1964 Bug project

[vwnut1]

I then trimmed the brand new red urethane bushings so they fit correctly, lubed the hell out of them to avoid squeeking, and loosely installed the new drop plate and verified the angle matched the original.

The new plate was then safely pulled up to slightly above the lip with the Atomwerks drop plate tool and then lightly hammered on until flush. The 2nd urethane bushing was installed the then the 4-bolt torsion bar cover. The swing axle was re-bolted to the new drop plate (take measurements before starting project) and a new shock was installed. The passenger side took me about 1/3 less time, here is the finished photo.

The next task will be replacing the leaking axle seal before starting the brake job (new brake cylinder installed).

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

Also, I am a LONG way from paint but have spent literally hours online researching paint colors. Black and VW Mango Green are now on my short list. I am generally not a fan of black because of how quick it gets dirty, but a classic VW Bug looks stunning in black paint with chrome trim and wheels.

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[57BLITZ]

VERY COOL! Yer goin' for it!!!!
And . . . it looks like you're going with "Plan-A" after all, right?
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Jesucristo es mi Señor y Salvador!

[vwnut1]

My original vision is a go. Restoring the car to stock showroom condition would nickel and dime me to death with all of the correct period details, so that's another reason behind my decision. Virtually all of my modifications will be removable and OEM parts can be reinstalled down the road. My goal is to build a super sanitary slightly modified '60s Beetle without spending a ton of money. I may end up painting the entire interior and installing an alternate headliner instead of popping for TMI or other aftermarket interior parts.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

The axle seal kits arrived so it was time to change out all of the leaking parts. No paper gasket was installed on either side and the 0-rings were in poor shape, hence the leakage

To install the main seal you will need some type of drift to avoid damage. Run down to your local home improvement store and pickup a 1 1/2" PVC cap for around $1.00, lightly grease the part and tap the seal in very gently

With that done it was time to start attacking the rust on the floorboard and preventing future rust. Here are the products I used

I wire brushed all of the surface rust off the floor, prepped the surface and installed two coats Eastwood rust encapsulator. I let that dry for 3 days and then brushed on 2 coats of Harbor Freight undercoating. I will eventually cover the entire floor with a product similar to DynaMat. I then sprayed 3 cans of Eastwood internal frame coating into every hole that I could find in the Bug body (both A-pillars, doors, inside edges of entire roof, etc.). Here is how the floor came out after 2 coats of rust encapsulator

I plan on doing a full brake job this weekend before reinstalling the rear drums. Also, I found this 3/4 full bottle under under the passenger floorboard panel, I found a 1972 stamp on the bottle

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

Work continues on the Bug. I originally planned to start the front end next but needed a break from turning wrenches. A complete rear brake job is now complete and new rear fenders have been installed. The Brazilian fenders had better quality and fit than expected but had some super sharp edges on the inside. I applied 2 coats of undercoating after temporarily mounted the fenders for a proper fit.

I then jumped on the interior and started to remove everything to ensure a quality paint job. The glovebox door had a significant amount of rust showing so I sanded it and other parts down to bare metal before applying self etching primer. I also took on the messy job of using my drill with a wire brush attachment to remove the 50 year old glue from the interior body panels.

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The next task was glass removal. I wanted to start with the most difficult part so I got both doors completed yesterday. Remember to save all of the OE German clips to help with the new installation process. I will tackle the windshield, rear glass and pop-out windows when I get some more spare time.

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[sportin-wood]

Your project is coming along nicely! Will you be painting the car yourself? Or taking it somewhere to have it done professionally?

As for going with a fixed quarter window over the existing pop-outs, like a someone else suggested, I would consider keeping them. They're more desireable to most people, including myself. I've even converted from a fixed to the pop-outs on a '63 bug I owned and was definitely pleased. If it's the chrome/aluminum outer strip that's buggin' ya, the suggestion that you paint it black also is a good idea. I did that on a '68 bug I owned. Food for thought.

Keep up the good work & keep the pics coming!
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[vwnut1]

Your project is coming along nicely! Will you be painting the car yourself? Or taking it somewhere to have it done professionally?

That's my biggest dilemma right now but have plenty of time to make a decision (summer 2015?). I have to keep reminding myself that this is a Bug and not a Porsche 911, so I need to stick to a sensible respray budget. I am currently kicking around a plan "A", plan "B", and plan "C". The body work should be minimal because I can only see a few minor door dings as the body is rust free and super straight.

Plan "A": A local body shop that I recently used for for our personal car after a minor fender bender. The work was excellent and they quoted me $2500 for a single stage urethane respray. The quote included me removing all of the glass, moulding, handles, fenders, hood and trunk lid.

Plan "B": A top of the line Maaco base/clear paint job is $1299 in my town. When I tell body shops that I am considering Maaco they all say the same thing; low quality paint and you get what you pay for ("scuff and shoot" production line paint job).

Plan "C": Do it myself in the garage. I have an adequate air compressor but would need to purchase a spray gun. My expenses should be around $500-$700 if I use Eastwood products (2K urethane primer $90, single stage urethane paint $120, European 2:1 urethane clear $125, decent spray gun $150, sandpaper, degreaser, body filler, tack cloth, masking paper, etc $150).

I would love to hear pro's/con's from members who have painted VW's at home, so please chime in.


Super Beetle drag car?

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[grandpa pete]

Looking GOOD !
There are two sides to the "do it yourself " paint job
The satisfaction of knowing that you DID IT.
The frustration of the learning curve to do it right .
I have done the mayco ...." you prep it route ".....Basically you are doing all the prep work anyway ; so why pay them the extra money . ( I did it 18 yrs ago when it was $250 )
I have the $500 BINKS spray gun .( It's hanging in the garage if you know anyone who collects antiques ) The last car I used that on was with
Nitrocellulose Laquer..lots of work and a big clean up .
The last project I did was spray cans ( yes it CAN look good if you take your time AND apply enough coats to last ) remember ANY good paint job is 95 % preparation .
I have 4 grandchildren around and if one of them scratches the paint with a bicycle I can touch it up in 15 minutes .

Do a little research on " rolling on the tremclad ".........OPTIONS !
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63 two fold rag
66 sedan delivery Type 6

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569619&highlight=sedan+delivery

[vwnut1]

The satisfaction of knowing that you DID IT

That's my main driver behind Plan "C", trying to complete all of the work myself.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

Windshield is out, ended up removing all of the other glass today

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[Corney13]

Great project! You and I seem to be at similar stages in our builds. I look forward to seeing what you end up with when you are done. I understand what people are saying about keeping it original, but it's your car and If it is done well, and you enjoy it, that's all that matters. Are you in So Cal?

[vwnut1]

Yes, down in Orange County. If mine were a 1957 or earlier I would return it to 100% factory condition in a heartbeat. I simply could not modify a classic oval or split window Bug. I simply love early '60's Bugs that have been lowered slightly with classic 5-spoke or Fuch replica alloy wheels. I doubt my car will be finished in time to attend the huge 2015 VW Classic car show this year in June, but you never know. Still on the fence over final color choice as well. I have eliminated black, so I am down to the original Bahama Blue or VW Mango Green. I have also decided to install disc brakes up front for safety reasons which means I may be installing a slightly narrowed beam to compensate for the additional 3/4" offset on each side with dropped spindles.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[Corney13]

[vwnut1]

Check out Eastwood for paint, clear coat and everything else that the DIY guy would need at reasonable prices. No factory VW colors of course, but they have a decent selection. The European clear is not CA approved but you can always have it shipped to an out of state friend or relative and have it rerouted. They also sell a nice quality spray gun for around $160 that does not require high CFM to achieve pro results. Post photos of body work and spraying of course, can't wait to see them.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[57BLITZ]

[vwnut1]

Great suggestion on the booth. I have already looked into this option and found one. I have not followed up on the rate but will into this further as I get closer to paint.

I am waiting on front end parts to arrive so I decided to prep by removing all of the grease from the front suspension components.

I then scrapped of all of the factory undercoating from both front wheel wells. I will be spraying a tintable bed liner product inside all of the wheel wells and inner fenders.

I also removed the front apron that had been damaged in a minor collision and filled with body filler. Because it's not really a structural piece of sheet metal I am entertaining just bolting on the new one instead of MIG welding it.

Looks like the PO did a fair bit of wiring repairs, it will need some attention down the road for sure.

I then decided to tackle the OEM steering wheel, it has it's fair share of splits and cracks that need attention.

Here it is after the first coat of epoxy filler and lots of sanding by hand. It's a tedious process but coming along nicely.

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

I then worked under the hood by removing everything and started sanding. This was a time consuming process due not being able to get my palm sander in all of the areas. I spent many hours with a Scotchbrite pad sanding all of the nooks and crannies under the hood.

To do the job correctly I decided to remove the brittle 51 year wiring harness and replace it with a new one. Many of the connectors were brittle and split when being removed. The harness was removed pretty easily due to it running inside the upper roof channel with minimal bends. If you try this don't forget to attach a strong rope to the old harness inside the engine bay and pull it out from under the hood. Simply reverse the procedure when installing the new harness (feed harness through front end, pull in at the motor side).

After sanding and cleaning I then applied a coat of self etching primer.

I sanded again, cleaned and masked off the car. I finally decided to do a color change so I tinted some sprayable bed liner to match the my new exterior color choice, Mango Green. I am usually against color changes but knew I would regret not respraying the Bug in my favorite VW Beetle color. I also want a red interior so my new color choice will allow that as well. I also sprayed both front wheel wells at the same time.

I then hit up my brother who is also a VW nut for a set of snowflake tail lights he had sitting around. The lenses are original but the housings are repros. The lights have many missing parts so a visit to WW will be in order.

I then started on the brakes. I decided to go discs up front so I installed a new master cylinder and brand new German brake lines. I will finish the rear brake lines and replace the original hoses when I pull the motor at a later date.

My next projects will include painting the new front beam, gas tank and spraying tinted bed liner inside all 4 fenders. I will then start installation of the beam and front suspension components. Here is the most current photo of my Bug. It 's been roughly 5-months since I purchased the car, much more work to be done.

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

Still waiting on my new beam, so I decided to start stripping the paint down to bare metal and apply self-etching primer. To help achieve a quality paint finish I plan on performing the same routine to every body panel. The Bug has only been resprayed 1x since new so paint removal could have been much worse.

The hinge area was a challenge. I used my drill with a wire wheel and hand sanded to get to this point. A media blaster would have made this job much easier. I will eventually get to the interior area of the doors once I move it out of my carport (doors will not open wide enough).

Down to bare metal, time to mask and clean properly.

Both sides now primed to prevent rusting. My new beam is finally expected to ship this week (ordered 12/30) so I am looking forward to the installation.

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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[vwnut1]

The narrowed beam finally arrived after 7-weeks. I mocked it up but ended up reselling it shortly afterwards. The factory German beam will be reinstalled after degreasing, stripping off paint, and priming and painting. Since this will be a Sunday cruiser (with a tight build budget) I also decided not to install front disc brakes. I am still going with dropped spindles and decided to purchase a 100% forged unit that will be as strong as the factory spindle (OEM spindle is forged, not cast). Pictures to come shortly to document my progress.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod