Zezdy's 1970 VW Build

[Rome]

[Zezdy]

Rome, those are all great observations. Thanks for pointing them out; I learned a lot in one post!

I also like the factory wheels. I'm planning on either re-painting them silver or chroming them.

I've been practicing a little, but not a ton. The local community college is offering a welding class on Saturdays, but unfortunately I can't make it due to my work schedule.

[Zezdy]

I started some work on the front frame head. The driver's side, as you can see, is nearly completely rusted through.

I drilled out the spot welds and cleaned up the metal that I could.

I'll cut out the bottom portion, and probably half way into the body mount holes. I want to leave as much of the metal as I can to serve as a guide for the patch to avoid alignment issues. I'll also coat the inside of the Napoleon hat with rust converter and interior frame coating while this portion is taken apart.

[Zezdy]

I cleaned up the floor pan shelf around the tunnel and frame head. While tapping around the body mounts on the passenger's side, I ended up with a large pile of rust underneath the mounts. They aren't quite as bad as the driver's side, but still need patched or replaced. Now I just wait for the funds for new pants and heater channels!

I've blown out the majority of the rust from the frame head, and it still looks structurally sound. I'll convert the rust and then put some of Eastwood's internal frame coating down the length of the tunnel.

I also cut out a couple of rusted through panels on the body. I followed VWJimbo's advice from other threads and cut out panels with radius'd corners.

I also started cleaning some of the misc. nuts, bolts, and washers that I've had bagged and tagged for a while. I've been using Evapo-Rust with pretty good success. After that, I wash them with water, dry them off, and put them in a 5lb Harbor Freight tumbler with fine walnut shells. Here are the end results:

Again, I can't thank you all enough for all of the feedback, as well as knowledge elsewhere on the forum. It is indeed priceless!

[Zezdy]

Cleaned up some of the paint and undercoat around the spot welds of the heater channels.

I also peeled the seam sealer on the rear half of the heater channels.

I measured my door gaps, which are 36 1/2 inches at the narrowest points on both sides. I took three measurements on each door; bottom, middle, and where the metal starts to bend for the window.

I'm also in the process of making a jig out of some scrap lumber lying around. The theory is that it marks the frame mount bolts that are rotted.

[scrivyscriv]