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My VW
I possess this Jeans beetle since january 2004. It is my third VW and second... Jeans beetle ! I transformed my first Jeans in Cal look (sorry, I would not restart anymore... promised! ) and I participated in many VW meetings in the first half of the 90's with this car. Between the two beetles, a 67's Type 2 Split accompanied me from 1996 to 2001. In 2007, a Westfalia Bay Window came to join, after a long restoration, the Jeans beetle in the garage.
My Jeans beetle
this is a S761 Jeans beetle constructed October 23, 1973. She left the factory October 25 for France. She has probably been stocked a long time because she has been sold new (12.270 Francs !) in the month of April 1974 by the VW dealer Leroux in Aubervilliers near Paris. her first owner, a woman who lived in Noisy Le Grand, kept it during nearly 30 years. Then, She passed at the NewTeam garage (77) where the bodywork has been restored for the account of the second owner that only used it some months. I bought this Jeans in January 2004 near Orleans. Some Jeans parts were missing, as the headlights trims, door handles and handle for bonnet and replaced by chrome elements. The rear lights are smoked "German Look" model. Various other pieces have been given me with the car.
I have all documents of the car since its purchase in 1974. Among these documents, there are the invoice of purchase, the invoice of the 10000 kilometers checkup and the maintenance notebook with all tampons of the agents that worked on the beetle.
Return to
the Jeans beetle standard
The engine have only 40000 km, I didn't have too much work. A good cleaning of the motor with change of some gaskets and painting of the equipment for a nice visual aspect. A small mechanical revision followed, with a complete repairing of the ignition (with an original distributor). The carburetor has been disassembled and all gaskets has been changed.
Bodywork:
In 2004, I searched for, on the web or among VW specialists, the reproductions of Jeans's stickers , but without success. While searching for in my archives, I recovered a tracing and all measurements necessary to the reproduction of these stickers. One of my friends, Jeannot, had restored one Jeans beetle in the beginning of the 90's, and had asked me to redo him of the strips in black adhesive.
It is after I found a shop that produced reproduction of stickers. I even found some in N.O.S (New Old Stock), but I don't know if it is possible to use them on a car, they have 40 years old...
Pursuing my quest of original parts, I find the front black blinkers and the door handles at the "Super VW National", french national meeting, in 2004 (first meeting with the Jeans!). At the meeting of the Cap d'Agde in south of France, I find a N.O.S headlight trim , with its V.A.G reference always in place ! I would recover in my old parts stocked in bulk, another headlight trim belonging to my first Jeans beetle.
I had bought new rear light to replace the "German look" models that were in place at the purchase of the car. Unfortunately, after 2 or 3 months, they filled themselves of water to the least rain (and I live in Normandy...) and lost their colors quickly. Fortunately for me, at the VW meeting of Trun, in Normandy, a participant proposes me N.O.S rear lights, for 35 euros the pair. An very good opportunity ! While replacing my rear light some days later, I saw the difference of quality well between the Brazilian parts and original VW parts ! the calculation is quick: 50 euros for "made in Brasil" parts of very mediocre quality and 35 euros for original parts... I can only counsel you to make Swap-meets to find original parts. Our Jeans are "recent" beetles and parts for 70's beetles are not again too difficult to find .
Finally, and to finish some with the outside parts, I bought at the VW Nat 2005, a pair of new black door handles from Mexico. Additionnal headlight Bosch and mudflaps come to complete the voiture.
Inside:
Door
panels are pierced to receive some loudspeakers, the headliner is loosened.
The sunvisors are used. To finish, the carpet, in good condition, doesn't
correspond to the original look.... brief ... lot of work in perspective.
I
go to Paris, to the market St. Pierre situated near Montmartre, with a
piece of the original cloth to find jeans cloth. There is a lot of
choice: black jeans, jeans with flower, faded.... but simple
cloth jeans... difficult to find it ! finally, in a little boutique, a
roller waited for me, very hidden under a heap of coupons . It is a
darker than the original cloths, but the difference is minimal. for
info, I bought 10 meters of cloths (on 1,50 m width).
It's Nathalie, a seamstress, who will redo the seats while using the old seats for model.
The seats disassembled, I benefit from this for to scrape the floor and to redo a little paintwork. Door panels, found to the Trilbardou meeting, to undergo a cleaning. To note that the rear panels come from my first Jeans and have again the colors of the first version of my first Cal Look beetle ! It was in 1990 !
Then, the new headliner takes place. It is a short model that come from Auto-Passion. The sun visors are replaced by new from TMI
To finish, I install a car radio Blaupunkt "Wolfsburg" found on Ebay. The original had been replaced by a more recent model.
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