1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible

[gereonb]

So now the pan is off I am inspecting it and deciding what to do in which sequence.

Rear end of both sides is ugly toast.

Also one side of the underneath of the frame head is gone, top and other side look perfect, we'll see when I open it up a bit if I can just wash it out with POR15 Metal Prep and then seal and patch it.

My method of just dropping the pan downwards was just so awesome if I may say so myself. Will brace the frame before removing the last piece .. the roof.

[gereonb]

Just chipping away the Tar Boards. Mallet and these cheapo putty knifes are doing the job just fine.

Going to see whats under the front area of the pans, they are OG german metal, so might be worth only doing the rear half, then again, I have found some nice OG 18gauge pans at klokkerholm and they go about $210 a side.

I got a great quote from a local media blasters to strip the whole car in including all metal for $895.

[gereonb]

Almost the last post before I send it off to be blasted.
Just remove the roof and the door with winders then I am done.
A lot of people think you can't remove the roof without ruining it, but you can.
Folder up so I can get to all the screw and bolts.

undoing the tensioning cable that goes round the rear and pretty much holds the outer layer tight.

once the cable is out of the grove you can get access to the rear bows and remove the bolts which hold them onto the chassis.

lastly put the roof back down and unbolted the frame.

and on my own stood underneath it and lifted it off on my shoulders.

[gereonb]

Well a lot of time passed since the last post.
I carried on where I left off though !.
Removed every last bolt and moving part, and rolled the body onto its side.

It took about 10 different quotes to find the place I wanted to do the stripping.
At this point all the periperhals and the pan were at the Strippers, all that was left to take down there was the body.

And just the same sequence I dropped them off I picked them up, pan and parts all Acid Dipped and Blasted clean.

So cool to have clean metal to work with and no mess and dirt.

Pan also very clean, and SOO much lighter ... what ?!

Overall I was not as shocked as I thought I would be, there was very little body damage and not as much rust as expected. The front Apron will need to come off as there was impact there that wasn't fixed properly, more about that later in another post. For now I am fixing the small stuff on the pan.

[MI-Bug]

Looking good! Reminds me of the time, many moons ago, that I striped down my 71 Super Conv. One word of caution... check your door fits before proceeding to body work the body. I trailered my fully stripped down body in a similar fashion as you and found that because I didn't support the back half of the body my door gaps opened up. I think the body flexed during transport. Oops! Other than that, keep up the good work!

[azamy66]

What a great way to start, having no surprises as you go. I have a feeling this is going to become one beautiful car. . Anxious to watch the progress.
_________________
"Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans" ~ John Lennon

1965 Java Green Sedan
1868 Yukon Yellow Convertible
2012 Passat SEL Premium PZEV

[gereonb]

7 month old is teething so it is REALLY hard to find time on the car.

I mocked up my tach in place of the speedo, if I do this then speedo and oil and fuel would go in a small LCD display, think MOtec type of thing.

I said I was going to put in dual fuel lines so I did, and internally like from factory. Temporarily removed two small pieces from the bottom panels to get them inserted properly in the mounting points.
I bought 25' of Stainless 1/4" on amazon for real small money.

And installed

One comes out in the OG spot and the other just below the Accelerator cable.

Onto the pans, the ONLY spots are on the rear like I probably mentioned already, so I wanted to keep as MUCH of the German steel as possible, including the side rails and seat rails. Here I prepped to cut each side out and drilled the spot welds on the rear from the underside.

Once drilled the spot welds really come apart easy, this was of course so much easier than removing the whole panhalfs, but now I know it would be not too bad a job.

Using the cutouts as templates.

And fitting up for welding.