TheSamba.com :: View topic - Austin's 1974 Standard Beetle Body-off Restoration Project

Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:40 pm

Thanks. Marathon blue will look great on your car. 8)

Thu Dec 22, 2011 2:45 pm

Another day of chassis work in the summer sun. 8)

I got the rear quarter pans welded in. I bought the 18 gauge pans from oeveedub and they only came in quarters, not halves. I wanted to buy one piece pans because they are easier to align to the heater channels but nobody makes heavy duty pans for 1973 and later beetles in one piece. I paid about $350 for the set of pans. I was a bit frustrated when they showed up at my house with klokkerholm stickers on them... I could have bought the same pans for $100 less elsewhere. :?

Other than the pans, I also installed all new rear trailing arm and spring plate bushings. I bought the urethane ones from Bugpack and greased them up with anti-seize (love that stuff). I installed new emergency brake cables to make it easier to hold the chassis still when I work on it. Also installed new shift rod coupler and genuine VW shift bushing (the original had split into two pieces). KYB GR-2 shocks all around (bought them from Jcwhitney and paid $30 too much). :roll:

I painted the tunnel and frame head with two coats of POR-15 and two coats of Rustoleum Enamel. The pans still have some welding left to do (seat pedestals and heater rear heater cable tubes). Installed new TRW steering box (I got it for $50 from carcraftstore). I also pressure washed out the tunnel and then dumped an entire quart of Rustoleum down the dunnel, plugged the holes and sloshed the entire pan back and forth for full coverage.

New brakes all around including hardware... POR-15 on the backing plates and drums

Bugpack Urethane Bushings

New genuine VW bump stops and all new grade 10.9 hardware.

Thu Dec 22, 2011 5:07 pm

Looking good so far. Sux about the pans though.

Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:15 pm

Cool project Austin. Can't wait to see another '74 fixed & running. :D

And hey, thanks for taking several pictures of the under body. There are two braces underneath the luggage compartment that I've been wanting to take forever.. but never get around to firing up my own camera.

Will be following you progress!!

Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:40 pm

Schwaeet...

Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:24 pm

Thanks for the feedback bros. 8)

Alright everybody, hope you all have high-speed internet because there's a boatload of pics on the way... :twisted:

This is probably the part of my project that I am most proud of... You saw in the first post (during sandblasting) that the driver rear quarter panel was absolutely plastered in bondo. My dad and I both debated on how we would assess the situation. At first, my dad didn't want to replace the panel (alignment and welding issues) but I quickly convinced him otherwise. So we would cut out the entire affected area and weld in new metal.

Here's a few pictures of the "before" quarter:

You can see in the second picture that the B-pillar was kinked pretty bad. It was pretty amazing that the bondo was so well shaped that the door actually "lined up". The rear driver side interior panel didn't even clip into the little holes anymore. :? In the first pic, one of the rear fender threaded inserts was made out of the steel ruler from a combination square. PO contest? :roll:

So the first order of business was to source a new quarter panel. I bought an entire driver rear quarter panel (original VW) from the classifieds for $100 plus $60 shipping to WA. It was in very good shape with no damage apart from a rusty fender nut and a really crappy repaint that was flaking off.

Next task was to measure and cut the damaged quarter out and measure the new panel to cut in (I left a lot of excess metal on the new panel so I could carefully file it into shape for a seamless fit. My dad welded in some angle iron to stiffen the body before cutting (so the doors would line up later).

I measured, my dad cut:

You can see the ruler in this picture:

Measuring the new panel for cutting:

The gaping hole left behind gave some good access to infamous "FOAM". Stabbed that stuff out and coated with Eastwood's Internal Frame Coating. I mainly just bought it because it had this nifty nozzle on a hose that could go deep into nooks and crannies and channels that couldn't be reached by a brush or epoxy primer spray. I'll save the nozzle to use on other spray cans (Rustoleum inside the heater channels later).

Here's the stuff:

After that was sorted out, I fitted the new panel into place. My sister's friend came over to weld for us and did a pretty good job (I'm not much of a welder - got arc eye once from being in the same room as my dad while welding and ended up in the hospital at 3am. Couldn't open my eyes and the pain was indescribable.)

Here's the final fit (lots of pictures):

The gap in this picture was adjusted before welding.

B-pillar lined up perfectly.

Fit heater channel perfectly (nothing fits like genuine VW).

A couple of tack welds to prevent warping.

The gaps were sorted out before final welding.

Some of you guys with dial-up are probably pissed at me now... :lol:

Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:17 am

Looking great!!!
One question though. You stated that whe the car got the pans replaced initially, they were mounted incorrectly (lower than they should), and it prevented the pedal's stop to work properly. Then you replaced the rear quarter pans. That leaves the front half of each pan still 3/8 inch lower. How did you addressed that?

Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:52 am

looks good!!

Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:27 pm

bond007 wrote: Looking great!!!
One question though. You stated that whe the car got the pans replaced initially, they were mounted incorrectly (lower than they should), and it prevented the pedal's stop to work properly. Then you replaced the rear quarter pans. That leaves the front half of each pan still 3/8 inch lower. How did you addressed that?

The guy that my dad paid to install the pans welded the pans underneath the flange on the tunnel instead of on top of it (he even left fragments of the old pan welded to the top). So I cut out the entire pan (they were flimsy Zito anyway- and I didn't think it safe to have the pans welded that way) on both sides and replaced front and rear quarters with new klokkerholm pans. They were welded to the top of the flange as they should be. 8)

Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:53 pm

Christmas came early! :D

About $1150 in parts from CIP1 and WCM. Ordered on Monday morning, arrived Friday afternoon, everything accounted for. 8)

Still got about $950 left in parts in the mail from Aircooled.net and CIP1.
Talk about a money pit. :lol:

Check it out:

New seat foam for all seats.

Beautiful German body molding.

New complete '74 only wiring harness, WCM intake boots (empi ones
split), Battery cables, hood latch and receiver, German engine
compartment, hood and decklid seals, new inner window scrapers.

All new WCM window seals with aluminum molding, various rubber seals,
polished aluminum speedo ring, new decklid script (genuine), and new
chrome quarter vents.

I was particularly impressed with the finish of the chrome quarter vents.
They are beautiful pieces and pictures don't do them justice. I was
skeptical about them at first (only $20) but I'm glad I chose them over black.

New TMI salt and pepper carpet behind seat. The front carpet kit is coming
from Aircooled.net, along with headliner, door panels, and seat upholstery.
I was going to buy the interior kit from Jbugs, but I found that
Aircooled.net had a tweed headliner for less $ and I could mix and match
my interior combo with more options for only a bit more money. They're
customer service is fantastic and I have read that Jbugs is a bit
disorganized... I like giving my money to a smooth, helpful operation. 8)

Various interior and exterior rubber, seals, clips, and gadgetry. Also a new
pair of brake light switches for the master cylinder.

I love new parts. 8)

These will all be installed when the body comes back from paint. Until then,
I will continue to upload pictures and descriptions of the work I did before
the body went to paint. There is still more work to do on the chassis before I can install the body anyway.

Fri Dec 23, 2011 9:52 pm

Dude, you are kicking ass!!

Let me ask you, did you wear good respirators when you were sandblasting?

I would recommend you replace the bearings if you got sand in them, just to know that they are new and will last you. You can get stranded and limp home with almost any problem, but a wheel bearing isn't one of them! I got new bearings all around for my beetle, front and rear, in and out. And Redline synthetic CV grease for them.

I admire your work, you are doing a great job. I hope my beetle turns out as good as yours. I am taking it one day at a time, but hoping that I get it done before my new rescue puppy totally eats the seat of my 02V Star 1100.

I joke around with the Hispanic housekeeper, if she can cook perrito con queso (Small dog with cheese) because if he keeps eating my stuff that is how he is going to end up! Not really.

Good looking Honda, too, that is a sweet bike. My first was a Yamaha XS650XG candy apple red when I was 14. Remember, you always regret selling a toy. Hold on to it if you can.

Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:20 pm

tundrawolf wrote: Dude, you are kicking ass!!

Let me ask you, did you wear good respirators when you were sandblasting?

I would recommend you replace the bearings if you got sand in them, just to know that they are new and will last you. You can get stranded and limp home with almost any problem, but a wheel bearing isn't one of them! I got new bearings all around for my beetle, front and rear, in and out. And Redline synthetic CV grease for them.

I admire your work, you are doing a great job. I hope my beetle turns out as good as yours. I am taking it one day at a time, but hoping that I get it done before my new rescue puppy totally eats the seat of my 02V Star 1100.

I joke around with the Hispanic housekeeper, if she can cook perrito con queso (Small dog with cheese) because if he keeps eating my stuff that is how he is going to end up! Not really.

Good looking Honda, too, that is a sweet bike. My first was a Yamaha XS650XG candy apple red when I was 14. Remember, you always regret selling a toy. Hold on to it if you can.

Thanks bro. 8)
For years all I have done is sit on this forum and gape at others' work in jealousy and wonder, and to now have somebody look up to my project is really sweet.

When we were sandblasting, we wore 3M HD facemasks, not respirators. But we weren't using silica after all. I didn't spin the bearings with the sand in them and they weren't directly sprayed with sand, it just fell on the opening (the bearings were protected by the existing grease). I pulled them apart, inspected and cleaned them and they were like new. Almost no play to speak of. So I repacked them with Valvoline synthetic grease and called it good. Hopefully I won't have a problem with them... I'm more concerned with the Taiwan bearings that came with my front disc brake kit...

Thanks for the compliment on the bike as well. It's kind of a funny story... the summer before, my little brother bought an '81 CM400T in near MINT shape for $900... he didn't even have his license yet. Then my mom decided she wanted a motorcycle. So she bought a HD Sportster for her 50th "over the hill" birthday. Then my older brother bought a '76 yamaha XS500 DOHC... a clean machine. Then my dad bought a '96 Kawasaki Vulcan, followed by an '03 Suzuki GZ250. I was left out, so I bought this 1975 CB550 for $850 after a few months of religious craigslisting. I can't describe the reliability, beauty and power of this machine. :twisted:
So that is 6 bikes in 10 months.
The funny thing is this - my little brother (who started the whole motorcycle craze in our family) is stuck with his dinky 400 while everybody else has "real" bikes. He's actually kinda pissed about it. :lol:

My older brother has since sold the XS500 to buy a CB650 - he loved the looks and ease of maintenance of my Honda, not to mention the extra two cylinders. :lol:

Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:40 pm

I have been working on and rebuilding motorcycles for 18 years.. By far Honda and Yamaha make incredibly (The word incredibly is used a lot. For example if I told you I once rode an XR200 for a long time with nearly zero oil pressure when I was younger. The camshaft welded itself to the head several times while riding, I barely noticed it, but it still started and ran great. It took me drowning it in a river and tearing it apart before I found out what was going on. [timing chain slap!] You might say that I am not "credible", as in incredible. But that is a true story.) reliable machines.

I could go on and one but you have made the right choice. (Suzuki makes some good ones, but comparably speaking overall, and Kawasaki I wouldn't own although there are always exceptions) So reliable mechanically speaking, they are boring.

Be safe out there.

(And thanks for commenting in my build thread)

Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:09 pm

tundrawolf wrote: I have been working on and rebuilding motorcycles for 18 years.. By far Honda and Yamaha make incredibly (The word incredibly is used a lot. For example if I told you I once rode an XR200 for a long time with nearly zero oil pressure when I was younger. The camshaft welded itself to the head several times while riding, I barely noticed it, but it still started and ran great. It took me drowning it in a river and tearing it apart before I found out what was going on. [timing chain slap!] You might say that I am not "credible", as in incredible. But that is a true story.) reliable machines.

I could go on and one but you have made the right choice. (Suzuki makes some good ones, but comparably speaking overall, and Kawasaki I wouldn't own although there are always exceptions) So reliable mechanically speaking, they are boring.

Be safe out there.

(And thanks for commenting in my build thread)

The first bike I rode was my neighbor's XR70 and that thing is impeccably reliable. Starts up on the first kick in the dead of winter after being winterized for a month. :shock: Me, my brother, and my neighbor all stacked ourselves on his XR70 and drove around back roads (I live in the sticks) for hours on end and the thing never even cared.
My CB made it all the way from Spokane to Seattle and back in a weekend without a single complaint, in fact I took the long way through Leavenworth just so I could hit some twisties in the mountains. :twisted: With the carbs perfectly in sync and the points and dwell adjusted, I can get it to idle down to 600rpm... and it has the flattest, most consistent torque band of any machine I have driven. It pulls from 20mph to 100mph in 5th smooth like butter. These bikes also have a huge following, along with CB350fours, Cb400fours, Cb500fours, and Cb750fours... I regular this site: http://www.sohc4.net

My brother's XS500 had very poorly designed internals... apparently the engine was such a lemon that they just didn't sell parts for it. The main bearings have an outer race, but the ball bearings just roll along a channel in the crank journal - no inner race. So when the bearings are shot, so is the crank - and good luck finding a crank. The engine was so unpopular that they don't even produce filters for the bike anymore - no reproductions or anything. With a little trial fitting, I found that the oil filter for a Subaru outback threaded right on. Air filters weren't made for it, so my brother made one out of microfiber cloth - it was too restrictive and made it run rich, but hey, its better than lean. He traded the bike for a paint job for his '83 Camaro. I'm a craigslist fiend, so I found him an '81 CB650 for $400 - it didn't run, but we brought it home and had it running in 10 minutes (no joke). It's a CV carb model, which I don't much care for (even though they have awesome throttle response and better MPGs). I like the fully mechanical carbs because they are simple and they have a really substantial feeling throttle feel in your hand - gotta put your arm into it to overcome that heavy throttle spring. Only drawback is the gas mileage. It's unheard of for these bikes to get better than 45mpgs... but hey it's better than a car.

Anyways... I seem to have gotten carried away :lol: hopefully the moderators won't delete my post completely unrelated to ACVWs...

Thanks for the comment. 8)

Sat Dec 24, 2011 6:06 am

Austin,
GREAT looking Beetle! I'm looking forward to seeing more progress. Where in Washington state are you? We've got a VW club up here in the Bellingham area.

Nice Honda! I restored/modified my CT70 this past Summer

Sat Dec 24, 2011 6:19 am

Thanks for taking the time to write and post pictures. Some of us are more visually oriented so the more pictures the better! I'll be following your post as I continue my loooonnnng journey. Great job!

Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:27 pm

YellowBeetleSB wrote: Austin,
GREAT looking Beetle! I'm looking forward to seeing more progress. Where in Washington state are you? We've got a VW club up here in the Bellingham area.

Nice Honda! I restored/modified my CT70 this past Summer

Sweet bike -things a beast. 8) Those CTs fetch a lot of money these days.

I'm in the Spokane area on the east side. Spokane has a VW club but I'm not a member even though I go to their shows... I hope to enter mine in their Bugfair this summer, but that's what I said last year. :roll: But I'm so far along now I think it's definitely possible to have this finished within the next 3-4 months.

Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:34 pm

bigdog1962 wrote: Thanks for taking the time to write and post pictures. Some of us are more visually oriented so the more pictures the better! I'll be following your post as I continue my loooonnnng journey. Great job!

Thanks!
I've been reading your 'vert build as well and boy, am I gad I haven't had to deal with much rust... the amount of cutting and welding you have to do would make me question my abilities. :lol:

Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:54 pm

Dude, it's hard to believe you're such a young whipper snapper from your wealth of talent, and good taste. I really love the quality of work you are doing on the bug. That will be a very good looking car when you are done. I absolutely love your Honda! That reminds me so much of my first Hondas in the mid 70's. They all had that simple, reliable, torquey feel that to me emulates the feel of a VW that is set up correctly. You make me feel confident that your generation is more than able, and willing to take up the torch with our prescious cars when the old coggers like me are going to be up on the porch yelling at kids to stay off of my lawn. Hopefully, I can find a few that will be willing to listen to my old tales, and get inspired to continue the ACVW legacy. Cheers Austin!

Sat Dec 24, 2011 8:07 pm

wbrown45 wrote: Dude, it's hard to believe you're such a young whipper snapper from your wealth of talent, and good taste. I really love the quality of work you are doing on the bug. That will be a very good looking car when you are done. I absolutely love your Honda! That reminds me so much of my first Hondas in the mid 70's. They all had that simple, reliable, torquey feel that to me emulates the feel of a VW that is set up correctly. You make me feel confident that your generation is more than able, and willing to take up the torch with our prescious cars when the old coggers like me are going to be up on the porch yelling at kids to stay off of my lawn. Hopefully, I can find a few that will be willing to listen to my old tales, and get inspired to continue the ACVW legacy. Cheers Austin!

Thanks for the compliment on both my car and my bike! 8) I appreciate the ego boost as well... :lol: