Old Volks Beetle restorer

[LannaGuy]

I had 'heard' there were a couple of old Beetle restorers in Chiang Mai but I can't locate them any assistance would be much appreciated (with location preferably)  cheers

 

 

[Mahseer]

Check this place as have several VW there:

 

City side of Rama 9 bridge - 2 upstream from Nawarat - immediately as you cross the bridge heading in to town left side just pass the first left which is the road to Muang Mai market there is a lock up there with VW visible. Can't say if they are restorers but worth checking.

[LannaGuy]

6 minutes ago, Mahseer said:

Check this place as have several VW there:

 

City side of Rama 9 bridge - 2 upstream from Nawarat - immediately as you cross the bridge heading in to town left side just pass the first left which is the road to Muang Mai market there is a lock up there with VW visible. Can't say if they are restorers but worth checking.

 

you mean across Rama 9 Bridge and first soi on left?  thanks I'll try find it 

[MrBrad]

There's a shop south of the Arcade bus station that appears to do VW work.  Click the link for the location: https://goo.gl/maps/YutUZ4JKbW22

[Mahseer]

20 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

 

you mean across Rama 9 Bridge and first soi on left?  thanks I'll try find it 

No first left goes to the market 20mts past the turn you'll see the VW sitting back from the road.

[Mousehound]

I regularly see two or three old ones parked together around Moon Muang and between soi 6 or7.  I think they are locally owned as I see them often.  Could be worth asking who works on them from the owners.  They are well restored.

[LannaGuy]

6 hours ago, Mousehound said:

I regularly see two or three old ones parked together around Moon Muang and between soi 6 or7.  I think they are locally owned as I see them often.  Could be worth asking who works on them from the owners.  They are well restored.

 

thanks I'm looking for one and i assumed a restorer might know where I can get a good example that's been restored

[flare]

There's one in Mae Hia not too far from Big C- it's off the Middle Ring Road- from town, turn left off HD Road at Big C, take the first U-turn, and it will be a left turn where you see the 'Good Vibes' coffee shop sign- after that, instead of taking the next left turn toward Good Vibes, continue straight until the road ends and you have to turn left (only 150m or so) and you'll see it on your left- hand-side after 50m- they've always got really nice-looking Beetles and Microbuses at their place.

[canthai55]

Had a buddy in Victoria BC who put a Porsche in his Super Beetle. Surprised lots of musclecars.

[LannaGuy]

13 hours ago, flare said:

There's one in Mae Hia not too far from Big C- it's off the Middle Ring Road- from town, turn left off HD Road at Big C, take the first U-turn, and it will be a left turn where you see the 'Good Vibes' coffee shop sign- after that, instead of taking the next left turn toward Good Vibes, continue straight until the road ends and you have to turn left (only 150m or so) and you'll see it on your left- hand-side after 50m- they've always got really nice-looking Beetles and Microbuses at their place.

 

13 hours ago, flare said:

There's one in Mae Hia not too far from Big C- it's off the Middle Ring Road- from town, turn left off HD Road at Big C, take the first U-turn, and it will be a left turn where you see the 'Good Vibes' coffee shop sign- after that, instead of taking the next left turn toward Good Vibes, continue straight until the road ends and you have to turn left (only 150m or so) and you'll see it on your left- hand-side after 50m- they've always got really nice-looking Beetles and Microbuses at their place.

 

not sure where this is  lol   but thanks and I'll try to find it - which Big C is it?  Big C Extra?  Big C Hang Dong?

 

Ps Ah  i think I found it on Goggle  (Googling 'goodvibes')  it's Big C Hang Dong - many thanks again I'll go this week and report back

Edited January 23, 2017 by LannaGuy

[flare]

Yeah, Big C HD- the only possible issue is spotting the turn off the Middle Ring Road as the Good Vibes sign is a bit small- it's the turn where the curb is painted red/white.  Honestly I have no personal knowledge of the shop, but I pass by it often- I've seen some quite nice Beetles there, mostly stock-looking but the occasional custom model as well- it should be worth a look if nothing else.;)

 

Heres their FB page with a map (which I should have included before- duh):

 

Nui VW FB

 

 

[tigerbeer]

There is a huge VW and AUDI specialist behind Inter Mini Golf on the new Sankampheng road 1317. Not sure if he would do Beetles or not but worth checking out. Another one thats already been mentioned is just behind 7 Days hotel on Superhighway just before Arcade and Star Avenue. They are normally very busy though.. I have experience restoring old cars and its really difficult to do as parts go missing sometimes, substandard parts are put in for full price. All kinds of scams. I am not sure how worth the hassle is but you need to be very involved during the process. I would recommend looking up kaidee or somewhere else and buy a restored car from an individual who obviously loves cars but willing to sell for certain circumstances. (might not be applicable to the OP, but wanted to mention it). Am sure a good price can always be negotiated especially a lot of Beetles around that have been restored. 

[LannaGuy]

2 hours ago, flare said:

Yeah, Big C HD- the only possible issue is spotting the turn off the Middle Ring Road as the Good Vibes sign is a bit small- it's the turn where the curb is painted red/white.  Honestly I have no personal knowledge of the shop, but I pass by it often- I've seen some quite nice Beetles there, mostly stock-looking but the occasional custom model as well- it should be worth a look if nothing else.;)

 

Heres their FB page with a map (which I should have included before- duh):

 

Nui VW FB

 

 

 

perfect many thanks I'll go this week

[LannaGuy]

1 hour ago, tigerbeer said:

There is a huge VW and AUDI specialist behind Inter Mini Golf on the new Sankampheng road 1317. Not sure if he would do Beetles or not but worth checking out. Another one thats already been mentioned is just behind 7 Days hotel on Superhighway just before Arcade and Star Avenue. They are normally very busy though.. I have experience restoring old cars and its really difficult to do as parts go missing sometimes, substandard parts are put in for full price. All kinds of scams. I am not sure how worth the hassle is but you need to be very involved during the process. I would recommend looking up kaidee or somewhere else and buy a restored car from an individual who obviously loves cars but willing to sell for certain circumstances. (might not be applicable to the OP, but wanted to mention it). Am sure a good price can always be negotiated especially a lot of Beetles around that have been restored. 

 

Yes when I owned a new beetle i went there for maintenance BUT they do not do classic Beetles but thank for suggestion  

[gobs]

Mmmmmh… Don’t know if I can strictly speaking “recommend” this shop, but you may give it a thought…

 

KB Beetle – 20/3 Moo 7 – Tonpao – Sankamphaeng – 0810321280 (Line connection as well)

 

Settled near Bosang intersection. Thai speaking: a bunch of english words only…

 

Two months ago, I just picked my ’67 Beetle up from this shop, after 2 years and a half of “patience and pain”. My Beetle has been stripped down to scratch to be fully restored from A to Z, apart the engine-gear-clutch set fully rebuilt about 5 years ago. From my experience, be prepared, it’s the same as building a house in Thailand: stay vigilant and ready to intervene in due time but in a cool way (if you can).

 

My review:

- Body and platform (some big work with cuts and weldings): good work, in depth and neat;

- Electric harness (from scratch): great work, very neat, clear and safe;

- Mechanics (refresments and adjustments): good work, but not perfectly clean and detailed, with some finish shortcuts;

- Interior (all: floor, sides, seats and ceiling): amazing work, even a bit too much to my taste, kind of a saloon car now  ;

- Chromium plating: average work, very slim platings and I suspect poor preps;

- Spray paint (in and out): low quality and desappointing rough and speedy work, though it’s the most obvious final touch that makes a car great. I won’t go into details here (too many), but I was so fed up after multiple back and forth to the paint workshop and its long delays, that I took it as it is. Now I’m considering what to do next to make this paint nice and neat…

 

In bief, that’s why I wouldn’t say I highly recommend this shop. It may or may not be up to your taste or expectations. Though I guess in any similar workshop in Chiang Mai you’ll get the same "so-so" finish quality (again as building a house here). Still, all in all, I’m rather satisfied knowing I’ll fix by myself some floppy (and not so important) details: my Beetle is now really nice, in great shape and reliable at use for a long time to come. Just this uggly paint finish, I reckon, but…

 

One point to know:

At first KB Beetle shop is all about (and only) Beetle mechanics, but they offer the full (or partial) service if asked for. This means, apart their own mechanics work, they rally on external workshops which may or may not be at ease or at the level with the overall final quality expectations…

However at time of my Beetle delivery, Khun Neng, the owner, said to me he’ll not offer the full service anymore: too many problems arrose while doing mine (and maybe some of others, who knows?) and he admitted a kind of loss of control over the overall work quality. Instead he’ll concentrate on his proper mechanic work and give some workshops insights/addresses to customers, up to them to connect, to plan and to run the overall workflow.

But as you know, things change quick in Thailand  …

 

I know others’experience may differ, but as a note:

I’m far from an expert, but at least  it’s not the first time I had cars or motorcycles big works done in CNX through different workshops. And I do know now by experience you have to be utterly careful and vigilant if you want a good finished work…

 

Now to relax and tempt you a bit more (if needed), and also for the pleasure of the eyes (maybe), two detailed pics of my restored ’67 Beetle:

 

 

 

Hope this helps you a bit, and good luck in your search.

Ray

[oldcarguy]

nice looking bug ,

 

if those are new Brazilian bumpers they are "light" chrome out of the package ,

 

they will rust quickly so put some wax or sealer on them ,

 

one of the problems is that new restoration parts you buy are often poor quality ,  and need a lot of work to fit properly

[LannaGuy]

8 hours ago, gobs said:

Mmmmmh… Don’t know if I can strictly speaking “recommend” this shop, but you may give it a thought…

 

KB Beetle – 20/3 Moo 7 – Tonpao – Sankamphaeng – 0810321280 (Line connection as well)

 

Settled near Bosang intersection. Thai speaking: a bunch of english words only…

 

Two months ago, I just picked my ’67 Beetle up from this shop, after 2 years and a half of “patience and pain”. My Beetle has been stripped down to scratch to be fully restored from A to Z, apart the engine-gear-clutch set fully rebuilt about 5 years ago. From my experience, be prepared, it’s the same as building a house in Thailand: stay vigilant and ready to intervene in due time but in a cool way (if you can).

 

My review:

- Body and platform (some big work with cuts and weldings): good work, in depth and neat;

- Electric harness (from scratch): great work, very neat, clear and safe;

- Mechanics (refresments and adjustments): good work, but not perfectly clean and detailed, with some finish shortcuts;

- Interior (all: floor, sides, seats and ceiling): amazing work, even a bit too much to my taste, kind of a saloon car now  ;

- Chromium plating: average work, very slim platings and I suspect poor preps;

- Spray paint (in and out): low quality and desappointing rough and speedy work, though it’s the most obvious final touch that makes a car great. I won’t go into details here (too many), but I was so fed up after multiple back and forth to the paint workshop and its long delays, that I took it as it is. Now I’m considering what to do next to make this paint nice and neat…

 

In bief, that’s why I wouldn’t say I highly recommend this shop. It may or may not be up to your taste or expectations. Though I guess in any similar workshop in Chiang Mai you’ll get the same "so-so" finish quality (again as building a house here). Still, all in all, I’m rather satisfied knowing I’ll fix by myself some floppy (and not so important) details: my Beetle is now really nice, in great shape and reliable at use for a long time to come. Just this uggly paint finish, I reckon, but…

 

One point to know:

At first KB Beetle shop is all about (and only) Beetle mechanics, but they offer the full (or partial) service if asked for. This means, apart their own mechanics work, they rally on external workshops which may or may not be at ease or at the level with the overall final quality expectations…

However at time of my Beetle delivery, Khun Neng, the owner, said to me he’ll not offer the full service anymore: too many problems arrose while doing mine (and maybe some of others, who knows?) and he admitted a kind of loss of control over the overall work quality. Instead he’ll concentrate on his proper mechanic work and give some workshops insights/addresses to customers, up to them to connect, to plan and to run the overall workflow.

But as you know, things change quick in Thailand  …

 

I know others’experience may differ, but as a note:

I’m far from an expert, but at least  it’s not the first time I had cars or motorcycles big works done in CNX through different workshops. And I do know now by experience you have to be utterly careful and vigilant if you want a good finished work…

 

Now to relax and tempt you a bit more (if needed), and also for the pleasure of the eyes (maybe), two detailed pics of my restored ’67 Beetle:

 

 

 

Hope this helps you a bit, and good luck in your search.

Ray

Good morning, she looks gorgeous to me...  can you give us some pricings?  how much did she cost you unrestored?  how much the restoration?  bodywork?  respray?  mechanics?  lovely colour too - congrats!  did you restore original air con or rip out and put in a modern system?  anyway I'm jealous  :)

 

PS I'm looking to actually find one restored to buy... I guess from your great post that he doesn't do up Beetles to sell. I'm going to check out the place in hang Dong soon and will report back. Thanks for your info

Edited January 24, 2017 by LannaGuy

[Bill97]

Original air con in a Bug?

[oldcarguy]

We had original Air Co in the USA ,

 

it used the old piston pump and ate up too much HP ,  better to use modern Japanese Rotary pump

 

but it had a formed plastic piece under the dash that had the fans in it ,

 

the1967 and earlier ones cold be used LHD and RHD , the 1968 and newer models had padded dashboards and the AC unit would only fit a LHD bug

 

I think I have an early one out in the shed !

[canthai55]

Mine had a hose you connected to the valve on the spare tire to operate the windshield washers !

[LannaGuy]

well i went and found my love... and bought a nice 1972 example

[flare]

From the shop in HD?  I've always wondered if their cars were for sale- they always seem to have quite a few of them in the garage, but I wasn't sure if they belonged  to customers.

 

Good luck with it.

Edited January 24, 2017 by flare

[LannaGuy]

2 minutes ago, flare said:

From the shop in HD?  I've always wondered if their cars were for sale- they always seem to have quite a few of them in the garage, but I wasn't sure if they belonged  to customers.

 

Good luck with it.

 

Hi yes they had 2 for sale today one was a souped up thing with new engine and the other an all original with original engine and I chose the latter

[gobs]

5 hours ago, LannaGuy said:

well i went and found my love... and bought a nice 1972 example

Well done, Sir... And very fast, congrats!

Now we are waiting for some pics of the beauty...

[gobs]

14 hours ago, LannaGuy said:

Good morning, she looks gorgeous to me...  

Thanks.

 

can you give us some pricings?  how much did she cost you unrestored?  

150000 Bahts

 

how much the restoration?  bodywork?  respray?  mechanics?  

Without going into details, here are some rough ideas:

Full body work + platform (chassis) work + paint: 65000 Bahts;

Engine full rebuilt: 45000 Bahts (usually in this case you get a 1600cc set-up instead of the original 1300cc: substantially more torque);

Full interior (upholstery and mats): 25000 Bahts;

Then if needed you have to think about rubber seals and trims (many, many on a Beetle!), brakes, clutch, bearings, tires… As it comes it’s near a no-ending list as there are so many details on a vintage car to think about: windows, levers, commands, pedals, chrome plating, and so on…

As you did today, the purchase of a “good original running base” is the best bet to get a refined restored Beetle.

 

lovely colour too - congrats!  

Thanks. Copy of the original '67 VW Ruby Red

 

did you restore original air con or rip out and put in a modern system?  

I discarded the japanese aircon. No aircon for me: I like better driving windows wide opened even in the city traffic (motorcycle rider here )...

 

And enjoy your new toy!

 

[LannaGuy]

9 hours ago, gobs said:

Well done, Sir... And very fast, congrats!

Now we are waiting for some pics of the beauty...

 

[LannaGuy]

9 hours ago, gobs said:

 

 

thanks - the 1972 has always been a 1.6L engine although called 1300:

 

Engine Type : O4 1585 cc | 96.7 cu in. | 1.6 L.

[Sparkles]

On ‎1‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 6:40 PM, flare said:

There's one in Mae Hia not too far from Big C- it's off the Middle Ring Road- from town, turn left off HD Road at Big C, take the first U-turn, and it will be a left turn where you see the 'Good Vibes' coffee shop sign- after that, instead of taking the next left turn toward Good Vibes, continue straight until the road ends and you have to turn left (only 150m or so) and you'll see it on your left- hand-side after 50m- they've always got really nice-looking Beetles and Microbuses at their place.

Found by accident myself.I love Beetles had about 4 of them plus a Karmann Ghia (poor mans Porsche)and a 1500 Wagon in a past life.

The people there are very friendly.Good place to start maybe. That Good Vibes sign is easy to miss, slow right down

 

[LannaGuy]

Just now, Sparkles said:

Found by accident myself.I love Beetles had about 4 of them plus a Karmann Ghia (poor mans Porsche)and a 1500 Wagon in a past life.

The people there are very friendly.Good place to start maybe. That Good Vibes sign is easy to miss, slow right down

 

yes as you can see I went there yesterday and bought this nice example (photo's above)

[flare]

I drove by the shop today (I live near there) and saw your car (unless they have a second one in the same color) from the road (just the back end- it's in their garage, not on the street)- looked pretty nice - even better than the pics..;)