Buggeee's 1972 Super Beetle

[Buggeee]

[Zundfolge1432]

They actually teach this in auto body repair as learning to remove dents. Means to visualize the dent happening and starting to remove where impact happened first, hench the saying. This is especially helpful for compound dents. Then you get into shrinking and stretching metal you are on right path using minimal filler. I bet there are YouTube videos on this as well😀

[Buggeee]

[joey1320]

Body work is looking great.

I gotta check out that heater idea.
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**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Nice work on those dents and bumps, Buggeee!

Ride is lookin' sweet as usual


Happy bug'n & bug'n & bug-thing'n & Vanagon'n
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1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[VW_Jimbo]

Looking great!!!

Hammering with a dolly is an artform! Love working the metal with those tools! Since the Bug has compound curves on almost every surface it is a great palate to work your magic on. Even if the panel stretches a little, you can typically work it out over the panel.


Have you looked into shrinking the metal! On some dents you can heat the dent and then cool it to have the steel return to its previous position (memory) with very little distortion to the surrounding areas. YouTube heat shrinking dents.

Works really good on the top if you do not have a headliner. When I was 15, I purchased a 1955 Bug which had about 40 small dents in the roof. Like a small kid walked all over the roof. I learned how to remove those with a propane torch, bucket of water and a sponge.
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[vamram]

Looking great, Buggeee!
_________________
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!!

[Buggeee]

With a $179 tent from harbor freight slung with ratcheting tie-down straps to help hold the snow until the periodic hits with a broom, $30 worth of LED lighting from Amazon, a couple of tank mounted propane heaters to get things warmed up and a chinese diesel air heater mounted to the side door of the tiny garage to maintain things, I'm ready for winter!

The hammer and dolly on the prior rebuilt salvage revealed some serious weaknesses with the front clip graft.

Thin metal and cracking joint.

I used an electric drill with a big bit and an air file to make a dove-tail insert hole with rounded edges that, hopefully, will strengthen the seam here.

A couple of passes with the welder and grinder, and hammer and dolly as well, resulted in body lines that are as close as I can get with the metal. Here is the progression.

That wrinkled mess below the work area is not mine. Its not visible when the fender is on so I am not going to worry about it. However, at this point I made an executive decision to revisit the other areas of the front clip installation.

Here is what laid under the seam sealer inside the trunk.

Don't worry, it gets worse in the next area we visit. For here, I cut out all the bad stuff, brought the remaining good metal to bare and hit it with weld-through primer.

You may have noticed that the poorly protected seam had rotted the body's connection to the shock tower support, so no strength there. Also, you may notice that a significant portion of the clip was not welded at all near the oblong grommet hole below the strut tower support, so no strength there either.

I started building that area first.

In order to prepare for the upper section, I decided to use an air-scraper and wire brush to remove the undercoating and seam sealer from the wheel-well side of things.

Glad I did. Here is the "worse" alluded to just now. The lower portion of the clip on the driver's side was held to the main body by little more than seam sealer and undercoating! I'll give it a double.

At this point I realized that the strut tower brace mounted between the towers in the trunk was about the only thing keeping this car on the road all this time.

Unsure of what to do here, I just pointed the MIG feed strait up into the top of the crack and started building a massive, molten wall. I let it all get cherry red and slowly ooozing like a molten water fall and kept pushing the wire feed up into it adding material and slowly working my way down. It has to be 3/8 of an inch thick. Then I went back over it again on the outside but was not getting the melted lava flow anymore so stopped.

Having used about a third of a wire spool and a third of a tank of gas on this mess, I think it will outlast me, and the rest of the car for that matter.

Still some left to do but it was bedtime for me so everything got primed up with self-etch weld-through primer to prevent flash rust when the tent cools down to below freezing.

Here is the propane heater keeping everything warm while the primer dries. I notice here that I have made sure to store twenty gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel at least a bugs width away from the open flame. I'll give that a triple

Later Peeps!
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[vamram]

Man, I love the way you set up that HF canopy. I had the same one collapse on top of my '72 Super like at 3 a.m. a few years back during one of our big snow dumps. Got off lucky w/a single roof dent i was able to fix fairly easily. But I've been paranoid ever since and always undo the tarp when I know a big snow is coming around. A real pain i gotta say.
_________________
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!!

[Chris333]

Dang man it was cold today I didn't even want to go get the garbage can from the road. Burrrrrrrr.

[Buggeee]

Chris, I don't have an engine in the basement this year or I would not be out here!

Just a little bit of progress on the strut tower. I drilled some holes in the tower brace so I could pool a button of weld in there and secure the patch to the tower from the wheel well.

The ugly side.

The not-as-ugly side. (I feel compelled to say again that the wrinkled mess above the work area in this shot is not my work. I am bad, but sheesh, that is some mess)

_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[VW_Jimbo]

Is that your repair work above the weld? Dude come on! Oh wait, I just reread your post.....

Messing around! Looking good. You can cut pieces of sheet metal to fit those opening and weld them into place. Takes a lot less welding and grinding. But, I do understand. That looked like a crap place to repair, that no one will ever see again! Be sure to seam seal it up.

Looking good!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Buggeee]

[VW_Jimbo]

You, my friend, are an artist! That looks great!
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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!

[Buggeee]

Jimbo you're going to make me blush, clearly I'm just throwing gallons of paint against the wall here. But that's why I love the Samba - plenty of encouragement and motivation from my peeps.

Well we all know the story, one started in the East the other started in the West and mile by mile the track was laid until finally they...

Ran out of welding gas!

Here's today's progress. Getting close to closing this up.

_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[VW_Jimbo]

I HATE running out of gas!!!!! And it always happens on Saturday morning, when no one is open!

That's why I got the BIG bottle now!!!! Way better!! I was going to the gas store almost every other week with the little bottle, but now, it has been several months. Probably due for a refill. I better check!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[vamram]

Buggee, you continue to inspire this newbee welder. Are your replacement pieces from a donor car? Or store-bought sheet metal?
_________________
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!!

[Buggeee]

Two full tanks, these actually are the big ones Jimbo. I had just swapped out the empty the other night for the standby fullone and... left the full one open overnight, losing almost all of the contents and then running out of the remaining dribble just as the festivities were getting started, as earlier post discusses.

[vamram]

Damn, Bro', i wanna be like you when I grow up. Where does "seam sealer" fit into all this, if at all?
_________________
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!!

[VW_Jimbo]

Looks good. How’s it look with the fender bolted up on it?
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!