Flounder's 71 super vert nightmare restoration

[floundermay]

Been a long time but I am still slowly moving forward bug. I actually have insurance and a license plate and took her for a drive to the corner today. Still lots to do but it is looking like a car!

[lovethatconvertible]

Excellent, Another one almost back from the dead. Nice work
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1960 Convertible

[floundermay]

[floundermay]

Well finally back from getting painted. Actually I found a place that let me rent their spray booth for the day. I started at 8 in the morning and did not finish till almost 10 at night. No breaks, no food. I was exhausted and very sore. The worst part is I had to drive back out(about an hour)the next morning to pick the car up before 8. It is nowhere near perfect, but it looks good from a distance!

[floundermay]

[260KMN]

Some nice work there, if its any consolation, i did almost all the same repairs on my cabrio, it seems like an endless weldathon but its worth it in the end.
Looking forward to seeing this done.

[jerrybromley]

WOW I love this thread ! I am doing almost exactly the same thing on my 73 convert .

This is what I brought home

these are some of the problems

This is my solution

[floundermay]

I am leaning towards a blue and white two tone paint mix. Originally the wife wanted tourquoise and white, but I think a bright metallic royal blue and white is where it will be.

I looked through your build thread, great work, gives me motivation to complete mine!

[beetlenut]

Great job and Great perseverance! I had a similar project that just might make it back on the road by Spring. The VW specific knowledge you've gained along the way will serve you well for the rest of the car's life. There's something about knowing every nut and bolt of your car that makes driving it that much more pleasing! What color are you going to paint it?
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scrapyards are for quitters
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[floundermay]

So it has been two and a half years since I posted, Many people would have quit or given up, I'm still working and making progress. I Have completed te engine, and it runs on a the stand. And I am almost ready to send the girl off to paint. I decided to have someone else paint is as I did not want to do that much painting in an attached garage. Here are a few pictures of how it looks today, a huge difference the some of my earlier posts!

[floundermay]

Driver side done, not going to weld the bottom down until all four corners are done in case i need to make any final tweeks. Currently the door gaps are good and they shut very nicely!

Little man out to help, Safety First!

inside repair

Almost ready for the patch

Patch Cut

Tacked in

Welding done

Coat of Masterseries primer (will remove and use epoxy primer when i do final body work)

Needs a little hammer work at the weld seam, but that can wait. (Look at the nice door gap!)

[floundermay]

Engine back in car to help fit panels

Rear apron on and welded

Somewhat complete looking rear end!

[floundermay]

Starting to look like a car!

[floundermay]

What a nightmare! Again thank god for donor metal!

TOP ON FITS NICE!

[floundermay]

Basically the same for both sides

[floundermay]

Replacing the a Pillars thanks to the donor car

[floundermay]

After cutting out the rusted bottom of the vert I am ready to transplant it onto the sedan bottom. Unfortunately my bracing did not help much so I ended separating the car into pieces to get things to line up (sorta)

[floundermay]

I has been a long 4 years, moved, changed jobs so I have not made much progress till lately. so I will update over the next few posts. Here is the fat chick in her new home

[zozo]

It looks like you're determined to drag that beast back from the edge of the grave. GREAT JOB. Keep up the good work, and keep posting pics of the progress.

[floundermay]

The heater channels from the donor were in fairly good shape. There was only 3 places that needed to be addressed. both sides of the front crossmember and on little area on the channel. so I cut out the area welded in donor metal. Then I had the entire thing blasted, two coats of Masterseries, then 2 coats of epoxy primer so that it will match my plans for the body. Any comments on the welding would be helpful, I am getting better, but I still do not think I am doing things just right.......

Bad metal cut out

Welding in new metal

Lots of Grinding, how does it look?

Blasted

Finally painted and on the Chassis

Well that is all for now, a year worth of work in 4 posts. I will post more as I make progress. Thanks for the comments so far. I have a ton more pictures posted on photobucket, just search for "floundermay"