Spent the weekend pulling things out of other projects in the shop and welding them into Bug. The front seats came out of a GT shell that's been sitting in the backyard. I pulled the motor and trans out of it a while back for my '68 FB build, but the seats were still in there doing nothing. So they got ground down a bit on the angle grinder and welded into Beetle floor. The rears went in like they were made for it, except the seatback. That one just laid flat. Mad Max Beetle, it works.

The MOMO steering wheel had been living on the couch since I restored the '68 fastback and then cut it apart again. Finally found a home for it. The adapter took a couple of days to ship. Was worried it'd stick out like a flagpole. Turned out closer to the dash than expected.

Engine bay got a cleanup. Engine bay should be like a house. Can be simple but should be clean. And then she fired up on the first try. Idled steady. Settled into something almost civilized.

Custom louvres went on the rear. Had to design those from scratch since the roof is chopped, no off-the-shelf set fits. Made them in fiberglass over a plastic form. Still need cleanup and a coat of grill paint, but they sit right.

And then I drove her around the block.

First time on the road. Twenty-five miles an hour. About seven hundred RPM. The road blurred.. Everything rattles, the seat doesn't quite hold you, the wind comes in through gaps that shouldn't exist, and somewhere in the middle of all that the car just sits in its own rhythm and you're not driving it anymore, you're along for the ride. That's where you meet it.

Came back to the shop. Front end is still in pieces. Headlights are next, I've got an approach I'm pretty happy with, will share when there's real metal to show. Tail lights are on my mind too, threw a couple of photoshop sketches at the end of the gallery for anyone curious. Open to thoughts.

This is meant to be a fun project alongside the more serious builds, so it stays rough on purpose. Rattle-can grill paint hides the small sins. Matte black covers a lot of ground. All shot on a DJI Pocket 3. Nothing fancy.