Part It Out or Fix It?

[Bama Dave]

You sure make that look easy! I know it isn't. Having the right shop and tools makes hard stuff possible. Looking good...
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David Richerson

1970 Beetle
1971 Super
1972 Baja

[rekbender]

[wcfvw69]

Nice to see you fixing this bug right. For an Ohio bug, it looks solid for sure.
With the tools you have at your disposal, you'll have it fixed quickly!

Keep posting the progress pics.

Nice work.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[[email protected]]

Excellent progress! It's my understanding that all 68-73 Beetle rear bumpers are interchangeable, both Beetle, and Superbeetle. It will be difficult, but I would see if you could find a nice original VW one. Even the nicest triple chrome aftermarket ones are not as nice as an original. That's something that you could get a temporary acceptable replacement to get the car on the road, and take the time to locate a cherry original one, or have an original rechromed.

The welded rust repairs on my 74 Super are showing their age from being done in 91. I will be using panel bonding adhesive on anything I possibly can on future repairs/restorations. Priming, and in some cases finish painting, panels before bonding makes for a blind repair that has superior corrosion resistance for many years.

Make sure you keep photo documenting the extent of your repairs. It's really cool you're going the extra mile in recreating the originality of the car with your repairs. If you plan on driving the car much, original or not, I would replace mechanical items to make the car roadworthy. 44 year old og spares are cool until you have to use it to get home from a show. That might be something to keep on it's og rim, and find a replacement rim to put a new tire on to keep in the car. Fuel lines, and any brake hydraulics with rubber are something I would replace 100% of as well.

[rekbender]

I stripped the used quarter skin after drilling out the spot welds to remove it. It's a little rumpled in places that were bondoed, and there's some rust I'll need to repair before final installation. Beneath the bondo at the bottom of the panel was a tape stripe! The panel was straight down there - instead of removing the stripe prior to painting the panel, they covered the stripe with filler and painted over everything. That's about as crude as it gets. You can see the shadow in the picture. I will need to adjust the post at the belt line a bit more, and the wheel house has to come out a little. Everything else lines up. I'll try to put it together tomorrow. I need to figure out how to remove the plastic louver behind the window without breaking it.

[rekbender]

The right quarter is now installed and the fender fits quite well. I removed the damaged rear apron and left bumper support bracket. I straightened the very rear of the left quarter where the apron mounts, and welded a tab to the quarter where it was buckled below the drip rail. It pulled out better than I'd expected. The left fender fits surprisingly well. I'm waiting for the new bumper support. Then the apron goes on and I'll start the finish work.

[Lingwendil]

That car is so nice!

You are definitely doing the right thing. Flat screen super beetles are very much worth the effort. Thank you for doing this!
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73 super beetle thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=649622 Back on the Road!

Modify your Kadrons for SVDA http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8115884#8115884

Cast iron VJU4BR8 SVDA reference thread- https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

Need replacement filters for original Kadron aircleaners? WIX #42087 is a perfect fit, as is Napa Gold #2087!

[vamram]

Man, you are an artist. Love watching it come together.
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Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[rekbender]

The areas where the quarter was spliced required very little filler, however, both the quarter and door were wavy from 45 years of indifference. After the filler, two coats of high build primer. Jesse, at the paint store, used his spectrometer on a flat area of the quarter I brought him. It led us to a mid-fifties Tthunderbird Coral color as a start, and then the computer altered that formula to provide a closer match. I will spray a test panel today to check the color and experiment with adding flattener in hopes of somewhat matching the original patina. I just had to see some color on the car, so the jambs and door frame went original Kasan red. The bumper support arrived from BUCIOBATISTI here on the Samba. NICE heavy NORS pieces. The support and apron are now installed.

[Dwayne1m]

Awesome job. I have no experience with extensive body work and the tools one uses so it's neat to see how things are done, and I love your jack stands. Are they universal or just for VW's?

[Rome]

Fabulous work! Your specialist skills are showing us that bashed metal can often be pulled back into the ballpark. You have the advantage of expert tools; most of us would make do with come-alongs chained to a tree/truck bumper, sledge hammers and 2x4s, scissor jacks, etc. if we were to try this at all. On the average, how many hours are you spending in that shop doing the body repairs- only a few hours, much of the day, etc? Are your ribs healing well?

Those rear fenders look to be good German used ones. Still, consider checking the position of the taillight mounting holes before your final paint. If either one of the fenders is a repro, it's likely that the holes are not exactly positioned as the original German fenders. With your repair skills and eye for panel gaps it would probably bother you that the taillights would not be level from one side to the other, even if the difference would only be possibly less than an inch.

Simply level the car on your pulling rig, install the rear fenders with a few bolts making sure that the rear tips are even with the apron bottom edge. Then place a construction level across the engine compartment opening so that it lines up with both bottom taillight holes. If the level is showing true level, then you are in luck. If it is not level, mark the holes in one fender until it is, and redrill.

[rekbender]

Just a quick update on my efforts to match the faded Kasan red paint, but first, to answer DwayeIm about the jack stands. They came with the EZ Liner II as part of the accessory package back in 1984. I also want to thank Rome for the advice on the rear fenders - I think they're OG, but I never would have thought to actually check the tail lamp mounting holes for accuracy. Thanks again guys. I spent all afternoon mixing tiny amounts of PPG Concept Kasan red, yellow, brown and a few drops of black into the PPG Concept Coral approximation of the faded factory red. I don't have enough flattener in the mix yet, but here is the new color on the apron next to the faded original fender. It may darken overnight, but for now I'm satisfied. Check out the unfaded paint under the tail lamp.

[rekbender]

The apron ended up a little too dark so I added more Coral and scaled up my mix so I would have enough to paint the door, quarter, fenders, deck lid, and some extra for the future. I think the final color is about as close as I can come. I gave up experimenting with flattener - the face was fine, but it created a hazy look similar to flop in metallic colors. I won't really know until the car is outside in the sun light. The hard part is over.

[Cali_Army_Guy]

Damn that came out nice. I'm towing my junk to you if I ever get in a wreck haha
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2015 VW Passat Wolfsburg Edition
1966 VW Beetle - Sold

[75Flamebug]

[wcfvw69]

Well done! The color match on my computer screen looks pretty good as well.

Great save of a well deserving bug.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[René R.]

This is an amazing restoration. I am beyond impressed -- I'm in awe.

I can hardly wait to see pictures of the completed car on the street.
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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[Zundfolge1432]

It also helps me to go to a car show for motivation to complete a project. Take a little time and just look. Speaking of looking your car looks good.

[rekbender]

[quote="75Flamebug"]

[TheRustySuper]

Damn, looking great! And I love the color, Kansan Red is the original color of my '72 Super as well. And it's so clean! My car is Swiss Cheese everywhere you'd expect it to be (except the pans for reasons I don't understand). Love seeing another Super getting some TLC--especially one as original as this one.
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My '72 Super