Jimmy V’s 54 Oval Project

[VW_Jimbo]

[sunroof]

A friend of mine in the Austin-Healey club is also a VW lover and told me recently he was thinking of getting a beetle and doing all the rust repair himself. I hope I talked him out of it! OY!

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

An update! Thought I forgot about all of you? Nope! Just Uber busy!

I am onto the little stuff finally! Getting so much closer to blasting! Decided to take a look at the driver’s side mirror area. Seems someone, in the past, wanted a mirror but had NO SKILLSET to help them out. So, they screwed a mirror onto the door. But them another someone, removed it and had the spot filled with solder. Then someone else decided it needed a mirror attached to the door! Go figure! Love the discovered history!

Enter me!

Here it is. Door gaps looking awesome, AND HOLDING!

And here is the mirror area. Joe slick probably installed a baby turbo mirror on this, at some point after the soldering.

Nastiness!

Then I come along with my plumbing torch and melt that crap off of there!

All over the floor.

I went ahead and pounded on the metal a little bit, but that area is really guarded on the backside. It will get some body filler after blasting.

It then was time for the B pillar base on the driver’s side. I had completed the exterior panel at this area. I also repaired the base of the B pillar at the door. I also replaced the heater channel and the metal going from the HC to right before the bend at the inner panel. But I never completed the rest of the steel replacement, due to a sagging body. Well, now the door card section of the B pillar will get removed and replaced.

Here it is.

First I unfold the remnant sections of the pinch weld. Super rusty!

I then sanded down the rear of the seam to highlight the spot welds, so I can drill them all out.

I then drilled them all out and broke the seam apart. Followed that by poking around, to see, how much steel needs to be removed and replaced.

After figuring out the size, I went searching for a remnant section of steel. That ol 59 clip, once again, has come in handy! Thank goodness I never throw good stuff away! Got it out of the back of the shelf, marked it and cut it.

Then over to the car for a test fit!

Trimmed it a few times and ended up with this.

Marked it and decided to cut a small amount more off, since the previous repairs intrude on the new patch by a small amount more.

I then cut the section out and cleaned up all the edges for welding.

It then got welded!

The next week, I was able to grind that area down.

I then went back and filled some holes and added some steel to a couple of thin spots.

Ground those down. I then decided, since I am right here, to remove the entombed bolts at the rear seat mount. So, took the welder and dropped a small lever on the end of the bolt. Then with a pair of Vice Grips, twisted that out! Easy pesy!

And the cut out piece! Look at the damage!

Until some more free time pops up!
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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!

[67rustavenger]

Nice update.
I was wondering what the Grizzly Bear had been up to.

What do you suppose will be the thickest filler area you're gonna have to apply?
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[sunroof]

Well done Jimbo!

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

Got me another 4 hours in!

First up. Grinding last weeks welding at the rear driver’s quarter panel.

Got to fill a few holes!

Then to the Driver’s rear quarter panel. I drilled holes in this to pull the side swipe out. Finally got to welding them closed!

Pulled the fender. I love my impact swivel sockets. Hands down one of my best tools!

Welded up all of the holes and ground them all flat.

Since the fender was off, thought that I would hammer on it a little bit!

Beat out the swiped section. Then primed it. Still needs some love, but it is shaped more like a fender. And the body line is really good, except one spot.

And looks like I missed a spot grinding!

I then moved over to the vent wing at the drivers door. Was intending to remove the seal channel and weld in a new one, but not seeing why. So, thinking I will get it blasted and get a better idea of the condition, at that point. Opting out of that, but still need to remove the entombed screws.

The door.

Entombed screws with weld blobs on them.

Screws removed!

I was able to use my cut off wheel to place a groove in the weld blob, making it a screw essentially. I then used a flat head and removed the screw shanks! Love it!

Till next 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!

[67rustavenger]

This is really starting to look like a solid car.
I'm liking this pic.

Shows the car is coming together. At least from here in Oregon.

Keep up the great work Jimbo. It'll get done one of these days.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

Managed to get another 3 hours in today!

Dove straight into the driver’s side body to fender from yesterday. I managed to force my spoon into the area that needs to be pushed out. It falls directly along the fender intersection. Think it shrunk when I welded in the lower patch panel. Here is yesterday’s picture.

Here it is after beating on it for 20 minutes. I actually broke the steel at the crease. So, I get to reweld that spot now!

I can live with that. Well, let me think about it.

I then reviewed the engine area and decklid. All looks good, except for the inner apron skirt. I will need to weld in some good steel, at the inner skirt, in one small spot. That’s for next, next weekend.

Then I moved onto the Passenger rear fender. It looks good. Good line except for the steel shrinkage at the quarter panel near the engine area, and a large dent.

Here is the spot I need to push over a little bit. Maybe a 1/16th of an inch.

That’s for next week.

And the fender. Pretty decent shape, except for a soft spot in the steel, maybe from metal fatigue. Right there at the top of the inner fender.

Close up.

It looks like something is funky. Let me feel the inside lip. Oh shit! That feels like rebar! Oh, it is!

Person has to do what they have to do, right! I also have several pin holes to fill on the inner fender well. I guess I will remove the fender, so I can work on it, whenever I get some more free time.

I then started in on welding the driver’s rear fender up. The steel is in good shape, but there are several rust holes, small ones. So, I opted for welding them shut.

Finished the welding up and reinstalled the fender on the car. Bottom reshaped and stitched back up.

Got the gap under control. Had to weld that steel back together. The fender is sitting perfectly on the car, now!

That’s it for a few weeks. Back on vacation!!! Camping at San Clemente Beach!
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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!

[VW_Jimbo]

Got home from camping at San Clemente State Park and immediately went into working on the Bug! No I didn’t. I went to sleep. Then, got up, spent the morning regrouping and then got to the Bug!

Started up on the interior passenger side. Focused on getting the back seat support and the back seat back rest welded in. But first, I had to spin the Bug around!

Then I had to find the remnant section of the inner quarter panel that had the seat support still attached to it.

I then took that over to the quarter panel to locate the seat support.

I marked the top edge of the support and cleaned one of the ones I have laying around.

I then cleaned the weld areas and welded in the support. Ground the welds down and sprayed some primer.

Then same steps to place the rear seat upper support.

Then moved to the rear window and cleaned up a few welds. Filled, ground and primered!

My next task was to fabricate a replacement piece for the lower front rear fender on the passenger side. Pretty badly rusted and too thin to just weld the holes closed.

That was the timer! Next time maybe I can get the fender completed.
_________________
Jimbo

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

[VW_Jimbo]

Spent 4 more hours on the Bug today! Yippee!!!

Back on the rear right fender. Set it up on the saw horses.

Took the steel patch and started to mark out the curve at the outer edge.

Then, using those diving weights from my bro in law, I started to shape the panel, slowly.

Took it over and checked it against the fender.

Look to wide and that inner edge is slanted. Let’s go back and change it.

Needed to know how much to change it by. Finally took my welding magnets and stuck the original piece and my patch to the table saw top! Now I can see what is going on.

Let me illuminate it.

See the height difference? That’s the issue. My curve is good, but the panel is too wide. Let’s get to pounding on it! Oh, wait, just thought of another way to see the differences. Let’s stack them up to one another! Like this!

I then marked the excess.

With it marked. I then trimmed it to match.

I then held it up to the car.

Then drilled a fender bolt hole into the patch. In the process, I found one of the sharp edges. Par for the course!

With everything adjusted and looking good, I welded into place.

Edge looks great! Welded it in, ground those down and primed it!

And here is the piece I removed!

_________________
Jimbo

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

[tehillah1]

Nice work! Thanks for sharing the process of restoring that fender Sensei. I've got 4 to work on so having some pointers is great.

[esde]

Great work as always, I'm super jealous of that door gap. Mine are too big and the only consolation I have is that someone else did the heater channels. Not sure how/ if there's anything to be done about it.
Have you considered the spray on polyester filler? Might be perfect for your project. You rough in the low spots first, then apply the spray filler. 2 coats would lay about 1/8".
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

Got another 3 hours in! Man, it is good to have a little bit of free time!

Dragged the Bug to the mid point in the garage. Then grabbed the trunk conduit, from the top shelf storage area. Opened up the trunk and placed the tube into it’s spot.

It looks great, except that this panel does not have a hole for the conduit to exit into the interior. Damn it! See.

Well, thankfully, I do not throw stuff away, until I am certain they have no more value. Thus, the old trunk floor has been resurrected!

It has the exact location for the hole and the location for the loom clip and the location for the nut. Let’s start measuring!

I then transferred those dimensions onto the car’s trunk floor and marked a cut line. I need to make a small cut, about 5/8” perpendicular to the conduit. I then will need to deform the steel on either side of the hole, to create a tunnel for the conduit to slide into.

First the cut.

I then inserted a 1/4” punch, to spread the cut apart. I push the punch up and down in an effort to create the tunnel.

That was a start, but it needs to become more refined and the tunnel needs to be larger. Let’s try my trusty center punch. It has a tapered profile.

That is better! Now I need to use a dull chisel to get the steel to become tighter around that opening. So, I pulled out a steel rod from a printer I dismantled several months ago. Saved it for just such an event, believe it or not! I slipped the rod into the opening.

I then took a regular steel chisel and crushed the steel on both sides to collapse the opening much tighter.

And the end result is perfect!

From the inside.

Once done, I removed the conduit, ran a wire wheel on the parts that are going to be touching other steel and sprayed some weld through primer on it. I used the old trunk floor as a waste catch for the cleaning of the conduit.

Once cleaned, I stuck it into the car!

Had to reshape the end to interact with the hood release correctly.

The old weld lines up perfectly after all that has happened!

Cleaned off the weld through where it will be welded and the welded, followed by grinding, followed by some temporary primer.

And on the interior side.

I then welded in a wire loom strap and a weld nut. Had to get creative on the clamping of the weld nut.

Through that brass nipple and steel washer was a 3” screw that I screwed into a 2x4 to retain the weld nut, for welding.

And there it is, welded, ground and primed!

It is not much, but it is one step closer to the end point!

Going back on vacation! See you in a few weeks!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[VW_Jimbo]

Well, got done working a little earlier than expected, today! No one was home, so I went out to the Bug, because it was calling my name! Another 3 hours!

Decided to try and knock out the rear fender rebar spot. My starting point.

Outlined the spot to cut out, but first we need to make a repair patch, for it.

Look at that tear. Bad steel!

And the start of the new patch, cut from a remnant left over from the rear quarter panel section! Cut off a small piece and shaped it, one tiny bump at a time.

It is mostly straight right now, it has a J profile to match the fender. See.

Here it is next to the fender. A perfect match right? No! It is missing the arch.

Let see if we can remedy that. I pushed it through a stretcher to give it a curve.

Crazy that sliding jaws work that well! Got it pretty damn close! Took several times, a few through the shrinker, too!

Then, up against the fender, to see if I got the bend and where to cut it off at.

Cut the ends off, then scribed some lines on the fender and cut out the bad steel. Then popped the patch into the empty void. Perfect!

With it in place, I scribed a cut line to match the spot.

Then cut it and checked the fit. Again, perfect! Here is the old cut out section.

Rebar! Damn, that is one shitty repair!

The patch tacked in.

Still need to weld up the underside. Ran out of time. It was member Monday at the local brewery!

The underside.

Maybe next time I can finish that one off!
_________________
Jimbo

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