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Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:00 pm

My name is Matt and I recently started restoring a '73 Super Beetle convertible. I'm mechanically inclined, but a newbie to body work and a project of this size. I'm teaching myself to weld, paint, etc. I drove the car into my garage and my goal is to drive it out.

A little history on the car....it was originally Olympic Blue, but somewhere along the line repainted white. The paint job was horrible. It's always been an east coast car, so the bottom 6" all the way around is rotted out. I bought it last year and after a summer of driving here and there I realized it really needed work. I have to do heater channels, wheel wells, lower quarters, cross members, package tray, firewall and other sheet metal. I'll redo the entire pan / chassis too.

So far I've gutted the car, separated the body from the pan, and started the body work. I'm moving from the back to front. Just finished the passenger side rear wheel well, lower quarter and cross member.

I'm guessing there are others out there doing similar projects. Hopefully, we can help each other out. Updates to follow.

Tue Jun 09, 2015 3:38 pm

Hey Matt. Welcome. I have a 73 also, but a sedan. And from the east coast so I sympathize about rust. Looks like you are making progress. Don't let the rust win! There was an rusty east coast car support group thread a while back, you know, for times when you see photos of rust-free west coast cars in the classified list here. :shock:

Well, heading out to the garage to grind. Good luck!

Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:01 am

Thanks ToughBug! Good luck with your project. I'd love to see some pics if you have them posted here.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:50 am

Good luck. i just picked up a 1972 Super Beetle Convertible i believe from east coast and had carpet glued. Removed it and found a lot of rust and just beginning to think about dealing with it. Thanks for photos as they make me feel better. I hope to fix without removing body but who knows. Keep up the good work. :D

Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:56 am

That is a HUGE undertaking for anyone. Take your time and keep focused on the parts as you attack them. Sometimes when you look at it as a whole it can become overwhelming. Chip away at it and one day it will be done.

Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:11 am

You can cut out & replace partial pans/heater channels etc with the body still on the car. www.MasterSeriesCT.com silver & black brushed on the chassis & inner fenders after the repairs will stay looking good.

Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:53 am

Hey everybody, I lost my wife to a long battle with cancer on 7/1/2015 about a month after I posted this. I started the car for her, so it's taken me awhile to get up the nerve to continue on it. That happened this week. I'm back in the garage cutting and welding. More pics to follow when I have some progress to show. Still feeling my way through this massive project, but happy to be back on it.

Mon Dec 28, 2015 11:01 am

My condolences on the loss of your wife. I know that can knock the wind out of you. Working on my VW was good therapy when my wife passed, but w/o her, I lost all motivation and was just doing "busy-work"; not accomplishing much. It took a couple of years to build up the fervor again.

Welcome back, and good luck!

Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:46 pm

I've been making slow progress with work getting in the way of quality garage time. This might take me 5 yrs, but I'll get there. Making my way around the entire bottom side of the body. Typical northeast car with the bottom 4-6" rotted out. Almost done with the passenger side. New lower rear quarter, wheel well, heater channel with conv support, firewall and now front quarter. It's been fun.