1974 Beetle restoration

Hi everyone, Im a proud new 1974 super beetle owner and new to this forum, I purchased a 74 super beetle($1800 can $) it has a rebuilt engine, the interior looks like new, it has very little visable exterior rust, needs new bumpers(surface rust) and running boards(rust) looking underneath the floor boards have no holes but the frame head looks pretty rusted especially where it extends to the sides of the car,how hard is it to replace the lower frame head, can i do this properly without taking the body off, also and help with links to good sites, books, places to buy quality parts would be greatlly appreciated, im looking forward to working on this project and hope this forum will be of help with any problems or questions along the way

There are many sources of parts availabel online, just do a Google search on "VW Beetle Body Parts". Rocky Mountain Motorwerks, Mofoco, Bugs For You..... One company called Tabco is a god source for decent quality sheet metal parts.

Pick up a copy of "Dune Buggies and Hot VW's" magazine, you can get any part you need from most of their advertisers, but avoid Mofoco and GEX

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=76076

Rocky Mountain Motorworks was bought out by "Real Source", and now called MA Motorworks.

They have an incredible assortment of parts for old Bugs, but they are also very overpriced.

I only use them as a last resort for parts that I can't find elsewhere.

Since I don't see as many older VW's as I used to I've come to rely on my local air-cooled parts supplier & machinist. Usually you can find a local air-cooled VW specialist who keeps up to date on all the latest changes in the air-cooled world. Go to some shows & meet people to find out where they get their stuff locally. I've found that my local air-cooled machine shop can get me parts just as cheap as if I had to have them shipped to me directly from the suppliers, plus I get the benefit of his years fo knowledge & experience to weed out the junk.

I had the same problem with my beetle - i hit the frame head with a hammer to loosen some "surface" rust - and whamo - sand poured out of this 6 inch round hole in the frame head. upon further inspection i realized the whole thing was pooched. You can replace the frame head - from what i have seen when i was looking at that as an option - there are 2 options - the whole frame head(top and bottom) or just a plate that i imagine welds on over top ot the existing one. If you are going to cut out the old frame head, be very careful - it has to be tacked in perfectly or you may run into problems further down the line.

As for my soloution - i found a new frame complete with new floor pans, backing plates and frame head for about $500 CAN from Brads Bug Barn in Toronto Canada. - It was even sealed and painted black.

You just need to decide if you want to patch it up, or fix it once and hopefully for all. It's a tough decision.

check out www.cip1.com

The have one for $269.00 US

Good luck