How a rusted '60s Beetle is restored and customized

A transcript of the video can be found here.

This car was built for the charity beetle promotion and it is a 1960 Euro beetle. One of the worst cars we've tried to restore was this one. It's more of a resurrection than a restoration because we rarely put it back in stock.

The build took 1200 hours to complete. Over 105 days, that was accomplished.

The design phase is where I usually sit down and decide what I want the car to look like, what size engine is going in, and other things. I work with an artist to create a rendering that shows what the car will look like once it's done.

When we have a clear idea of what we're going to do with the car, we can get a good idea of how much metal work needs to be done.

A bare shell of a car is what we usually strip the car down to. A person comes in and the media makes a big deal of it. It's usually a walnut shell or plastic media that's used to remove the paint from the car and return it to bare metal. We put a seal on it to keep it from rusting.

When it comes back from blast, we make a full list of the amount of metal work that needs to be done so any replacement panels that we need to purchase to go into metal work.

The old sheet metal is being cut out. We're welding in replacements or panels that you can't get here.

The goal is to make the curves as smooth as possible. The dura block is a brand that we use and it's perfectly flat, straight and that gives you all the nice curve lines.

Depending on the number of colors you have, the paint process can take a long time. According to what the manufacturer uses, we mix it. Normally, it's four parts paint to one part of a hardener, and then one part of a reducer to thin it out so you can spray it. It usually takes 15 to 30 minutes between coats. You apply your clear coat once you do that.

The color of the car's exterior is Volkswagen blue. It came in at 66-67. We put it on top of the base. Most people would recognize the color, but it looks darker than that.

We usually do all of our wiring after the painting is done. Everything else goes on after we put all of the lights in.

As I do it, the interior process is more of an evolving one. I have an idea of what I would like to achieve. Finding the correct materials is one of the things that is spent. Everything in our builds is made to order. Everything will be patented and constructed from scratch. There are no two cars that are the same.

The door panels are very easy to use. They don't involve a lot of sewing, it's just cutting a panel to fit the door and then covering it. I had never done a pocket design on them before, but they had a cool one on them. There was a process to figure out how to make that happen.

It was a half rep steering wheel and it was basic. We can wrap the front in leather. We wanted to engrave the center of the steering wheel. The man in Washington state engraved all of the details for us.

I think it's my least favorite part, but when I'm actually doing it, it's enjoyable.

It was done at the tannery. It seemed like it would be a good idea to get the engraving done in the same style of pattern as the leather. There is a design on the side of the car that is similar to a vinyl wrap. It goes from the exterior to the interior and then into the engine bay.

A lot of that is brought into the design work of the cars that we build. Most people think that the amount of attention to detail that we put into them is the most important thing about what we do.

With the charity builds, all of the money that we raise helps to keep kids in school, we have an orphanage in Indonesia, we sent 182 kids to school this year, and all of the funds that we raise from our charity builds goes to that education fund.

The man in North Georgia received it. He drove it, took it to its first show, and it won three different awards, so he is pretty excited about it.

I like to drive when it's done. That's the best thing for me. We don't do it for the money, but I like taking things that someone would have thrown away. Everybody can enjoy it and appreciate it when it's back on the road.

The cars that appeal to me are kind. They appeal to me because of their gentleness. They don't pretend to be anything else than they are. There are so many different ways that you can build a Volkswagen. They still have the same energy at the end of the day. The energy of those cars is appealing to me.