1975 Beetle Convertible Resto/Mod Build-Chop,Dash,Suicide,Shave.

[vamram]

Yep, looking great. Thanks for the detailed pics of the hood nose repair - I have to do that same exact repair to my '73 Super and your procedure is "super" helpful. Mine goes a bit up into the round body of the hood, not just the lip.
_________________
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!!

[MACJELLY58]

That is really good to hear, VAMRAM!! That is exactly why I embarrass myself here, hoping that something I post can help someone. Even if it's just a picture of how something that has rusted away should look.
Good luck with that repair, especially if you gotta go on the rounded part!

[VW_Jimbo]

[MACJELLY58]

And speaking of helping others...
I was discarding the Donor car Doors, Quarter panels and Fenders. You know, they were all rusty and I was just keeping them in case I needed something from them. But, I feel that I'm good now and they're just dropping rust flakes everywhere. Then, I came to the Donor Gas Tank. I was gonna keep that, but it was too far gone as well. So, when was I gonna get another chance to cut open an F.I. tank to see what's going on in there. Hope it helps someone out there too.

Neat to see where and how all the baffles are situated.

And check out how those Vent tubes and Fuel Pick Up and Return work. Pretty neat!

Anyway, after cleaning that all up, I went back to work on the Hood. I would NOT wish that on my worst Enemy!! Well, maybe my worst enemy...but, no one else!! I thought the doors were a Killer. The curve of the Hood is tough to block sand well. Especially with my skill set. And thankfully, the Hood was not that bad. It still had a few waves to sort out and I really want the Hood to come out as best as I can get it. I feel that my eyes will go to the Hood all the time and I don't want to shake my head in disgust all the time.

I put a good coat of Filler over the whole inset of the Hood. What a waste! I really wanted to do a good job, but I pretty much sanded most of that way.

Then, I had to put another skim coat over that. After more sanding, It came out alright.

I mixed up the Primer and let that interact for the 25 minutes. I had said earlier, that I was gonna use a different Gun from now on but, I saw on YouTube that someone had better results after removing the little plastic internal Filter thingy. While waiting, I did the prep. I was wiping down the Hood with the Final Wash and I swear I could still feel a few waves!! Too late for now.

Well, that didn't work out well for me and I had to switch out to the Devilbiss fresh out of the box for the second coat (not recommended). The set up was a little different and I get confused pretty easy. Anyway, I got the Primer on. But with the 80 grit sand marks, it's still hard for me to tell what I've got.
Just FYI... I'm gonna take a break for a week or two. The grass is getting high and my wife's Honey-Do list is pretty long. I'll get back to it as soon as possible!!

[VW_Jimbo]

It looks really close, based off the light reflections! Too bad there is ALWAYS a honey-do list.

Thanks for cutting open the tank! I had always wondered what was going on inside there. Pretty cool to see the back side of the Moon!

Go make the Mrs happy and get back to entertaining us all!!!!

Good luck brother!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[combatmp29r]

Lookin Good Jelly,

I know all too well about those Honey Do lists. Mine seems to be never ending

Side thought on those long curve panels like the hood or deck lid, fenders etc.
I use adjustable curve sanding blocks. I know the dura blocks you are using flex, but one you can set to the curve can help a lot knocking down filler, and wet sanding.

The one I have is like this but MUCH older

Dura block makes one like this which is like 35 bucks on amazon

Just some food for thought. I know body tools for one project are something you want to by as little of as possible. These help a lot with the long curves though.

As always great job continuing to plug forward.

[MACJELLY58]

Wow !! I didn't realize it's been over 4 months since I had posted here.
I was supposed to take a couple of weeks for house(wife's) projects. Well, I work for the City and there's weight/fitness rooms available for us to use at the Fire stations and Police stations. It's been over a year since I had last hit the weights and the day I went in, there were a few Officers and a bunch of Fire guys working out. The Fire guys are pretty BIG. I didn't want to look like a Wuss and keep changing the weights so, I just went along with them.

Of course too much weight=injury.
But, my pride was still intact !!

[MACJELLY58]

Sorry, I hit the SUBMIT BUTTON.

Anyway, my left arm is still pretty messed up. But, I started having "Bug" dreams and I decided I need to get back to the Bug.

First off, thanks "COMBATMP"! I did indeed purchase the Adjustable Sanding block. I haven't used it yet but, it looks like it will be very helpful to me. The Block comes with a Velcro pad and also has a smooth Velcro pad to attach Self Adhesive sand paper.

I also got some little "Edger" type sanding blocks for details.

Then, a little 6 Gallon compressor for doing small stuff. It even came with a little brad nail gun.

So, what to do....back to the Doors, Of course. I still had to retrofit the new adjustments to the Driver's door. First, was the crack supports for the door window corners to have them stop stress cracking in the corners.

Then the little screw tabs I talked about on the last door, but forgot to take any pics. The sheet metal screws were not biting well on the thin 22 gauge door interior. So, I welded in some 16ga. tabs to give the screws some bite.

The underneath...

Then, I cut out the depression in the rear door jam. This was to give me the little extra 1/4" for the window guide. I made my patch plate and welded that in, until my arm got the best of me and had to quit. It sure felt good to make some progress though.

[Epilog79]

Great to hear you are still alive and kicking. I was just thinking this week that it had been months since we last had an update. Glad to hear the “ego” is ok. I hate it when the mind says yes, but the body reveals it’s real age.

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks EPI !!

I really got to finish this thing. It's like my life's mission now!!

[MACJELLY58]

Sorry, on a bummer note. The night of my last post, I was online paying the I.R.S. more money. Then, I checked my email to see if they sent a confirmation on my payment. They got it!!

Then, I saw a Samba notice of a Private message. I get some time to time from members with questions and suggestions. My spirits picked up, after having just given away more money to Uncle Sam, I could surely use a Veedub distraction.

BUMMER, it was a Hater.
I mentioned on my initial post that I expected a bunch of people would not agree on the direction of my project and can understand that.
But, this guy was full of hatred. I won't mention his name, I don't think he wants to be known since it was a private message. Anyway, if I looked past all the "F" bombs and "Nobody cares", his main complaint was the number of photos I submitted of my work on the Hood. Here's where I messed up, I replied "in kind". My experience with the mentally challenged taught me to, "Not engage". But, as I said I had just finished with the I.R.S. and was not thinking properly. Sure enough, he light up my in -box. I didn't read them, but I will bet they weren't apologies.

Anyway, I don't know if it's appropriate to post about this here. I just wanted to share this in case someone reading it has had a similar experience. Just shake it off. You can't help these people.

And to his point, I will try to keep my photo submissions to a minimum.

[VW_Jimbo]

Jellyman! Great stuff!

DO NOT LET THE BASTARDS GRIND YOU DOWN!

Those are words I have lived by for 4 decades. The best part, regarding the Samba is the “ignore” feature. I have placed a few select members, who are beyond aggressively negative (haters) on this list. The filter does not allow you to see what they have written. It is awesome!!!! Just a thought. No reason you need to subject yourself to someone else’s negativity. Keep it positive and excel bruther!
🤙🏻
_________________
Jimbo

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

[Maddel]

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks for the WISE words my friends. Definitely, words to live by...

I didn't want to keep commenting on this...But, I'm familiar with that MotorHead song. Damn, it's been awhile since I've Head Banged to that one !! I know, I know, I'm dating myself again. But shit, I would blast that Iron Fist album in my High School Super Beetle all the time (much to my would-be wife's dismay )

AND Damn it!! I will do it again in this one!!

Much Aloha, Brothers.

[Maddel]

[MACJELLY58]

Yup, yup...back to my idiocy.


Arm was feeling better, but still giving me trouble. It's like tendonitis or something. My whole arm gets the pins and needles, like it feel asleep all of a sudden. Then, the finger tips go numb. Makes it hard to grip and manipulate stuff. I'm so sick of dropping stuff.

Enough belly-aching. I was able to finish the welding and grinding.

I had to fill the old Regulator mounting holes. Made those little round plugs.

Slapped on some leveling putty.

Then, some primer. Not exciting stuff. But, I'm almost back to where I was 4 months ago !!

[VW_Jimbo]

DUDE! Jellyman! That if F’N spectacular!!! You gotta be loving it!

Nice work!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[Lost69Convertible]

MACJELLY - Sorry to hear about the bad experience. I love this build. Keep it coming!
_________________
1956 Beetle Ragtop: My Father's car
1969 Beetle Convertible: My first car. I loved it, I lost it, and I never got over it.
1979 Super Beetle Convertible

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks JIMBO !! I'm breaking down the work on the Door to the components...windows, regulators, etc... That helps to trick my mind into thinking that real progress is being made. One step closer!

And, LOST69, I'm really glad that you find some enjoyment from my shenanigans. I try my best to be entertaining, as my skills aren't quite up to par with many other builders. I'm just as interested to see how all this turns out as anybody else

[MACJELLY58]

True to my usual, I cut out that area in the Door and welded a plate in there, right next to the top Hinge receptor, without any concern if that might throw out the alignment and fitting.

Fingers crossed, I threw the Door back on...and Yay! it looks okay.

So, I'm gonna try to keep that Dog Luck going and just jump into cutting the glass for the windows. First, I need to clean up and refurbish the Convertible Frame. It's still got the welds from my butchering to clean up, plus a bit-o-rust. But first off, gonna try and address the "Fiber-clay" Frame Joint Bushings. Some are real worn, some are really crusty and crumbly, and some are just gone. This one is very thin and not really doing it's job.

The plan is to replace them with Nylon spacers. I cut out the old one and it crumbled. So, I measured the Rivet-pin and grabbed the closest one from my junk drawer. Trimmed and shaved. The left is the starting size and the right is what I ended up with. I suppose I could just run down to the Hardware store and get something just right, but I'm not sure this will work.

Next was how to install this thing. I cut a slit with scissors, so as to not loose any material. Then, applied some heat with my Heat Gun. Just enough to get it over the pin and into the channel.

I used my rubbish soldering iron that I keep for just this kind of job. Stuck it in the slit and Plasti-welded it closed. It worked !! It was strong enough, that I had to cut it out with the Dremel. As, I still gotta clean and paint the
Frame.

Besides the cleaning and painting the Frame, I need to get the sections that the window seals attach to, nice and flat for a good seal. I had welded in the front extension and then shortened the rear arch portion. I didn't do a Professional job then...so I'll cheat with some filler. But, first I cleaned. A lot of surface rust with a little pitting here and there. Luckily, the steel is thick and I could just grind most of it off.

I live in an H.O.A. type Town, not to mention that my Mother in-law has Orchids and ornimental plants everywhere. So, instead of dragging the Frame outside to give it a good Blasting, I had to use my grinder and Dremel. I refuse to Blast in the garage again...I'm still finding Garnet medium from time to time. Anyway, after all that fun, I brought out the "Strings of Torture" again.

Painting this thing was more torture for me than it was for the Frame. All the nooks and crannies. Some were accessible when the Frame was in the open position and others, only when it was collapsed. I had the four corners tied up so I could raise one side, paint...raise the other side, paint...raise all the sides, paint...etc...

After the Primer, I used some Nason Chasis paint. It's 1K and sprayable right out of the can. Supposed to be corrosion and chemical resistant.

I let that Tack up, then lowered it onto my work table. Sure enough...I missed a couple of spots at the Hinge points. I had just cleaned and packed the spray gun....Oh MAN!! I had bought a little "Touch up" gun a few years ago to use in the tight spots, like the trunk and stuff. I thought, I'll use that...at least it's smaller to clean up after. Well, I'll let that cure for a few days and see what's next.

Aloha