Zezdy's 1970 VW Build

[Zezdy]

Well, it's been a frustrating week. All bolts were soaked in PB Blaster for several days. The one in the backseat broke free easily. The shock tower bolts also came free without too much issue. The four frame head bolts, however, are proving to be a different beast altogether.

I've soaked them four about four days in PB Blaster, applied twice daily. Before re-applying, I'd thwack them with a hammer a few times to hopefully break something loose. I went to remove the passenger's side bolts and imagine my joy when one of the bolts started to turn! Everything felt right, and I backed it all the way out. Then imagine my disappointment when I inspected the bolt and noticed it had broken off about half an inch from the tip. The tip was almost completely rusted through on not one, not two, but three bolts. The fourth is remaining stuck in place. I've given up for the day.

Also, while banging around on the bolts, I noticed the driver's side bottom, just in front of the floor pan, is rusted completely through and will need to be replaced.

It's been a week.

[Buggeee]

Ahhh the ebb and flow of the project. Progress not perfection. Slow and steady wins the race. The journey is the destination. Lol. Get out the torch. The local hardware store will have a handy kit with Mapp gas. It's the yellow bottle. It burns hotter than propane. I get the rusty stuff cherry red to combust the rust. You will be amaze at what will twist out when it is glowing cherry red. At that temperature the rust is literally burned away.

Bug on!
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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Zezdy]

All four of the underside 17mm frame bolts are now out. I ended up welding a nut to the one that was remaining, and it turned pretty easily after that.
Looking at them, I'm not convinced that three of them broke off. I think there was just the one, but I'm not sure. I think I have everything else disconnected, and just did the steering coupler today. I tried to lift the front apron just to see if I would get any separation from the body and pan, and I haven't gotten anything. Tomorrow I'm going to build a rolling frame for the body, and hopefully start lifting the body off with jacks just to get the seal broken. I'm going to leave the engine attached to start, and see how it goes.

[VW_Jimbo]

Nice update! It is always cool to see the body get lifted! Work smart. Take your time.
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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!

[Zezdy]

Another snag! The body is stuck to the pan on the passenger's side. I'm getting some separation on the driver's side; which is coming away nicely from the floor pans. I've triple and quadruple checked my bolts, and began to pry from the driver's side, trying to get some separation on the passenger's side. No luck so far! I've got it jacked up a smidge under the spare tire compartment, hoping that gravity will slowly do its thing!

I'm also curious about stripping rust from the inside of fenders/luggage compartment, etc... Is the proper procedure just to strip with a wire wheel to bare metal, then apply spray can primer?

Thanks all for your help!

[Matt Wilson]

There are outer bolts, of course, that you can see retaining the body and chassis in the shock tower area, but also there may be two inboard bolts, one on each side that you aren't seeing. These sit about 6-8in inboard from the shock tower mounting points. Maybe check there??
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1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle

[Zezdy]

Inside the cab?

[Matt Wilson]

Yes, sort of where the crossmember and back seat slanted shelf metal meet.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1208986
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1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle

[AircooledBackcorner]

Great project and indeed a very nice Beetle!

Be sure I’m going to follow your progress!

[Zezdy]

After about a half hour of poking and prodding in the shop, I came to the conclusion that my hangup was most likely coming from where one of my frame head bolts broke off right at the head. I crawled under, and sure enough, it looked like there was just enough to hold the pan to the body.

I got a couple of pieces of scrap lumber that I had lying around and put them under the front, passenger's wheel well. I commenced to prying and sure enough, "pop!" The bolt dislodged, and now I have full separation up front. I'm going to try and remove the body with the engine in, but we will see. It will come off eventually, I would just prefer to do it with the body off. I thnk I have everything disconnected at the engine, and hopfeully just need a couple people to lift it off onto the cart.

Thanks hedgedjsf for the cart plan. That thread is here;
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=519213&highlight=

Also, I'm not sure how effective my frame braces are. I open the driver's side door, and it drops about an inch now. Oh well, I'll deal with it when the time comes.

[Zezdy]

The body is finally off to a couple of good friends. I don't see anything that looks terrible that I didn't know about already. Good stuff!

[Zezdy]

Looking at the body a little closer, I don't think there are going to be many patches I have to do. I think there will be a few fender bolt holes to do, and a patch or two at the back. What do you guys think?

Front, driver's side front fender/heater channel

Far front, bottom, driver's side fender. The gap on the left goes straight to the frame head bolt, female end.

The Underside of the luggage compartment:

The underside of the passenger's rear luggage compartment/heater channel:

And the same on the driver's side:

A few questions going forward...

Is it necessary to completely rebuild the front beam? My plan right now is to pressure wash it, clean it up, degrease it, and coat it.

I'll be doing a front, disc brake conversion. I think I'm going to run the stock tire size and bolt pattern. Do I have to get a narrowed beam or drop spindles? The roads where I live have some bad potholes and railroad tracks, so I don't particularly want to lower if I don't have to. Also, the finished car will probably have a couple hundred extra pounds in the luggage area by the gas tank, as well as a targeted torque of about 170 lb ft. if that makes any difference. The car will be a seasonal daily driver. I'm looking at the kit on JBugs from EMPI.

My plan is to start at the front beam and work my way back. After cleaning the beam, I plan on treating it with Naval Jelly and then Por 15. Thoughts?

[Matt Wilson]

You can certainly add front disc spindles like Karmann Ghia's used and retain a stock ride height. Be sure to get backing plates and check caliper to wheel clearance. I had a set recently where I had to remove quite a bit of material from the calipers to allow the wheel to spin.
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1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle

[Zezdy]

Engine is out!

[Zezdy]

Well, progress has obviously been slow! I took a step back and saw too much in front of me. I spent some time deciding how I was going to break this project down into pieces, and decided that I'd go from the front back.

I was trying to figure out how to check if bearings and all the linkage up front is bad or not. I figure there's a tolerance some place for shim paper, but I went with the old, "if it's tight, it's good." Nothing up front has any play, so I'm going to leave the front beam as is for the most part. I am, however, going to replace the shocks and all the bad rubber. In short, the front beam is off! I'll spend some time de-greasing and cleaning it. Afterwards, I'll treat with naval jelly and Por-15.

[Buggeee]

[Zezdy]

Good catch! That was the plan at the time. I just don't want to spend $20k on a driveline. So for the moment, I think we're going to stay ICE.

[Zezdy]

Starting to spray down the front beam. What should I do about the rust near the top of the shocks and on the bottom of the left side of the beam?

[Zezdy]

After some poking at the rust spots, and some reading on the forums, I noticed that the rust goes all the way through the beam on the passenger's side. I'm not sure if it's completely unsalvageable, but it is for me. I'm going to get a new front beam and hardware, rather than putting a questionable beam back on. If anyone would be interested in this one if they think they can salvage it, just let me know!

I've also got a new glovebox door for the glovebox mod. I think it will work perfectly!

[Zezdy]

It's been awhile since I've had time to work. A lot of it is just a case of not knowing where to go next. I've decided to completely replace the front beam, and I think I'll just buy it pre-assembled.

I started working my way back and finally got the pans out. The driver's side is especially bad, and rusted to the Napoleon hat and body mounts. I'll have to cut out that portion. Additionally, there was quite a bit of rust on the tunnel near the pedal cluster.

I also started scraping the grease from the CV joints and transaxle. I'll disassemble one at a time, clean them, and replace.

I also purchased a 5lb tumbler that I've filled with walnut shells. It really does a great job of cleaning parts!