TheSamba.com :: View topic - Temo's first SB & Convertible frame off resto

Wed Dec 14, 2016 10:43 pm

Hi there, before anything else, "warning" this will be a very slow restoration.

Brief story: wife wanted a convertible and asked me to get one for her, originally was going to be a fixer upper and rebuild/upgrade along the way; but we found a very cheap '72 that was involve in a fire; we decide to make it a restoration... but now the car will be for me, she end up buying a Fiat.

I have a 74 Std, daily driver to work and back; this will be my first super Beetle and Convertible. I confess that once I took off the body I had second thoughts, maybe a bit over my head, but I decide to go ahead and learn along the way.

Here we go...

Wed Dec 14, 2016 10:49 pm

Floor pans are trash. Small detail of the damage.

Wed Dec 14, 2016 10:54 pm

Engine damage.

Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:06 pm

All the stuff that was damage by the fire is gone.

Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:09 pm

To the trash/recyclable... some of the stuff that melted.

Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:18 pm

Starting with the floor pan removal, the previous owner did a poor repair on the floor pan, he use 1/8" thick sheet metal and patched both pans, adding insult to injury, he welded the sheet metal to the body.

It was a 4 hrs job to cut both pans.

Picture shows the thickness of the sheet metal used.

Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:24 pm

The left side is gone, needles to say, it was a pain to remove the pan, not only the patches bad, he didn't care about sealing the joints (I shouldn't be surprise).

Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:31 pm

Today I removed the floor pan at right side, same deal as the left side, patches all over, 1/8" thick; finally got it.

Fri Dec 16, 2016 10:49 am

At least you are making progress. Just stick with it and one day it will be a great car that you built yourself. What's better than that!! Jeff

Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:02 pm

Today we cleaned the tunnel, both outside and inside; the amount of rust that came out of the tunnel was scary.

Its time to start cutting and, hopefully soon, start welding.

I made some cuts to the lower head frame, as you can see the damage is beyond repair; at this point I believed that is best to remove the complete lower half and leave the bracket for the lower control arm in place.

Time to order some parts and keep on cleaning.

Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:03 pm

miller0358 wrote: At least you are making progress. Just stick with it and one day it will be a great car that you built yourself. What's better than that!! Jeff

One day at a time.

Thanks Jeff

Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:23 am

Temo wrote: Hi there, before anything else, "warning" this will be a very slow restoration.

:lol: Most are and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, unless you're a kid living at home with no family or house to take care of. Life will get in the way many times over before you are finished. Enjoy your journey. 8)

Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:02 am

Dwayne1m wrote: Temo wrote: Hi there, before anything else, "warning" this will be a very slow restoration.

:lol: Most are and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, unless you're a kid living at home with no family or house to take care of. Life will get in the way many times over before you are finished. Enjoy your journey. 8)

So true. After reading every thread on the "Builder's link", you can see how some people start off with a bang and then slowly fizzle out. Take your time. Do it right and don't try to do everything at once. IT can easily get out of control if you try to tackle all the issues at once.

Have fun and keep the pics coming ;)

Wed Dec 21, 2016 7:15 am

When I did my 2 cars (each one took over 2yrs) I tried to do something on them every day, even if only to go out to see what had to be done next. It helped to keep it on the front burner. Jeff

Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:51 pm

First of all, thank for the words of encouragement.

I decide to tackle the Frame Head first, I drilled out the spot welds, from the lower arm bracket to the front; after removing this part I took another inspection I decide that the bracket will stay thus avoiding the alignment trouble.

Drilling the weld spots.

Area removed.

Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:46 pm

I wanted to share about the odd tings that we find in our Beetles; a previous owner tried to make a rust repair using drywall mud.

Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:57 pm

Not surprise to find the Napoleon Hat is trash; initially I cut as much as possible to work free around the tunnel area with the cutting wheel.

After fighting for some time, decide to drill out the spot welds.

Reminder to myself: drill spot welds first, cutting wheel last (if necessary)

Completely rusted out.

Sat Dec 24, 2016 8:23 am

Temo wrote: we decide to make it a restoration... but now the car will be for me, she end up buying a Fiat.

Heh, I had a very similar situation with my wife and I getting matching tattoos.

H2OSB

Sat Dec 24, 2016 8:32 am

If I may make a suggestion, and you can weigh this based upon how much you're willing to spend, or trying not to. If you replace the complete hammer head as opposed to just the bottom, all new replacement frame heads are clearanced for the rack and pinion steering rack. Now, you may have never even thought about going with R&P but if has ever crossed your mind, now would be the time to prepare for it. Obviously, the factory '72 steering box would still work with the later style frame head.

Just a thought.
johnL (aka H2OSB)
www.superbeetlesonly.com

Thu May 21, 2020 9:15 pm

Oh boy that was some interesting "life got in the way" times... now let's get back to work.

I started this week by doing some mayor cleaning and getting familiar with the project again.

I worked on the rear suspension, control arm, bought the bushings, the bearings, seals, etc. and also I bought the head frame and the right side floor pan. This should keep me busy for a bit.

Also, after buying the wrong irs covers today I got the correct ones.

Here some pics of the stuff that I cleaned and put a protective cover of "chassis saver" also I manage to get the chassis in a rotisserie that will come useful some time next weeks when I start welding.

Parts with the Chassis Saver protective coat.

The IRS "nest clean and ready for the bushings and a touch up.

The old covers rusted out, ouch.