My 68 Bug Thread

[Disaster06]

I know. And I found a couple rust spots up by the front fender/heater duct Area


Going to have to sand and pray. I need to go to golden west for a lesson on how to weld or I might be taking you up on your offer lol

[joey1320]

[VW_Jimbo]

[Disaster06]

[Rome]

Did you find the same grey in the quart can as you sprayed your door inner surfaces? That'll look terrific on the outside. Somebody here in the late Beetle forum painted their early '70's Beetle Rusto Smoke Grey with a spray gun; turned out quite good per the photos. But your door color grey looks to be darker than Smoke Grey.

When prepping your exterior for your repaint, lift up the edges of your rubber window seals and slide 14 ga wire all around. That lifts the rubber off the body and makes it easier to tape off. Once the paint is dry, remove the wire and you'll have a nice overlap of the rubber onto the new paint, without a paint line.

I'd also recommend spraying the Rust-O-Leum on using a cheap HVLP gun. Best to use/borrow/rent a 20 gallon air compressor and a few disposable screw-on filters on your air line. I did a driveway partial paint in gloss black about 20 yrs ago on my old Beetle using Rusto and a conventional DeVilbiss paint gun I got for free somewhere. I applied it too thick on some spots so that I got runs, but in most other areas it came out acceptably for what I wanted. Spray on one light coat, take a 30 min. break, then come back and spray on a 2nd coat. Let the car sit at least several days for the paint to dry. You can pick up plenty of tips on theSamba paint forum also.

Looks like you have '66 / '67 Type 3 "deep nipple" hubcaps.

[Disaster06]

The inside was metallic rustoleum spray paint. Unfortunately, haha I decided not to spray paint the whole car that color, but I don't mind a two tone (inside different than outside, new cars do it all the time).

I'm going for the roll on, already bought all the stuff. I'll definitely update the thread on my progress

[Disaster06]

[VW_Jimbo]

[Disaster06]

[img]https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1687222.jpg[/

Front spots, only looks like surface rust on one side. Light rust on the other that someone may have tried to patch

Rear left isn't too bad, rear right needs some work. This was just covered up with bondo by the previous owner

[Disaster06]

[VW_Jimbo]

Hey man,

I was working on the Bug, but it is way too hot and the beach is packed!

Regarding your Bug.....
Go to Home Depot, paint department, purchase a bottle of Naval Jelly. Use it on the front fender walls, as per directions. Lets see how bad it is. It looks pretty good from here. Hoping it is just on the surface and not chewy away at the heater channels.

The back has been through some serious water cycles. Betcha the rear side window rubber was in bad shap, let a bunch of water in. Naval jelly the bottom front of the wheel well, where the fender bolts on. Hope it is just surface rust or very localized! And again, not eating up your heater channel.

The fender nuts, easy enough, just alot of work! If you can expose the back side of the missing fender nuts, it would be way easier. Use a dolly and hammer and get the socket back into shape (flat). Naval jelly on all of those, too. Then we can go through and weld some new nuts in place! You can access the front nuts from behind the side panel.
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Disaster06]

I know after like an hour and a half of working on it I felt like I had heat stroke and had to go inside

[Disaster06]

Got a grinder and went a little further. Back doesn't look like it has any more rust (some light dust in the hole, but I have some rust converter)

Front drivers side looks like it was just surface rust as well

Passengers side has rust, and it feels like it might have gone through to the other side. I'm going to pull the carpet off this week by the passenger floor. I don't know where to go from here. Cut out a square of it with the grinder and then weld or JB weld a patch back in? Seems like it is an inch or two square

[Disaster06]

Used a hammer and dolly for the first time today. Was pretty stoked with the test. Forgot to take a before pic of the deck lid, but it had several dings in it.

I was thinking of upgrading to a 70s style lid with vents, it maybe I'll paint this and give it a shot as it's original

Cleaned it up and now my neighbor is going to teach me how to bondo (it takes a village )

[Rome]

Excellent that you are starting to develop a skill with the hammer + dolly. Do your wrists hurt now?

If you enjoy banging original metal back to shape, you can take a 1' or 2' long 2x4, round off one end across the width with a wood rasp file; or even an old baseball bat, holding the board/bat against the bottom front edge of your front apron, and reshape the contour by carefully banging a heavier hammer on the other end.

[Disaster06]

Haha, wrists don't hurt, I'm sure the condo neighbors aren't the happiest though 😳

Good idea on the baseball bat idea. I wish I had a dolly with that shape already or a ball peen hammer. Mine is flat

[VW_Jimbo]

Hey Disaster,

Thanks for letting me stop by the other day. Your Bug looks great. Easy enough on the rust repairs, nothing too bad that I can see, except for where that pan is lifted.

Let me know when you are ready to open those spots up. If you need some help or another brain, let me know. Willing to help out another vw guy!

Just read about the hammer and dolly. Did you have fun banging that metal? That is an artform and really rewarding once you understand where to hit and how hard to hit the metal.

Again, hit me up anytime. You are really close to my house, plus it gives me an excuse to drive the Bug!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Disaster06]

Thanks again for coming out Jim. Found rust under the rear window seal in some spots today. Looks like I'll be taking out the windows after all.

I'm definitely buying some naval jelly this week. How tough are windows to do?
My neighbor does glass for a living, commercial, but he has done auto before. He mentioned he would help me if needed. Figured I would pull out the glass and naval jelly the rust, not sure if it needs filling, and. It sure how to if it does haha (can you bondo that stuff?)

Rust is depressing. I feel like a doctor fighting cancer in a patient, and want to send the patient home to live out the rest of its short life 😕

[VW_Jimbo]

Rust is shitty stuff! But it serves a purpose in life, so we need to respect that force of nature. Ying and yang! The issue then is being able to deal with it, since it is ever present! You are so correct with the cancer comparison, and it is strange that we mechanics treat it the same way. Cut it out or treat it chemically!

Windows are super easy! I do them by myself. Liquid soap is your best friend and a few curved pick tools.

That area under the seal in the back is very common. I would venture to speculate at least 60 percent of Bugs have some form of rust in that spot. To repair, use that Naval Jelly and then you will need to add metal to those eaten away areas or braze them in. Follow that up with, primer and paint. Then be carful installing the window by using fishing line or weed wackier line.

Let me know if you need me to come by and walk you through it or how I can help you out.

Best thing about that spot is you cannot see it, so the patches do not need to be perfect! Down side is they are all compound curves!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Buggeee]

Extra cook in the kitchen here. Jimbo knows more so go with his so say but...

I was a navel jelly fan until I found phosphoric metal prep. I think the active ingredient is the same, but the metal prep is much easier to use and clean up than the jelly. Its not quite watery, but almost. Kind of like corn oil I might say. I load it into a spray bottle and mist it on. Oh, and phosphoric acid binds up the layer of iron molecules so they aren't prone to flash rust. It can be rinsed off but I just wipe it off after its been on there for day and let it dry. If its on heavier rust it will leave a white powder that comes right off with sandpaper or wire brush off or whatever and I hit it again. I think I got the phosphoric acid at Home Depot. Here it is cleaning up my heater boxes. I love this stuff, because I do not have a sandblaster I guess.

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