TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1971 Kansas Beige Build Thread + Questions

Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:37 pm

Hey all,

I recently bought a 1971 Beetle with a rebuilt Dual-port 1600 engine. My first air-cooled. It runs great, but its definitely going to be a (fun) project. Especially the interior.

Here are some quick shots:

Before I redo the upholstery and carpet I would like to know what should be done with areas of heavy oxidation I overlooked when I bought the car. There's rust with holes around the battery pan, which I understand is somewhat expected from lengthy exposure to battery acid, and it continues down the floor pan to behind the passenger front seat.
Also, there's a pretty bad ring of rust with holes behind the rear fold-down seat near the c-pillar.

Here's one of the area behind the pass. rear seat:

You can't really see the holes around this area, as they are tiny, but as is obvious there's a lot of surface rust.

And here is the rear area under the window (I don't know the name of this area):

My question is what should I do about these areas? I have inspected the driver side floor pans which aren't rusty at all. This is only a "weekend
project car" anyway, so I'm by no means trying to do a full restoration but I would like to be able to get rid of these holes. Its sort of unsettling to look down at the asphalt underneath :?

Also, where can I buy POR-15 in stores?

Thanks guys!

Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:04 pm

Ya I have news for you my friend. That IS a Super Beetle. 71's and 72's had a flat windshield. The wide hood is a giveaway.

So - welcome to the 1971 Super Beetle world! They are great cars. Congrats on yours - it looks good, and I'm sure the folks here will give you good advice on the rust issues you talk about!

Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:17 pm

Well really it depends on how much money you want to spend, and how restored you want to make it.

I personally replaced both floor pans in my car with some thick pans from http://www.wolfsburgwest.com

These are thicker than most replacement pans you find, and were a perfect fit when I installed them. After I installed them I coated both the underside and top side to help prevent rust from forming. This is the more expensive route, but you can buy cheaper pans or patch panels for the floors as well.

If you are looking to go the super cheap route you could always fiberglass the floors and paint it. This would be my last choice, however it will work.

If you go the patch route or use fiberglass, I would hit all that area with a wire brush and clean it up as best as I could. Then use a product that you can spray on and will turn any rust into a black primer (I don’t have the name of it right now because I am at work, but I will post the name when I get home. You can get it at your local Auto parts store). After doing this you could coat with your POR-15, or paint it.

And for the underside, I am not sure what shape it is in but I would try to clean it up and coat it with a rubberized undercoat to help prevent rust as well. Just some food for thought.

Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:21 pm

ERIC WC wrote: Ya I have news for you my friend. That IS a Super Beetle. 71's and 72's had a flat windshield. The wide hood is a giveaway.

They had 71 and 72 Standard Beetles. The super beetle uses a front strut style shock where as the standards still used a front beam. Amongst other small differences

I currently have a 71 standard pan that I am using for my project and uses the front beam.

But yes that hood does look like a super

Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:24 pm

ERIC WC wrote: Ya I have news for you my friend. That IS a Super Beetle. 71's and 72's had a flat windshield. The wide hood is a giveaway.

So - welcome to the 1971 Super Beetle world! They are great cars. Congrats on yours - it looks good, and I'm sure the folks here will give you good advice on the rust issues you talk about!

Wow I had no idea haha. Thanks for that!

Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:29 pm

live4power wrote: Well really it depends on how much money you want to spend, and how restored you want to make it.

I personally replaced both floor pans in my car with some thick pans from http://www.wolfsburgwest.com

These are thicker than most replacement pans you find, and were a perfect fit when I installed them. After I installed them I coated both the underside and top side to help prevent rust from forming. This is the more expensive route, but you can buy cheaper pans or patch panels for the floors as well.

If you are looking to go the super cheap route you could always fiberglass the floors and paint it. This would be my last choice, however it will work.

If you go the patch route or use fiberglass, I would hit all that area with a wire brush and clean it up as best as I could. Then use a product that you can spray on and will turn any rust into a black primer (I don’t have the name of it right now because I am at work, but I will post the name when I get home. You can get it at your local Auto parts store). After doing this you could coat with your POR-15, or paint it.

And for the underside, I am not sure what shape it is in but I would try to clean it up and coat it with a rubberized undercoat to help prevent rust as well. Just some food for thought.

Thanks for all the good advice!

If I were to go the Wolfsburg west route, what is the best way to install? Welding? I think I saw somewhere that there are other ways to install.

Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:31 pm

I welded mine in, not sure about what other ways there is???

Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:29 pm

The first thing I would do is figure out where the water is getting in and fix that. I suspect a leaking window seal.

Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:46 pm

Ok, so I am at home now and I snapped a quick shot of that "Rust to Primer" spray. This stuff goes on clear and after a few hours any rust will be turned into black primer. It worked well for me when I was prepping my pan. I got it at discount auto, or Autozone. I can't remember which it was, sorry. But definitely wire brush the areas and knock off as much lose material as you can first.

Also, like Q-Dog said, make sure you fix all leaks before you do any rust repair, because if you don't it will be counter productive.

Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:57 pm

Q-Dog wrote: The first thing I would do is figure out where the water is getting in and fix that. I suspect a leaking window seal.

x2 If you want a solid safe car to drive replace the rotted metal, if you can't weld find a welder that can do it for you. The place behind the rear seat is the luggage tray. They sale full replacement pieces for that. I would put money on the rear window seal leaking. If you don't fix the leak first the problems will only continue to get worse.

Sat Sep 22, 2012 12:26 am

live4power wrote: Ok, so I am at home now and I snapped a quick shot of that "Rust to Primer" spray. This stuff goes on clear and after a few hours any rust will be turned into black primer. It worked well for me when I was prepping my pan. I got it at discount auto, or Autozone. I can't remember which it was, sorry. But definitely wire brush the areas and knock off as much lose material as you can first.

Also, like Q-Dog said, make sure you fix all leaks before you do any rust repair, because if you don't it will be counter productive.

Hey thanks! I'm going to look into this as well as welding in the quarter pan.

Sat Sep 22, 2012 3:29 pm

I took another look today, and the rust seems to continue on the passenger side through most of the pan until the bottom of the passenger seat.

I have a few questions before going about a solution to this:
Can new pans be welded without taking the whole body off?
Is there a place that can weld the pans on for me? I live in an apartment complex and without the proper tools so ideally I would like to take it somewhere that can do this.
What seals should I check to prevent further rust?

Thanks for the advice!

On the bright side, I had a successful hunt at my local pick your part. New rear seat bench (to replace the pads and upholstery for later on).

Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:31 pm

Hey all!

I was wondering if anyone can give some advice now on the floor pans. I have pulled up the carpet on the passenger side, and the worst of the rust is from below the front passenger seat to the battery pan. From the bottom of the passenger seat upward to the footwell is just surface rust.
What I'm wondering is- If I got just the quarter pan (section from battery tray to behind passenger seat), could it be welded to the areas with surface rust once that area has been scraped and primed, etc? I hope that the images I have already posted will be enough for anyone to shed some light :)

Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:27 pm

I recently de-rusted my 73 super. The same as you, my battery area and under the seat was rusted with small perforation throughout. It was thinnest under the battery.

Instead of doing a full or quarter pan replacement, I welded in a strap (2" wide) across the pan to anchor on the good metal in the pan sides. This went right under the battery with rust prevention pushed in underneath.

The rest of the area got good solid rust removal and KBS sealer. Then I went back with some normal household paintable caulk to fill all the little holes. I stood in it and bounced to check for strength. It is fine and I was done in an afternoon.

Clearly I am not doing a full resto, but wanted to keep the elements out and prevent further break down.

Ed

Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:01 pm

Enoklite wrote: Hey all!

I was wondering if anyone can give some advice now on the floor pans. I have pulled up the carpet on the passenger side, and the worst of the rust is from below the front passenger seat to the battery pan. From the bottom of the passenger seat upward to the footwell is just surface rust.
What I'm wondering is- If I got just the quarter pan (section from battery tray to behind passenger seat), could it be welded to the areas with surface rust once that area has been scraped and primed, etc? I hope that the images I have already posted will be enough for anyone to shed some light :)
If the existing metal in the front half is just surface rust you can clean it with a wire wheel to good clean metal and weld the replacement panel to it okay. You will want to seam seal everything after welding also. You can buy the rear package tray sheet metal replacement panel to replace under the rear window also.
As for the POR15, I'd look on their website and see if there are any dealers close to you.
Good luck
Mike

Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:25 pm

whats up ryan hows the bug coming along?
im suprised i didnt notice that rust on the car :shock: