The bug has arrived and work is now beginning

[rbutton]

The rebuild begins on a 1970 vw bug. Time to as I do the rebuild remember my college days of pack as many of us in a bug that we could. "Pass the hat" for all the change we could pool together - for a couple of dollars we had more than enough gas money to travel anywhere we wanted. Head off on an adventure for the weekend, just to get away for a while.
The days of painting yellow flowers on the trunk and hood of my old bug, done out on the soccer field. Driving the northeast winters, with an ice scraper in one hand, one hand on the steering wheel and a blanket covering my legs to hold in what body heat I could. Traveled down route 17 - during then it was under construction, most of the way were "forced" to travel the local 2 lane roads. Knowing that when the old AM radio could finally pick up WABC and Cousin Bruce I was getting closer to NYC!
All those images, and more, come back as I look at my new project in the garage!

[bon2198]

congrats!!!! keep us posted with lots and lots of pics!!!!!
_________________
1970 VW Beetle 1776cc MOFOCO w/hydraulic lifters, 042 heads and dual dellorto's
"It's better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not"

At the end of the day it's YOUR car so do what YOU want to it.

[jzjames]

Ya know thats a nice "Patina" bug. I hope you dont paint it.

[rbutton]

Original paint was the tan over which sometime in it's life it was repainted blue hence the Patina look!
BUT soon to be a new bright Yellow Bug.
All new tires have just arrived, and the first large box of rubber moldings.

[mnussbau]

[rbutton]

in the cleanup and removing of all the stuff in the car found that it does have one tiny... little hole in the floor!

[rbutton]

I have a complete 73 bug engine on the way to give the old bug a "heart" & "lungs". Cleaned up the rims and new tires all around - that left me with the Patina look color to do something about! I have a large compressor and a good paint gun BUT I had been reading on "paint your car with a roller"! If you have not read up on this system here is just one of the many links on the internet for it: Roller Paint your Car
Any one here try it? I figured take one of the smaller panels, strip it down and give it a try. Took the engine cover as the place to give it a try. Found the color the wife loved at Home Depot, a bright yellow. Rollered the paint on really thin, many coats later and a buffing down ... you want to see how it came out?

[rbutton]

and a close up of the rolled on paint

It seems to be working ok. Not sure how well the paint will hold up so was wondering about others that may have tried it.
It's nice that you can paint and not worry about covering up everything in the shop to keep from getting a thin paint coat on everything if you were using a gun.

[davidnino111]

is that house paint..

or is it meant to be rolled on cars?

[clay ford]

take your time and cover up all the things you dont want painted aka door handles, REAR WINDSHIELDS blinker housings dont be in a big hurry take your time
_________________
68 cal look
65 safari dune buggy

[rbutton]

The paint they suggest using is Rustoleum - an oil-based enamel paint. Which is the paint I tried using with Mineral spirits to thin it.
I was kind of nervous about doing it but figured if it look like junk I could just strip it off and repaint the car the current conventional way.

To my surprise it seems to be working. It is really glossy after I went over it with a DA buffer - wool pad then used a foam pad. I'm using Meguiars polishes which may help. It sure does look shinny!!

[justaguy]

I saw this done on a 70 charger. Looked great when he was finished. From what he said for durability was that it actually was harder than regular enamel. He took a rock in the hood and all it did was leave a dust mark. (he showed pics) I don't have personal experience with it but the write up I read had me interested enoug that I was going to do this to my old Bronco before I sold it.

[glazedham42]

I too have seen the old writeup about painting a car with a roller and some thinned out Rustoleum. PLEASE post more pictures of the painting as it progresses. I will be very interested to see how this turns out, as I plan on doing the same to my 1973. This roller method is sooooo much easier for a home mechanic like me with a one car garage. I can paint one area at a time, with no overspray, and minimal cleanup. It really makes doing your own paint job an achievable goal. It looks like the results are worthwhile too. Keep up the great work!

Jamie

[pafree]

great job, what grit did you use to DA with? they make something called finishing film for the DA that i would like to try. i have Rustoleum rattlecanned a couple of offroad cars and they faded in the sun. the roll on might be a little different. i might suggest a cheap Ebay style enamel clear coat to put over it when you are done rolling it and sanding it. duplicolor has a quart can of spray on enamel clear you could test try. no mixing needed. you can pick it up at most auto parts stores that sale paint and it is about 20 bucks. we used the duplicolor clear on this manx and it has held up good.


the great thing about using roll on is that it will be easy to touch up.



_________________
1972 vw hunting truggy

sand it, fill it, paint it, throw some mud on it and then baja it.

[rbutton]

More progress - slow as I disassemble parts so that I can apply the paint easier. I take one section apart at a time, sand, prep and roller the paint on. This next week I pickup the 1973 complete engine that has been stored ready to go. We bench started it and it runs great with good compression all around. Soon we'll be able to move the car as needed while we keep working along on this roller paint project!

[LeviMan2001]

Wow! From what I can see, it looks great! I'd sure love to try this... But what on? LOL

[jmsmilin]

I had a yellow 73 but the color was OG, looking back I cant imagine why I ever wanted a yellow one, I liked the blue, or OG tan
_________________
Der Schmutzige Süden.

(o\ ! /o) | o \/ o | (o)=|=(o) [o\|_|_|/o] \m/

[PressureProjex]

Are you clear coating it? do they make clear coat that you could roll on?

[rbutton]

Well progress as I now have the new engine installed.
It's a 1973 Super Beetle engine with about 25,000 miles on it.
Paint work is still ongoing as I get time to do more panels.
I am not sure about clear coating the paint. I may look into that.
The choice of color was my wife's choice as it is to be her car when it's finished.

[rbutton]

I have just finished sound deadening a big V8 powered open top 2 seater sport car with SecondSkin's Damplifier pads and their Luxury Liner Pro pads! Using a sound meter found that it actually works.... SOOOO sitting just to the side of my car is my wife's project! The 1970 bug that we're reassembling, painting, as well as adding a little sound deadening! I see they advertise here, as a vendor, have many of you used their Damplifier mats, Spectrum coatings, or the Luxury Liner pads?
Our plan is to start from the back and put the Damplifier pads and/or Spectrum coatings under the carpet all the way up to the front of the car. On my other car not only did the Damplifier pads dampen the sound down but also sealed up the aluminum panels that formed the foot boxes and floor of my car. Those Damplifier pads are super sticky and can stick even if the surface is less that perfect.

This is what we did:
Bare aluminum floors just a stiff brush gone over it all to clean off the loose stuff...



And after covering it with Damplifier pads



If we use the Damplifier pads and the Spectrum coating on all the interior metal ....it should work even better for an enclosed bug compared to an open top car.