My RHD 1964 Convertible Restoration

[vladve]

Hi,
This is my first post on the website.
My new project is 1964 Beetle convertible, on 67 chassis. The previous owner had the car completely restored back in 70th. Following the fashion of those days he had put on the later model’s wings, lights, Recaro seats, mugs etc. Unfortunately he had also welded the dash to put in useless bunch of gauges. The restoration was not the best one. Lots of welding had been left unsealed, therefore rusted almost entirely. Gaps in doors are not good; at least I know for sure the heater channels were not replaced, so the overall body geometry is fine.
The last 10 year the car spent in a shed (don’t ask me why ) where the water was dripping through the leaking roof (of the shed). The vert roof wasn’t particularly hermetic, hence water was accumulated alongside the rear tray, captured within the insulation behind the rear seat.
To keep the story short, the rear luggagy tray is like paper now – can be cut with a table knife. Crossmembers are gone; floors are almost gone. Rear quarters are bad, heater channels are also in a bad condition. But from the handbrake forward the car is extremely solid, with literally no rust at all.
It is currently fitted with replacement box 1600cc; which looks pretty fresh. It is not running but can be turned.
I've made the same mistake everyone is always advised against: not buying a car without a personal/ professional inspection. I’ve bought it on Ebay; relied on the seller to give me a trustful description. Ended up being advised “it is rust free car, with minor rust in battery tray ...” But to my excuse I’d say I would have bought it anyway, as in general VW verts in AU are incredibly hard to come by, especially in the original RHD specification. But it is a done deal now. Absolutely no regrets – just keep moving forward.
So here we go. This will be “coming back to the roots” restoration. I’ve also bought a donor 64 sedan in a very good condition besides the engine. It will donate the chassis, interior (original seats, steering wheel, knobs etc.) and some metal whenever needed.
The replacement parts have been ordered: two heater channels, reinforcement bars, rear quarters, luggage tray, front apron, two crossmembers. All that should be coming from Denmark, I was told.
The cars cost me 5K, plus $650 to get it from the New South Wales to Victoria (Australia it is ). The donor car cost me another 1K. The parts mentioned above - 1K inc. shipping.
I’ve watched the bugme wells of knowledge. I've gone through manuals, this site's forums etc.
So, I guess we’ll see now if with the absolutely non-technical qualification of business analyst I can pull out something reasonable out if this exercise.

The rear tray:

RH Crossmember

Front firewall:

[hitest]

Now you've got your work cut out for you! Here's the plan: Get either the single cab or deluxe splittie running- drive it around with a big smile on your face while you slowly work on that vert. Since the notch is already a runner- drive it when you need four seatbelts- no more, no less.
_________________

[Trayle D. the real oggfk]

Wow someone has really fucked that car up over the years. All that late model shit is grose. Looks like you have your work "cut out" for you. No pun intended.
_________________
the original
. . . . . . .GERMAN FOLKS 602
"The Downest, Deepest, & Dopest"

Trayle Duncan
AKA: The Troll that lives under that samba
AKA: The Samba Fabricator

Stay'n sucka free for the 0000000000... Hell, from now on...

[Foxy]

Thats a sweet project.
Did they make verts in Australia? I'm guessing not thats why they are so rare over there? Were they available to order or are all the ones in Oz privately imported.
Sorry for all the questions.

[Nectar_F]

Foxy, there was only a hand full imported to oz in around 1961, in the middle of winter to see how they would sell......As you would think, they were never officially offered after that. I want a vert bad, but my only option is to import one myself. One day!

Nectar

[mister bungle]

What type of steering wheel is that? does it have a brand listed on it?

Also if the recaros are in good shape do you wanna sell them? I could use them on a watercooled project of mine.

I'm in the US of A

thanks
_________________
I don't care about the bug you used to own back in the day ,leave me alone I am trying to pump gas in my car

[vladve]

Hi,
Thanks for supportive words. I have to say all this is a bit scary. It all looks too easy when you are reading what other folks had done. What someone has expressed in couple of words, like “I’ve undone the doors today” is actually a bloody (literally) painful (also literally) exercise. I'm starting to appreciate the chasm of undescribed practical experience behind every single word on this site. (which is yet an unlimited source of encouragement); unfortunately the full realisation of this only comes after you’ve gone through the trial and error sequence couple of times yourself.

I have undone these blinking doors today. I knew the screws were stuck, but didn't realise it would be kind of a challenge. The solution took me about two weeks (I was working though) and $35. So here is the plan:

1.Soaking these screws in whatever liquid (unless it is liquid nitrogen ) is pretty useless for verts. Convertibles have reinforcement panels at the front, which limits significantly access to those screws from behind (I mean in the trunk). Lower screws are particularly impossible to reach from inside.

2.First of all get yourself the good impact screwdriver (I had a manual one - $30). But do buy a good one - I’ve bought a crappy one – it did the job eventually, but would have saved me lots of tears. (by the way, it failed after the screw number 12 – luckily the last one). The difference between the good and the less good ones are in the amount of free play you get within the gears inside, and also how smooth it transforms the progressive movement into the revolving one.

3.Then you MUST get the Phillips bit number 4. Normally they are NOT sold in standard kits etc., the biggest one sold is always number 3. It does look like it fits – but in fact it doesn’t; The tiny little gap remaining, under the impact, will convert all the energy into damaging the head, rather than undoing the screw. I’ve found mine on the ebay for $5.

The "Black" one is N4, the "Silver" one is N3. Note the size of the head on N4 - it kind of fills it's place in the screw entirely. Also note the broken edge on N3 - as a result of lousy fit.

4.Then the technique is the following: insert the bit into the screwdriver, put on 2(!) pairs of leather(!) gloves (the best are the welding ones), insert the screwdriver into the screw, then remove the free-play in the impact mechanism by pressing gently the screwdriver towards the screw (the handle spins around slightly when you are doing this), aim well, then hit the screwdriver with the descent size hummer as bloody hard as you possibly can – don’t stop – keep hitting it real hard (imaging you are trying to break through a concrete wall – same deal). But hold the screwdriver still, and watch that free play. After approximately 5-7 hits the screw will make the “crack”-like noise. Mine even blew a little bit of a paint smoke. It is undone then.

5.When it seems like the exercise is useless – just take a bigger hummer, and hit it harder. ALL of those screws eventually get loose, but only if you are using that N4 bit.

6.The most important – don’t hit your hand. I did of course - the leather gloves (2 pairs) though made it extremely less painful. I actually put on the third pair on after that

... The Steering wheel is the genuine Momo – will be sold on the ebay once I settle the car and don’t have to steer it. The seats have already followed this route – they were genuine Recaro, yet with all due respect to this brand – their place is elsewhere, not in my car. I’ve got a nice pair of original 1964 seats which will go in.

[vladve]

How to remove spot welds?

Hi All,
Coming back with a bit of an update. I’ve removed recently the parcel shelf, which was completely rusted through. There is a picture above.

I’ve seen lots of people are asking about the best way to cut spot welds. I’ve been experimenting in this area too, and here is the best solution I came for myself.
I tried drilling through. Normal drills are not good as they drill the underlying panel too, whereas the resulting hole is sometimes painfully big to be filled in afterwards.
Those fancy drills which are supposed to cut only the top layer are theoretically good, but aren’t perfect either – you have to be careful when to stop, especially with powerful tools, otherwise you continue to the next panel as well. And they also don’t last long (unless you buy a very expensive stuff) and still don’t come very cheap.
What I’ve done was to pick a good set of cold chisels for metal – the best I found where actually for the pneumatic chisel tool – exhaust cutters, for example. Then I grinded each one to make it look literally just like a knife, having a bit of a half-U shape. The rest is simple. You insert it under the panel, couple of hummer hits, and it cuts the spot weld like a paper, nice and clean. It actually cuts the spot weld in the middle – leaving yourself in control where you’d like to punch a hole afterwards to fill in the spot. The chisel has to be sharpened every 5-7 spots, but that’s still way quicker than drilling. I’ve done the entire parcel shelf in 30 min.
The best one is the one pictured below. It was actually intended to be a "spot-welde" remover, hence that gap in the middle. Yet, originally it came very thick, and it was actually damaging (smashing and pulling) the panel. Now being that narrow it gradually cuts the metal, without pulling it.

Here are couple of pics. This is the tool - note the leading edge:

That's how the spot weld is removed. Note the wheel arch panel's removed spots - nice and clean.

I'm planning to build the body support over the weekend - will post an update next week.

Cheers!

[lovethatconvertible]

Keep em coming. This bug is gonna be so cool when you get it back on the road.

[vladve]

G’day again.
It’s been a while until I could come back to work on the beetle. As mentioned, I have finished making the bars – I think I have overdone it; it could have been much more trivial, however I was quite pleased with the result - quite solid and robust. Took me the whole weekend and $300 in costs of wood, liquid nails, screws etc.

That’s how it looks:

Not sure if I have mentioned already. I have bought another 1964 Beetle for parts. Initially I was going to do floor pans in the convertible, however, after inspecting the second beetle I’ve realised its floor pans are almost as good as new. It is only the body which is a bit rusty. Another argument into using these chassis is the fact it is authentic 1964, exactly as the convertible one, whereas the one the vert is sitting on currently is of 1969. So I’ve made the decision to use this chassis, as is.

This is having a bit of fun - towing into the main garage:

And today was a very important day – the blue beetle has been stripped, separated from the chassis and lifted on bars! I lifted it myself, by the way, front first, then the back. Apparently it is not that heavy.

Now starting to strip/clean the chassis.

[Joel]

I wondered what the deal was with this bug when I saw you selling the bits on ebay recently

I figured being in vic, RHD and so bastardised with mismatch parts it was probably one of those resurrection panels replica verts built in bendigo in the early 90s.

If you were closer I woulda loved that front bumper, looks like an original german one too.

Shame about that donor, looks pretty solid, but then they always do in pics.
That pan is later than 67, definately from a latemodel 68 on anyway.
_________________
Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle

[vladve]

Thanks mate. I've got mine from the NSW originally, that's where it had been last registered.

This is the chassis:

The red colour isn't rust - this is an original rust-proof coat.

I was actually lucky to get this blue beetle just for $1,000. You are right, the body looks straight, and it actually is, apart from the channels, which are gone. I also felt sorry to use it for parts, but this is the reality of priorities. Vert is clearly the one to go on with. I'm planning to reuse crossmembers, rear shelf and front apron from the blue one.

[Joel]

Sorry I meant the pan the cabrio was sitting on when you got it was a later one.

Not many people replace heater channels in aus, even on early cars so don't feel too bad.

If you were in the UK however, heaterchannel replacement should be done with each oil change.

As you say a cabrio is well worth saving over a hardtop in aus, especially an early one, not many of them around.
_________________
Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle

[vladve]

Yesterday I’ve made a good progress. The chassis is completely off.

I’ve started sanding the original black rust-proof coat – and this was a real pain, I have to say. This is the type of non-drying very thick grease. I’ve tried different solvents – the mineral turpentine worked the best, but still not well enough. Eventually I’ve used the angle grinder a with wire brush and slowly brushed all this off.

Underneath the floors are covered with red factory paint, and while grinding it forms sort of a dust which mixes with the black grease and makes it less sticky and subsequently can be easily brushed off.
Unfortunately the driver’s side (RHD) has revealed some rust in the battery tray, as it is usually the case after 30 years.

The floors otherwise are in great condition. Now here is the dilemma – I’ve got replacement pans, which initially I intended to fit in. But should I really replace them? The original floors are very solid, and are approximately 1.2mm thick; the replacement ones are 0.8 to 1mm. Plus there is another issue: apparently the replacement pans come without fittings (welded nuts) for the pedal cluster, only with predrilled holes; also they always come as an LHD pans, which means the wholes are on the wrong side. This is not a big issue, but still a bit of a hassle:

Anyway, after lots of thinking I’ve decided to repair the current floors with POR15 stuff. I know I could weld in just a battery tray part; however I don’t like the way it is normally done – the weld seams are too obvious and usually look a bit rough. I’ll use marine epoxy and a bit of fibreglass to reinforce it from inside – at least should look smooth from outside.

Any thoughts?

[vladve]

Here is some progress I’ve made recently. The floor pan has been fixed with fibreglass, in an attempt to retain as much of the original shape as possible. Frankly speaking, even though the result turned out to be pretty good, now having gained some welding experience (and starting to enjoy it) I would have tried to replace it with metal. Yet it would have taken me probably three times longer, and I'm not sure if the outside would look good.
For adepts of the welding approach, here is an important tip I’ve learned – the replacement panel for battery tray they sell for beetles is actually marginally smaller than the original pan, so that it can fit inside the existing pan frame. To replace it with a completely original piece one would have to buy the entire pan and cut the relevant part off.

Anyway, here are the steps of making the fiberglass fix. Again, as mentioned before – this way of repairing panels doesn’t compromise strength, durability, longevity etc. of the repair. The only downside of this approach is that you will know there is a piece of reinforced fibre cloth somewhere in your, otherwise all-steel, shiny treasure. During the application I’ve got some advice from my dad, as he used to engineer same sort of repairs on boats, planes, etc. - was very handy. I just had to listen him more carefully.

The starting point:

The pan has been thoroughly cleaned, rust was cleaned and treated. Big holes have been reinforced with a large-cell fibre net to hold-in the resin.

I’ve put a rather larger piece of fibre-glass cloth, to make sure an additional structural strength will be achieved. I’ve actually used three layers of cloth in the damaged area and one large layer to cover on top:

It is important to pull the sides of the cloth up alongside the edge of the pan. Once resin has cured, it will be sanded and will form a nice and smooth finish:

Now that’s how it looks after everything has dried and has been sanded. The yellow/orange pigment is as a result of the POR15 Metal Ready application:

Here are couple of important tips I’ve learned along the way:

1. Use more layers of cloth and rather thin lay ers of the actual resin. Make sure cloth has absorbed the epoxy resin; however try not to have “puddles”. Use a small roller to soak the cloth, and then wipe the excessive resin off. All this will ensure the forming structure is reasinobly thin, yet strong and flexible. Thick layers of non-reinforced resin (puddles) will most likely crack under stress.

2. Don’t mix at once all of the epoxy resin and hardener you will need for the job. The cure is faster when the resin becomes hotter. Large amounts of resin and hardener in a single container will generate exponentially growing amount of heat – from being slightly warm (that’s when the process kicks in) it will go to the boiling hot in 30-40 seconds . I had to through away 2/3 of the amount I’ve prepared beacuse it has cured faster than expected. While working, stir the can all the time to dissipate the forming heat. Also, for large amounts of resin to be used I’d recommend using slow hardeners. Besides more relaxed application, the slower the resin is curing – the stronger it actually becomes (I mean less fragile)

3. Sounds banal, however – buy quality materials. I actually used Marine grade resin and hardener – they have the most stable characteristics.

4. All epoxy materials are best cleaned (before they cured of course) with any Alcohol/Spirit containing solutions.

[volksfahrer.nl]

Fiberglass is for boats and buggy's....
You're gonna have to do a lot of weldig to the body anyways
so why not weld this?

I don't know how the laws work in Australia but your new pan is not of a convertable.
So that means the paperwork of your car will end up beeing incorrect.
_________________
www.volksfahrer.nl
www.theundutchables.nl

66 panel

[vladve]

Mate, I agree in general. However this project has to be finished sometimes, and hopefully not in 10 years; and rather than doing bad welding I thought I'd do good fibreglass repair. It is less time consuming and, as I mentioned, I didn't want to have weld seams being visible from outside. Of the repairs to battery trays with welded patches I've seen on the internet – I haven’t’ seen a single one which looked perfect - they all look rather scary, to be honest. Therefore, especially considering my welding skills, I wouldn't attempt to do the welding until I was completely confident I could do it well. But you are right, I will need it and I have actually started doing more and more welding now, and it is going pretty well, but what has been done-has been done. I just want to keep moving forward at this stage.

The chassis for convertible is identical to the one of sedan (besides the number). All reinforcements are applied to the body, so structurally it doesn't differ. In Australia to register the car it needs to have a unique identifier (e.g. VIN) stamped on the chassis and/or the body - I've got both, as well as the documents for the car I'm using as a donor, so it is all good.

Cheers,
Vlad.

[pieterveenstra]

Lol you have some guts to post these pictures up here
You are gonna get a lot of comments on that repair....
_________________
60's Beetle L436 ->> in resto

[vladve]

More progress.
This is the chassis, cleaned and treated with MetalReady.

The reinforcement sections and the channels are ready. These had to be welded properly. From stock they come with few spot welds just to hold it together. This was my first welding experience.

The welder:

[WrennMetallWerks]

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