[windfish]

Washed it, then three applications of Meguiars cleaning wax and a microfiber cloth. It was nearly dark as I was taking off application two so three was the following day, mostly fixing what I missed on the second run.

Pain in the rear, getting that first coat off, but it sure improved it.
The paint surprised me, seems like most of the time paint likes to blister and peel if its been neglected. I've got a few tiny bubbles on the roof and quite a few paint chips, but the oxidized layer just rubbed right off.
Not the original VW paint, it was originally a green bug.

Picture of the bumper as well, before and after (bumper was done before the wash/wax).

[lowcrawler]

Wow -- good work spiffing it up. I've got a 1970VW plug bug as well.

If I were in that situation, I'd look at simply pulling everything out and re-designing something with whatever parts I could recycle. It's so jury-rigged as is that I wouldn't want to rely on anything installed as-is.

Though I don't actually think it's a huge mistake to go with lead on this particular setup... (low range requirements, low speeds okay, etc) I would still take a look at some of the smaller lithium pack options. A $4.5k headway pack (which provides higher C rates than the prismatics) would give you reasonable performance and reasonable range (potentially 30 miles on the freeway... much more at lower speeds).... slightly more money but in the end, it would vastly increase the utility of your car. Spending 5k on a car with minimal utility vs a 8k on a car with considerable utility is something you should think about. Not to mention the Lithium option will last longer.