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Thu Feb 27, 2003 5:31 pm

Have a beetle that I am doing a pan off resto on. I am interested in what I should do. My plan is to cut out the rust, then weld in new metal. Next on the agenda is stripping the rest of the pan and tunnel. After this I am planning on using some sort of metal prep (this is where I need help, I have heard of a POR-15 brand metaletch or something like that????)Then on top of that I plan to use POR-15. Where would you recomend I get these products or would you recomend differnt products? Did I miss any steps? I just want to do this right while I have the body off. Anything I should look out for? Thanks for your time.

Thu Feb 27, 2003 7:24 pm

If you go on the Wolfsburg West site and look up the last few issues of Wolfsburg Wired online magazine, you will see that they actually powdercoated their complete pan and tunnel. I wish I had the opportunity to do that! My pan has POR15, and I am happy with the results. There are plenty of Resto-Motive Labs suppliers, you can go on their website for local suppliers.

Mon Mar 03, 2003 9:14 pm

if you've got the body off, replace all the urethane bushings on the front and rear suspension, and replace anything else you notice that is worn - it will never be as accessible again....spend a lot of time checking everything

Tue Mar 04, 2003 10:34 am

Good point Corey. Except for the fact that ACVWs have rubber, not urethane bushings in the suspension.
Or that this thread is in the body and paint forum and the issue is paint coatings.

Tue Mar 04, 2003 12:55 pm

WEll, thanks Corey its the thought that counts right? Anyway it looks like i should weld in new metal where needed, then grind the whole pan down to bare metal. After this should I just prime, or use a metal ready type thing??? Then on top of this I would put down POR or something similar? Sorry to ask this again but i was never really answered. Thanks again for your time.

Tue Mar 04, 2003 2:49 pm

Sorry funkymeters. Is your rust in the pan, the body, or both? I used a wire brush to remove the loose flaking metal and debris, then applied two coats of Extend on it. Turns black and hard. Converts the rust. Then you can prime and paint over that.

If the rust has penetrated the metal or made it very thin, then use a disc, a nibbler or something to cleanly cut back to solid metal, grind the edges back to shiny steel, and patch the hole. The exact details of replacing the panels depends on the extent of the rust. For me it was easier to replace both pan halves entirely. But I had lots of rust elsewhere and I patched that differently.

I believe metal etch is only for use on clean, raw steel to prepare it for primer. If you have active rust, then I believe you must either neutralize/convert it with POR or Extend (there are other ways too--search the web) before you paint. If you don't, the rust will come back.

Does this help more?

Chris
JHC

Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:17 pm

Chris, what I have done is welded in the new metal on the pan where needed (I plan on doing the body next). Next I plan to wire brush the wholwe frame down to bare metal, use the POR-15 metal ready and then POR-15 on top of that. Does that sound about right? Again thanks everyone for their time and help, I love being able to come on these forums and learn something new everyday.

Fri Mar 07, 2003 10:11 am

Yes that should work just great.
Use a good dust mask. You don't want to breathe the crap that comes off the pan.

Good luck!

Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:28 pm

You're damn right on that one. This project is coming along great, started to clean off undercoating, waiting for my POR products in the mail. I'm actualy working on this in my auto shop class at school (read that as "free labor"). The funny thing is that the fresh air intake for the upper 2 floors of my school is in the auto shop. Maybe I should hand masks out to everyone who is on those floors when I am grinding/welding.

Fri Mar 07, 2003 2:15 pm

I was thinking more of the sludge with brake dust in it, and whatever was in that pan paint from back in the sixties.

Does your school district know about the air return for the metal shop feeding into the classrooms? That doesn't seem right, or healthy. I would not want my kid breathing that stuff all day.

Post some pictures when you are done, please.

Sun Mar 09, 2003 7:37 pm

Yea some of the areas on the pan had about 3/4 of an inch of dirt grease and lord knows what else on them. The school knows, they have taped trash bags over the intake but aparently its not helping. Funny thing is the school was built 2 years ago...... Thats just the half assed way things are done these days I guess. I'll keep you posted on my progress.