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Brand New 55 Year Old Car

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This is actually my third Bug. The first one I had for an hour and I got hit from behind by a very pretty blonde girl in a red car. So since I’d just been shopping I knew where all the for sale Bugs were and so I bought my second choice. A 65 Bug 6 volt. It was mechanically in better shape, but wasn’t as pretty. I was in Utah where it’s cold in the winter - 50F below zero. So I had electric heat on the engine and a 100 watt light bulb under an old rug and a battery charger on the battery. I also had a 12 volt battery in the back for a boost if needed. Started EVERY time!!! The year was 1975. It lasted until the spring of 1990. Then corrosion got it so I went back out into the Bug market and bought my current Bug from a place in League City Texas called Recycled Bugs. This was a long time ago and they are now out of business. The guy running the place decided to put all of his energies into a Band Called Slow Children.

So over time (34 years) my current Bug started getting chips in the paint and there was rust forming. I didn’t want a repeat of my second (the ‘65) Bug so I asked the folks doing maintenance if they could paint it. They said no, but recommended an EXCELLENT place to do it. Rembers Collision in LaPorte Texas (where I live). They turned a casual paint job into more of a restoration. They even did some disassembly, including removing the windshield. So since I had a runner in the windshield, I had them replace it since they were taking it out anyway. That philosophy was applied to the whole Bug.

Using reasonable estimates of how much it was driven before I got it, I figured the transaxle had 400,000 miles on it. It had been having trouble staying in 4th gear for awhile, but if I was careful with the throttle, it would hold. Well it got to the point where it would not stay in gear no matter what I did, so I decided to fix the transaxle. That was until I found out how cheap new ones were. After asking around, I found Rancho to provide a replacement transaxle. The engine, though still in good shape, had 200,000 miles on it, so I decided to replace that too while I was at it. I again asked around and an outfit in California was recommended, but I was talking to them in November (of 2023) and they were talking March 2024 shipping date. So I called around and ended up talking to a nice lady at an outfit that sold parts for Bugs, including engine parts. She said she didn’t sell engines but asked me where I lived and found a customer that bought parts from them and built engines closer to me than California. The outfit was Twisted LCK and Chris provided excellent customer service with the whole transaxle engine replacement project. The engine was delivered and “core” returned for free since Twisted LCK was so much closer. The outfit La Car Porte in La Port Texas that was doing the engine & transaxle swap had one knowledgeable Bug guy, Mike. - Unfortunately Mike was unavailable on the big day and so extra help beyond the engine was needed. Usually Mike would handle any Bug problems. So I have a brand new 55 year old Bug!!!
Dave Peddicord Dave Peddicord Dave Peddicord Dave Peddicord Dave Peddicord Dave Peddicord