Johann's restoration 1977 Thing

jjrannauro · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:26 pm Post subject: Johann's restoration 1977 Thing

About 13 years ago I got my VW Thing 1977. When I bought It, it looked pretty nice painted in red. Unfortunatelly 12 years later the rust started to come up as bubbles in the paint and dents too. It was in pretty bad shape. I wanted to start by changing the seats, they were about to disintegrate in the air. But I also would have to replace the floor later on, and it would be another spense. So I decided to replace the floor and install the seats from a VW Gol. Once at the bodyshop talking with the owner and seeing that my poor 181 was in pain, I threw the hook... I told him what if I gave him some money in advance and every week I'd give him some money and when there wasn't much work at the body shop he could work on my car. He didn´t want to at the beginning, but he finally accepted. So last august 16th 2011 I took my car to the body shop for an extreme make over and I travel to Veracruz city to donate a kidney for my cousin's husband. So my Thing and I both were at the hospital.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR THING

Steve Austin, Type 181: a car barely alive
Gentlemen we can rebuild it
We have the technology
We have the capability to make the worlds first bionic Thing
Steve Austin will be that Thing
Better than it was before
Better, Stronger, Faster...
(well... maybe no faster)...

Here at the picts.

This was my Thing before I started to restor it.
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A neighbor gave me the hard top. It was abandoned like for 10 years. It was brown and had a few craks. Now it's been repaired, but it still needs the safety glass.
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This is one of the seats I plan to place in my Thing.
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I also found the original material in black (at least for Mexico) for the upholstey.
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Fisrt day at the bodyshop
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The outer right rocker panel was removed. Lot of rust in the interior. Also the inner rocker panel was later removed.
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The outer right rocker panel (the design wasn't accurate when I took this picture) was built from scratch.
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New inner rocker panel (the sheet metal worker will do the original design as close as posible) and new floor. Since my Thing has mats original type and planing to place some duckboards I didn´t want to spend money in expensive original floors.
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Beautiful work.
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Another shot from the interior right side.
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Right back side
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The outer rocker panel is welded.
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The front right side panel was also in bad shape with rust, dents and lot of paste.
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Since the front right side panel was going to be fabricated new and I didn't want to deal with an accurate shape on the gas intake I decided to eliminate it and leave it plain. I think it looks better and a lot much cleaner. I will replace the gas tank for a gas tank from an old beetle.
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Maestro Martin working on the right front panel. One piece at the time.
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The front apron and the front cover plate were removed.
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Top front cover plate
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Bottom front cover plate
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New front cover plate
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I bought the front apron from The Thing Shop.
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The front left side panel was also removed and will have a new one.
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Now with the parts off I can see all the dents, rust and bondo.
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Visiting my car at the bodyshop, I found Maestro Heredia and Maestro Martin working on the right fender. They made a new one bending, cutting and hammering a sheet metal. How cool is that?
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I was pretty surprised when I saw the fenders done a week later, but I also was horrified when I just relized that the dashboard and the floor trunk were chopped off. I was really freaked out!
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So here are some pics from the chopped dashboard and the floor trunk.
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The new sheet metal for the trunk floor and the back of the dashboard ready to be worked.
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The new State Government decided that all the cars in Veracruz (the estate where I live) should get new license plates and a chip which will be stiked on the windshield before march 31st. Luckily we just bought a trailer for my business which also needed a couple of license plates. So I tow my thing on it and got the license plates for both of them.

Out of the bodyshop
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Back at the bodyshop, the dashboard and the trunk floor were in place.
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More details fixed.
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The glove box on and the glove door.
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Spare tire mounting welded
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The Maestro fabricated the spare tire mounting bracket and the wing nut.
The gas tank came from a 1963 bug.
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may 9th 2012. Working already on the left side of the Thing
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Hand made new outer left rocker panel
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The left floor is also gone. An inside view of the outer left rocker panel
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More metal work on the rear left side
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Martin (the sheet metal worker) is fabricating the front hood release cable. I had already the handle. He used a VW beetle hood release cable and welded some metal and a screw. He also used a bicycle brake cable hose. Very crafty, isn't he?
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77kafer · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:40 pm Post subject:

Great work going on there, can't wait to see the finished product. Very Happy

_________________
Supposed to be 77käfer, but there are no umlauts on an american keyboard

Overheard on 27 June 07, one lady to another when they saw my Harli in a parking lot at West Point, "maybe he found it on the clearance aisle at the Volkswagen dealer"

jjrannauro · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:13 pm Post subject:

mcmscott · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:11 pm Post subject:

Someone has mad metal working skills!

dells68 · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:37 pm Post subject:

Scratch made panels Shocked

Awesome! I'm really impressed with the work that's being done. You certainly picked an excellent metal worker. Keep us updated!

jjrannauro · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:45 pm Post subject:

surferdudedav · Samba Member Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 466

Wow! You guys are brave! Looks great!!! Can't wait to follow the progress

jjrannauro · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 6:32 pm Post subject:

The fenders are almos done
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The glove box door is on.

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mikeyj007 · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:09 pm Post subject:

Very impressive work! Very cool that it's a red 77. My favorite color and the year I was born. Looking forward to seeing more pictures as it progresses.

NOVA Airhead · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:19 am Post subject:

Great metal fabrication work!

It just shows that these cars rust even in a relatively warm dry climate.
_________________
1971 Ghia Convertible Autostick
1974 Thing

jjrannauro · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:11 am Post subject:

FreakCitySF · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:42 pm Post subject:

I love the sheet metal work! You found some great fabricators. Just curious how they made those body panels with the raised areas. some kind of roller press?

jjrannauro · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:19 am Post subject:

jjrannauro · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:08 pm Post subject:

Left fender ready to detail
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GI Joe · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:45 pm Post subject:

Holy Crap!!! With all that hand formed sheet metal, no wonder you're calling it the 6 Million Dollar Thing!!! LOL...
It would take that amount to get anyone in the U.S. to do the same work!!

Coming along Great!!! Can't wait to see it with paint... Them guys are fantastic!
_________________
FORWARD: forward is only a good thing, when you're facing the right direction!

'74 Thing, "Our Thing"....
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...p;start=60
www.NLEOMF.com
Respect, Honor, Remember

jjrannauro · Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 10:01 am Post subject:

jjrannauro · Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 10:04 am Post subject:

Five more picts:
May 9th 2012. Working already on the left side of the Thing
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Hand made new outer left rocker panel
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The left floor is also gone. An inside view of the outer left rocker panel
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More metal work on the rear left side
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Martin (the sheet metal worker) is fabricating the front hood release cable. I had already the handle. He used a VW beetle hood release cable and welded some metal and a screw. He also used a bicycle brake cable hose. Very crafty, isn't he?
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jjrannauro · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:40 am Post subject:

Hello Safari gang, here I post some more picts. I hope you like them.

Here is the left floor custom made with galvanised sheeting
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Working on the left rear, very nasty rust.
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Removing the engine bay floor.
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Maestro Martín workin on the left rear panel.
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Maestro Martín fabricating a piece that goes in the left side of the interior engine bay.
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Old and new.
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All the metal that was removed from the rear.
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The old and the new middle section from below the rear deck lid.

Beginning to work on the rear right side
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New front bumper and braques.
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Yarkle · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:29 am Post subject:

I am consistently amazed everytime you post on how great those homemade panels look!

jjrannauro · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:05 pm Post subject:

Rear bumper.
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Rear left side metal work done.
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Working on the rear. Check the old Thing rear style. Preety cool.
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Interior rear left side.
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Interior rear rigth side.
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Maestro Martin applying some filler to the gaps.
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New engine bay floor
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The mirrors are finally on.
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This is a base color just to check the imperfections before it gets painted.
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Working on the fenders.
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