'76 1200J rebuild

[Breadford]

Hello everyone. I'm 20 years old student from Serbia. Bug lover from age of 10. This is my first project, Yugoslavian(letter J means for Yugoslavia) beetle. It is standard model, 25kw engine. I have purchased it from and old guy. Long story short, it went through collision (truck tire hit), and for last five years it was sitting in the backyard. I have accidentally spotted it and decided to buy it.

There are so many rust spots. Heater channels are first on the list to replace, then floor pans and front clip. First few photos were from October of 2020 and others were from two weeks ago. I'm planning to slowly rebuild it, need more money and more spare time.

Father washing it.

Engine is working, I have driven it for two days, back in October.

There is no more space for bike in the yard . I have made temporary garage for it out of wood planks and tarp.

[studioh]

Love the color. Good luck with your build!

[Buggeee]

Congratulations on bringing it home. You are working quickly and it looks like your dad wants to help.

I look forward to more updates and pictures as you make progress. Good luck!
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Rome]

Colleague at work is Serbian; at lunch breaks he often speaks of how his father's friends or relatives are handy at fixing things with simple methods. You can try banging out the dents in your hood using a torch to heat up the impact creases and using a gently-rounded large object such as the end of a round fencepost. I see that the front apron is slightly bent back on the driver's side, so that much more bodywork and welding will be needed. Also to fix the rust/rot at the lower door hinges.

[VW_Jimbo]

Hey Rome, I don’t want to step on your toes. Please educate me if you know something different. My research and hard earned education through the years has taught me working steel cold is the preferred method.

Do not use heat! Steel has a memory. Work the dents at normal temperatures. If you heat the steel, too much, it will rearrange it’s molecular positioning and set a new molecular arrangement as “the shape”. In the current “cold” state, the panels want to return to their normal shape (assuming they did not heat up too much during the impact). Steel had a memory, so work the steel cold! No heat or very low temp heat.

You would use heat to make a totally new shape. But even then, the heat rearranges the steel molecules which makes them brittle. Over heating or overworking steel leads to weak steel and fractures start easily. Cold working steel avoids these pitfalls.

Good luck! It may be in your best interest to completely remove the badly damaged panels and either purchase a good panel or work the damaged panel off of the car. That way you can flip it over and over to mildly hammer on it!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[Breadford]

Thank you guys for the advice.

Yeah, my father is helping, this is our dream come true. It is true that our fathers are handy at fixing everything and it is known for the whole Balkans, too.

I already have replacement hood, it has a little bit rust, but in better condition than original one. Maybe i will repair it too.

I'm planning to buy new drivers side apron part and weld it. Original one is rusted out and bent. I don't really know what is price for heaters in the US, but here it is $55 a piece. The price for side apron is $40.

[Breadford]

Today was a nice sunny day. I have cleaned gas tank and air filter housing. It was all covered with gunk, dust and oil. Gas tank is prepared for sanding and later painting. I have also packed all interior parts in one box. Now there is more space in garage.
Here are some pictures.

[Rome]

Jimbo, I defer to your experience with metalworking. I just can't imagine that a strong crease such as found on Breadford's hood won't be more effectively hammered down and smoothed without heat. Let's see how he does with his specific technique.

slave1pilot has done a fine job hammering out the front quarter panels on his bashed Beetle, apparently also done cold. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...;start=280

[Breadford]

Hello everyone, I'm back on the bug project.

So after summer semester at UNI, two trips over holiday and part time job, I have finally started this project.

As I'm a student, project is on budget. My floor pans were in bad condition, and for me the only option was to remove rusted parts and patch new sheets of 1mm metal. After that I have painted it with silver pain with zinc. Also it will be painted with something similar to bitumen (HB body 950) and seam sealer (HB body 999).

It took me hours and hours of patching, but I have saved 220$.

[Busstom]

Good progress. Work with what you can, when you can. It's all a learning experience and you will enjoy the reward when you and your dad take that first ride in the refreshed Bug.
Have fun!

[Breadford]

Few more photos. Painted in black, seam sealer applied and undercoated. That's it for pans.

I have also repaired rear shock absorbers, but front will be replaced with new ones.

[Buggeee]

Awesome!
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764