Steve’s write up on the 56 Oval Ragtop: Words & Pics By Steve Chambers

Alright, so I bought the 56 Oval Ragtop in June of 06 from Norwalk California after selling my two tone yellow/black 65 Vert. Once I got it home I immediately started tearing into the car. Luckily it was a resto that was started so there was some nice work done to it already. The pan looked like it had some panel work done then it was sand blasted and powder coated black. It was already a rolling chassis with a stock beam with adjusters and a fully built Rancho transmission. It also was already sitting on the chrome 5 spokes with new 135’s in the front and 165’s in the back which I will eventually change out but I figured I would use them since they were new.

The first modification was to pull the front beam and narrow it 4 inches which was done by myself. Once I had the beam back in and rolling the body came off to have bodywork and paint. I decided to go with a BMW/Mini Cooper color which is called Laser Blue. It was sent to a buddy of mine by the name of Justin Maurice. He does paint for a living but not cars. He works for YESCO in the paint department where he paints big signs for the whole city. I had seen a few cars that he had painted so I said I wanted him to paint my car for me. So he tackled the body work which was not too extensive and painted it. Once I got the car back I along with another one of the club members, Gunnar Osen, color sanded and final buffed the paint. I was very happy with the outcome.

So obviously you know what came next! Putting the body back on the pan and reassembling. Keep in mind I bought the car in June and was to have it ready for the LV Bug-in which was in October. I worked night and day and spent a lot of money to get this thing going. My wife was very supportive. A lot of non stock parts I bought to make my 56 unique includes a set of swan neck mirrors, a set of custom VW horn grills which came from Brazil, a VDO RPM gauge which is located in the speaker grill, a KM clear needle speedo, a Flat 4 banjo steering wheel etc....

The car did come with some new parts but for the most part I had to purchase a lot of items. I did receive a loner motor from Noah Caccam which was a 1600 SP to get me to the show which after all was said and done he ended up giving it to me. What a guy!

So I kept trucking a long with the assembly and then it came time for interior. Once I had picked the paint I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the interior. I thought a two tone leather/suede grey would go awesome with the blue. I opted for Vinyl for durability and Vegas tends to get a little hot with leather. But I did go with suede in the middle. Classic V-dubs of Las Vegas tackled the interior. I had the seats, panels, headliner carpet and ragtop done by them. They also installed my front and rear glass along with installing the pop-out windows. They did an outstanding job and I was very pleased. So as far as time goes I was down to the nitty gritty. I actually did not get the car back from them until that Friday night before the show. I was working all Friday night, all Saturday and almost made it to the show but I just had two many small problems to get it to the show. I could have towed it there but it was just too much of a hassle. So let’s count it, June to July, July to August, August to September and September to October. 4 months to build a full restoration. I thought it was pretty amazing. I ended up getting here fully up and running the following week and debuted her at First Friday at Findly Volkswagon where she was definitely a hit. The only things I have added since that time was a stereo system and a built 2020 cc motor with 48 IDA’s. I still want to do some custom work under the front hood area but for now she is a awesome roller potential show car. I am humble so I won’t call her a show car. Thanks for your time. Steve Chambers