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A 1970 Beetle followed me home. The build continues.
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kyleader
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keep up the great work! Awesome work!!
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not much to report today. I needed to do some yard work, so the bug didn't get much love. I did manage to get the trans and axles out of the chassis. Didn't bother to document that.

But, I did receive a package.
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Floor pans.
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and a few miscellaneous items.
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So, I have a little bit more prep to do and I can start welding.
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'70 Beetle
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spring is here, so lots of yard work ... and not much time for the Green Bug. Still trying to make time to haul it over to the welder, so ... in the meantime.
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I dug up this beam, stripped and cleaned it. Lower bearings and ball joints were shot. New bearing installed.
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Arms cleaned and painted. New ball joints ready to be installed in the lowers.
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Grub screws degreased and a light coat of paint.
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Rome
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 5:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You are going to be thrilled to the moon when you get this Beetle registered and driveable! You found a diamond in the rough and are resurrecting it.

As far as the paint- I suggest just do the fenders and the hood. Then try waxing the rest of the body so that the gloss comes close to the freshly painted pieces. Can you find the same color spray can paint in a can, so that you can spray it with a spray gun and compressor?

About 10 years ago I went through a similar situation. A person advertised a "parts car" '69 Beetle near Allentown PA, though making it clear that it was solid. I looked at it and bought it for a few hundred $, knowing I had seats, door panels, engine, etc. at home. The car really was solid, needing almost no patches at all. It was faded black with white "coves" on the sides. I installed various new suspension pieces, front disc brakes, HD F&R sway bars, and a spare 1600 engine. The original color was peru green, which is similar to the green on yours. I sprayed the white coves with Rust-O-Leum gloss black in a spray gun, which had enough "cloudy" effect to go well with the existing black on the body. Even though the car had no title, there's a process in NY where you can obtain a registration for an abandoned car. This worked well, and I drove the car for about 2-3 years- just weekends, etc. Sold it without an engine to a friend in NJ who still has it.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the comments folks.

Well, My pile of parts keeps growing. New sway bar clamps and some misc. rubber parts.
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I did get a little done on the front end. A few days ago I went to 2 shops to get the ball joints pressed ... and neither could do them. So, I got tired of waiting and "rented" a tool from AutoZone. With some persuasion from a 2lb. sledge I got them out.
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Then pressed in the new ones. I didn't take pictures of the tool in action because I just didn't have enough hands.
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The uppers had zero play so I just replaced the boots. A little fresh paint on the arms and this beam is ready to install.
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jlex
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You certainly seem to know what you're doing... You're going to be really happy with that '70. It was a good year!
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Oregonbug200
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How much was the total for all your pans and parts to replace the pans??? Did they feel strong? I've read some of the replacement pans are weeker... The bug looks good. I like all the updates...
Thanks, Walker
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pans are $195 per side and shipping to me was less than $60 for the pair. Your shipping costs could be different. Send them an email with your address and they will quote the shipping for you.

The Wolfsburg West pans are the thickest I have been able to find. And, since they ship pans with the rear cross brace not installed, they fit into a smaller box and shipping is much less than other vendors. If your rear cross braces are good, I would suggest keeping them as they are better made than the new ones, and you will have much less work to install the new pans if you don't also have to replace the cross braces. (Mine were already cut off when I got the car so that's not an option for me.)

Don't try to save money on the floor pans, you may save $50 to $100, but the thin pans are really flimsy and you can feel the difference. I'm very pleased with WW parts and their service is excellent.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'm still here, but the car has been on hold. As they say, life happens. I was in Boston for 2 weeks (yes I was there for the bombing). Then my Dad had a heart scare and now triple bypass surgery a few days ago, so lots of time over at the hospital. I think we are out of the woods and he may be home today. This car is just not a priority and I have not been able to find enough time to get it over to the welding shop.

Anyway, I really needed to clear my head after the last few weeks, so I turned the chassis on its side in the shed and stripped the bottom to bare metal.
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A couple of hours with a wire wheel and it was looking good. 40+ years of grease and road dirt gone. Shot some primer to keep away the flash rust.
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Good enough for now! It is not supposed to be a full-blown restoration, but I just had to get all the grease and dirt off of it.
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Feels good to get dirty and get some work done, and get my mind off of all the other stuff going on lately.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Things are almost back to normal around here so I did a little spring cleaning on my buggy this week, and since I had the wire wheel and paint out I cleaned and painted some small parts for the '70 Beetle.
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It's not much, but at least I can say I did get something done on the green bug.
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I'm planning to move the car to the welding shop next week.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FINALLY! Getting back to some real work!

I just haven't been able to get the car over to the shop to do the welding. OK FINE! I picked up a Hobart Handler 140, and I'll just do it myself! I was going to make a cart for the machine, but I just couldn't wait to try it out.
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So, I pulled an old lawnmower frame out from under my shop, put the machine on it, and got busy patching a PO's cutting torch nightmare. Since the metal was solid, I just cut a couple of patches and welded them into the bigger gaps. The smaller gaps I was able to fill pretty easily. I'm very impressed with this little 110 volt welder!
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After a little grinding to dress it up ... yep, I think it'll do.

I spent more on the welder than I did on the original car purchase. Oh well, you can never have too many tools!
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Mike_CNYBuggy
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your welding cart is still better than the piece of crap I got at Harbor Freight. Nice build. Can't wait to see it done.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Since I'm doing this work on the gravel floor under my tin-roofed shed instead of the proper shop I was going to use, I am somewhat at the mercy of the weather. Yesterday I got caught in some pretty nasty thunderstorms and had a short day. But I did get one patch done before the lightning started.
This is driver side between the pedals and shifter ... more cutting torch damage.
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The corrosion around the pedals looks bad but it isn't serious enough to worry about.
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I may do something about that when I do the seam sealer on the pan.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pans are trimmed and tacked in place. I still have some welding to do, but the pans are in place. Here's how today went.

First, I like to run a tap through as many bolt holes as I can while they are easy to get to. These were full of rust and dirt.
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I have a package tray I use as a jig to line up the cross members. Bolt it to the chassis, bolt the crossmembers to the jig, tack everything in place.
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This side tacked in place.
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Cross member welded.
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Lots of holes to drill.
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On both pans, the inner welds on the seat sliders broke loose. I welded them up before I installed the pans.
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Pans trimmed, holes drilled and cleaned, jack points installed.
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Got the pans tacked in place.
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Still have to weld all of those holes.
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got called away for work for a few days. It was a tough job and it was hotter than normal for June, but the work got done.

So, After a day to recuperate and a day to get my yard back into shape, i'm back at the 1970 Beetle. Finished up the welding this morning and put down a good amount of seam sealer.
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Overkill? I don't think so. The sealer was beginning to set up by the time I got to the rear. I need to get more sealer and flip it over to seal the bottom, and maybe a second coat on the rear to smooth things out a bit better.
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Yes, I still need to do the battery mount and the heater cable tubes.
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Rolled the chassis out into the yard to let the sealer dry.
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... and I want to seal and paint the bottom before I paint the top, but, I feel a great deal of relief now that the major part of the pan is done.
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Mr.Duncan
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice work.

im watching this thread Cool
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pan bottom is now sealed. I did it 2 days ago.
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Since we were expecting rain today, after the seam sealer set for a day I shot some primer over it and over any bare metal and welds that I had missed. I would have shot the entire bottom if I actually had the primer I thought I had. That's OK. I still have to do the battery hold down and the heater control cable tubes. THEN the pan can get painted.
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cseay1
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 4:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice work! Can't wait to see this 70 brought back to life.

You do nicer work in an open shed than some people do in a heated and cooled shop Very Happy
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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a lot for the comments about my work, it is much appreciated. I work on the car when I have time and I usually try to stop working on it before I start to not enjoy what I'm doing. Working in the shed hasn't been too bad. I guess the only thing that really is an issue is the gravel floor. I had a jack sink into the ground once with my lawn mower on it. So now I keep some concrete pads and wooden cribbing in the shed and use them under all jacks and jack stands.

The shed where I've been doing most of the work on this car is supposed to be covered parking for my RV, buggy and lawn tractor. I have a few other things also taking up space in here so I've been putting the buggy out in the yard to work on the 1970. But when it rains, the buggy gets it's spot back and I don't work on the Green Bug. Once the 1970 is back on it's wheels things will be a bit easier for me.

Today is a rain day, with lightning, so I decided to sort through parts. This is the first time I try to rebuild a car that I didn't take apart. Luckily the PO dumped most of the loose parts into 2 garbage cans that came with the car. I'm still not exactly sure what parts are missing to finish the car. but today I found the battery hold down and parts of the heater control cable tubes. I don't know if the hold down can be reused, it is rusted through pretty badly. I may try to weld up the holes. (That could end up looking really terrible!) And one of the tubes is in pieces, so I guess I'll have to find a replacement for that.




I hope everyone can get out and enjoy their VWs today.



And for those of you who wanted a picture of me with this car ...








... here you go.





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Q-Dog
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really want to get this chassis finished. Latest challenge -- heater cable tubes and battery mount. I have one tube. It is probably usable but it is really beat up. But I need two. So I checked out all of the metal suppliers around here and none of them stock tubing this small. Well folks. Grainger was able to order it up for me. A couple of days later and I'm ready to get started.
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Bend to shape and enlarge the end slightly and ... it fits.
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The original battery mount was at the bottom of the big garbage can that came with the car. It was rough, but solid enough to reuse. Set it in place and bend the tube to fit.
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Tubes and battery mount welded in.
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