Jimmy V's 54 Oval Project

[VW_Jimbo]

[scrivyscriv]

One of my pet peeves that has bit me in the past is exactly what the above two posts are about! You get done working on each one specific subtask, with the unstated idea that it will all smoothly go together. And then, it doesn’t, often after finish work is (was) complete!

Like the front beam. It’s easy to do each step along the way, and loose sight of the fact that one may be HAMMERING on the trailing arms at some point to seat them in the beam! Or the rear axle plates that get PRIED or JACKED into place! I know I tried to keep my future rework to a minimum on the chassis, since it got powder coated. But I still ended up having to re-weld the jack point on one side after powdercoat. It’s frustrating at that point - but I can safely say now that I’ve been driving, those pet peeves register in my memory, but don’t affect my enjoyment of the car.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[VW_Jimbo]

Got in another 4 hours! Got the first layer of plastic filler on the passenger door! Woot! WOOT! Guess I am starting on the next phase of the project, SANDING. Have I mentioned that I despise sanding! As a kid, my one job that I had was to sand all of the cabinets that my father would build. He built them, and I would fill the nail hole, sand out the faces and finished ends, being sure to ease all of the edges! I have years and years of experience sanding wood. But I can tell you it is very much the same!

Here is what I started with.

I had semi adjusted the door. Just something to verify that it fit still and would hang correctly in the opening without spending a ton of time playing with it! Gaps are good, sitting an 1/8” too low, but still has room to adjust that amount.

I then ran some tape around what I was going to work on. Then took my open hand, laid it on the door skin and felt the entire surface, mapping the surface issues with that hand. I then filled the bottom in and sanded it to shape, or as close as I could get without removing to much material!

Followed that up with spreading more Xtreme filler onto the door skin, building on top of what I already laid down and hitting the spots above that area. Then sanded it all. Then filled it all again, followed by more sanding!

It finally got to really close, so I shot a light coat of primer on it and then speckled some black on top of that!

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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!

[sunroof]

I admire your willingness to sand. I hired a professional and let him do the sanding. Money well spent I thought.

Keep it coming, I'm still watching.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

[Ted2]

OK, I have to ask, How will you adjust your doors? I have the same problem with my '55.

Thanks

[VW_Jimbo]

[Busstom]

Loving this! I step away for a few months and I miss all the action!
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My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom)

[VW_Jimbo]

[Ted2]

[VW_Jimbo]

Got another hour in after work yesterday! Managed to spread some filler. Sand it down to within reason and prime it up again. It will require a little bit more filler, but is about 80% there!

And the best part is I can no longer see my weld seam! The rear quarter panel was the first piece of steel I replaced, if I am remembering that correctly! Felt great! I should have a few minutes this weekend to finish this panel off.

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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]

Happy Easter all! Hope everyone has a great day with loved ones!

It was a Good Friday here in the temple of the Bug! Got in another 4 hours!

Finished off the roughing in of the rear passenger quarter panel. How it was left from Thursday. There is an old leaded patch right below the window. I have no inclination to remove the lead, as it seems like a solid patch. It just failed to cover all of the damaged area.

So, I decided to pull that crease out a bit while hammering out the opening a tiny bit. The curve was just off along this area, and I knew if I could stretch the steel out away from the opening, I would be able to hammer the high spot down in the window rubber area, which the pop-out window would need to seal against.

So, I started drilling and popping, while hammering along the crease!

One.

Two.

Three. Can you hear Sesame Steet’s the Count, counting?

4, 5, 6, 7, 8. There are 8! 8 holes along the crease in the panel. Let count them again, together…. You all get it!

With the counting done, it was onto the Duraglass filler. This is a missed step in many builds. If you know plastic fillers at all, you understand that they are sponges! They absorb water and hold onto it. Then the steel, which the sponge is attached to, gets hot, expands a bit and the plastic does the same thing. The moisture within, gets hot and starts getting free, from the expansion of the plastic, and wicks its way back to the hot steel, because that is just what happens in nature. Once the moisture hits the steel, the process starts. Say it with me, OXIDATION! Or rust, the 4 letter word we all do our best to control! (Ha, laugh with me on that one! More like denial.)

Anyways, that layer of fiberglass is a vapor barrier between the 2 hemispheres! Without it, the open holes in the steel would leech moisture. But now they will not! Thanks to the Duraglass filler! And here it is all smeared in!

After the filler cures, I use my dull razor blades and scrap down any high in the Duraglass. Then sand it lightly with 36 grit and apply the Rage filler on top of it.

Then sand that down with 80 grit.

I then rubbed the panel, marking the low spots. Refilled them with Rage, sanded, repeat. By the 3rd time it is as close to good as I can get right now. So I primed it. It is ready for a good sanding to show where the glazing putty can go!

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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!

[matthew henricks]

Wow. Congratulations Jim.

I was away for the week and the first thing i see when i pulled up the thread was a transmission in pieces. That got my attention and what a wild adventure. Glad you got to drive the pan. I am sure all your neighbors came out to cheer you on. (haha)

Have fun with body work. Nothing like keeping a garage clean while sanding...
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1964 Original Owner build Thread. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702135&highlight=

Ambulance Fan's. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=627707&highlight=

Parts i am looking for:
64 bug nice used front/rear Black LHD floor mat.

[pastellgreen]

Just came over this vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MblO3So3gv8
and had to think on your project!

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

It was another day off and another day of filling and sanding.

Moved sideways to the front quarter panel! Started with how it sat the last time I spread Duraglass and Rage onto the shell. I did install the fender first!

Had to get up close and personal with the body, peering intently at the body lines where the fender meets up with the corner panel. This corner is okay except for 2 low spots. Not huge but enough to make me take notice.

Those 2 areas where the beading will sink a tiny bit. I will need to fill a tiny amount. Then there is the front. Actually that is not too bad. Maybe a few bumps with a hammer will knock it out!

I forged ahead by marking the fender bead line on the inside of the trunk.

I then took one of my Dollys and set the pointy end into where the stamping is on the quarter panel, which outlines where the fender rests. I then hit the dolly, pretty damn hard, with a 32oz. hammer! It pushed out the panel a bit. I might have less than 1/16” of filler to have to fill now. The positive keeps going. Loving it!

While I was taking care of that, I was reminded that this area has a ripple along this same area. Let’s see if I can document it.

Can you see the ripples? Really odd. It is like someone was trying to shrink the panel. There is a uniformity to the markings. Never seen that before. Oh well, let’s beat on it and see what we can do. Smoothing it out may help those adjacent low areas, since the metal will stretch a tiny bit. I may be able to use that in place of filler!

That made a tiny bit of an improvement. I can more feel it than see it, but if you have a keen eye, and I get the picture taken well, you might have a shot.

Nevermind. You can’t make it out at all! You would need to feel the difference!
My bad! With those areas bumped as well as I can do, it is onto fiberglassing the pin holes. I then grabbed the sander with some 60 grit spinning on it, to give the fiberglass something to tooth into!

Then I smear a thin layer of the Dura glass over those areas, tapering off the ends as I push that material through the tiny holes.

I also hit the fender.

Then I sand that down with 80 grit and smear Rage over it all. Well, I did that 3 times, building up the areas slowly. You never want to much filler in one swipe. Leads to a series of bad events! Ask me how I know!

Sand that all down with 80 grit. Rub it and feel for the low spots. Smear another layer, sand feel, fill, sand, feel, etc….. You get the picture. Then a coat of Filler Primer, so that those 80 grit scratches get filled!

See, no more ripples!

Onto the fender! (You could probably see the filler in the previous photo.

And that is when the steam ran out. Tomorrow is another opportunity for advancement!
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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]

Had another 4 hours this afternoon to work on the old Bug! Got back into the front fender. Got straight into sanding down the filler I spread on yesterday.

This layer got way closer to the mark! But it was still a little bit off here and there, plus a few high spots showed up during the sanding. So, first, I smacked those down with my body hammer. Once I was happy with the spots levelness, I rough it up and primed it all again. Then speckled it with black primer.

I let that dry, more or less and then sanded it again, this time really focusing in on how the body lines go. It got SO MUCH closer!

I then did a light coat of filler and was waiting for it to kick off, when the clock went off. It was time for dinner with Mrs. Jimbo!

Until Saturday! It time to go make money again!
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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!

[matthew henricks]

Nice progress for a day.

Question for you. How do you decide when to fill pin holes instead of replacing the metal? What is the tipping point?
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1964 Original Owner build Thread. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702135&highlight=

Ambulance Fan's. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=627707&highlight=

Parts i am looking for:
64 bug nice used front/rear Black LHD floor mat.

[VW_Jimbo]