it...
Before (pic. 1).
Now (pic. 2-3).
One of my wishes in the future is to get a 1600 twin-port motor for it...
.
Thank You, Undis.
I guess that many people here (bare in mind that most of them are VW fans) had a great time just to read your story... That was pleasure, honestly...
You have precious treasure back there, it would be really nice to see it in original shape, ofcourse, as much as it is possible nowadays..
Now hope to see you in Lithuania some day
I guess that many people here (bare in mind that most of them are VW fans) had a great time just to read your story... That was pleasure, honestly...
You have precious treasure back there, it would be really nice to see it in original shape, ofcourse, as much as it is possible nowadays..
Now hope to see you in Lithuania some day
Thanks for the kind words!
Yes, I do not expext many answers in this topic. My aim was to just share and maybe provide some information and perhaps even inspiration to others. That's why I post a lot of pictures
I also had a look at some of the projects happening in LT. Good ispiration for me too!!! (even if I don't understand the descriptions)
****
My ideas about this car is not to make it into a museum restauration. Many things on it have already been changed. I does not have the original motor and gearbox for example. I want to make it into a reliable, drivable classic car which still looks original.
And I hope to drive it to Lithuania this summer.
Yes, I do not expext many answers in this topic. My aim was to just share and maybe provide some information and perhaps even inspiration to others. That's why I post a lot of pictures
I also had a look at some of the projects happening in LT. Good ispiration for me too!!! (even if I don't understand the descriptions)
****
My ideas about this car is not to make it into a museum restauration. Many things on it have already been changed. I does not have the original motor and gearbox for example. I want to make it into a reliable, drivable classic car which still looks original.
And I hope to drive it to Lithuania this summer.