My good friend is restoring a 59' bug for a female client and wanted to surprise her with a matching vintage bike. So he tasked me with finding one and doing some of the work as well.
I found this on SF Bay Area CL and grabbed it for $90. The guy I got it from picked it up at an estate sale. He said he wanted to restore it but didn't have the skills and pretty much lost interest. He had put a new Kenda tire on the back that was too big. It was wedged in there and wouldn't turn. Also put a new chain on it but didn't realize he would have to shorten it. I think he had good intentions but lacked some knowledge. Anyway, good for me..
It's not bad for its age. It's original except for the tires & chain. The dual headlight lens is there and in good shape. The front fender ornament is there and looks like a part of it had broken off. Does anyone know what (if anything) was attached to the top of it?
I'll start a build thread on it the next time i'm at his shop and actually make some progress on it. After I snapped these pics I disassembled it and bead blasted the frame & forks and assessed exactly what parts were restorable and what needed replaced.
If anyone knows their vintage VW colors... the frame, forks, & fenders will be painted "mouse gray". I'm also going to be searching for repop decals for it. I've found the fork decals on eBay but that's it. There has to be someone on here who's restored one of these...
The two holes on the middle looks like plastic pins that held something..? I think I read somewhere that the Spaceliner & all it's variations had a rocket ornament on the front fender. Could that be what was attached here? Can someone post up a pic please?
I found this on SF Bay Area CL and grabbed it for $90. The guy I got it from picked it up at an estate sale. He said he wanted to restore it but didn't have the skills and pretty much lost interest. He had put a new Kenda tire on the back that was too big. It was wedged in there and wouldn't turn. Also put a new chain on it but didn't realize he would have to shorten it. I think he had good intentions but lacked some knowledge. Anyway, good for me..
It's not bad for its age. It's original except for the tires & chain. The dual headlight lens is there and in good shape. The front fender ornament is there and looks like a part of it had broken off. Does anyone know what (if anything) was attached to the top of it?
I'll start a build thread on it the next time i'm at his shop and actually make some progress on it. After I snapped these pics I disassembled it and bead blasted the frame & forks and assessed exactly what parts were restorable and what needed replaced.
If anyone knows their vintage VW colors... the frame, forks, & fenders will be painted "mouse gray". I'm also going to be searching for repop decals for it. I've found the fork decals on eBay but that's it. There has to be someone on here who's restored one of these...
The two holes on the middle looks like plastic pins that held something..? I think I read somewhere that the Spaceliner & all it's variations had a rocket ornament on the front fender. Could that be what was attached here? Can someone post up a pic please?
