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Sat Nov 12, 2016 8:05 pm

6 months later and a little progress update. Had the passenger side front bumper mount, 3 fender weld nuts and front apron welded in place. It's not pretty looking, but the slag is being ground smooth with a flap disk, then coated with some rattle can primer,

Sun Nov 13, 2016 7:16 am

I hate to point this out but all that rust and paint had an effect on them wields.

Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:58 pm

EA812 wrote: I hate to point this out but all that rust and paint had an effect on them wields.

Actually, there isn't much rust, if any, in the welded area. I have a crappy MIG welder that my buddy was using to weld with. The wire feed wasn't working right, and the intensity setting didn't seem to be working. But the welds are holding really good, which I'm happy about.

I took a few minutes to heat the door and quarter sound deadening tar boards with a propane torch, and they came off like butter.

Before

After

The sticky residue came completely off, but left a brown staining, which will be sanded, painted, and covered with new sound deadening anyway.

Tue Aug 29, 2017 7:51 pm

Took advantage of nice North Central Texas weather and had a buddy weld up my rear bumper mounts.

I also had a fender nut welded in place on the driver's side front fender area as well as a flange nut for the driver's side headlight bucket, but I made the mistake of trying to run a screw through the nut, not realizing there was some slag splatter on the threads that eventually caused the screw to bind and subsequently snap off. F@CK!! Next step is to try drilling out the screw without srewing it up completely....

Sun Oct 29, 2017 7:31 am

Enlisted the help of a couple of guys from work to lift the body off the body dolly, and onto the chassis.

It's nice to see it as 1 piece again - it's been a long time.

Tue Oct 09, 2018 7:48 am

Just went through you're entire thread. We have a very similar approach to our projects. :D

Any updates?

Tue Oct 09, 2018 8:44 am

Man, I am at a stand still! I’m actually at a point where I need to get body work & paint done. Then the reassembly starts. Funds have just not been available, but I’m hoping to get it painted soon. Kinda wish I had the option of getting body work & paint done when the body was off the chassis, but it wasn’t an option...

Sat Aug 21, 2021 9:47 pm

Lucked out...'66 is the best year.

Wed Oct 09, 2024 10:18 pm

If you haven't posted anything then I guess you are still on hold. If painting is the problem use a HVLP sprayer. This is the kind that doesn't use high pressure and operates on 120 volt. I got mine on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091R7TES/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also use it for indoor painting. It comes in higher ratings too. I have a friend that painted his '89 Golf Cabriolet and I have seen and painted a bunch of cars, he did a triple A job for a first timer. Now he is slowly working on doing an '86 Cabriolet. Both are of the Rabbit body design. I am used to using a high pressure sprayer but after seeing his car I was convinced to buy what you see in the link. He also purchased an inflatable spray booth.

Hope you are doing okay especially with all of the crap we were put through in 2020 thru 2023. I am on the west side of Houston south of IH-10. I have a '72 Super Beetle that was in storage in Bavaria for 39 years. When I saw that yours was shipped to the Netherlands but built to US specs, it might have been bought by an American serviceman stationed in the Netherlands. If you still have the original owner's information see if her father bought the car originally and if he was stationed in Europe.

When you were considering a concrete slab I was thinking you could have built a wood patio without spaces between the planks and 6 mil plastic underneath. Then you could have turned it into a garage by pouring footings around all four sides using sackcrete (concrete in a bag) with an additional bag of cement added to the entire mixture. When doing concrete you want to use as little water as possible otherwise there is a lot of shrinkage and that forms cracks. There are other ways of doing concrete without all of the mess. In Texas there is stuff called cement stabilized base and that could be substituted for a concrete slab if used at least 6 inches in thickness, though thicker is better. It is shoveled in place and then rolled in 4 inch lifts and spraying with water. Then it is covered wit plastic or burlap material to hold in the moisture. In a few days it is as hard as concrete. TxDOT has a spec for it.

Thu Oct 10, 2024 8:14 am

I was going for the record on longest stalled project.... So right now we're getting ready to make some life changes with my wife's elderly parents, which will involve selling our house, so lots of things will be put aside including any work on my project, and improvements of where I work on the car. Hoping we find a house that has a nice enclosed shop to move forward with my project and others. Thanks for your input!

Thu Oct 10, 2024 8:36 am

hope you get everything solved and it is a shame you have to sell your house, though prices have gone up significantly. I hope your employment doesn't go to shit too.

Regards,
Paul Villforth