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nextgen Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 6008 Location: CONGERS, N.Y.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:52 pm Post subject: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Had some bubbles emerging on both side of my bug, went to the body shop to see what they can do and match the paint. They give me a price of $2000.
This shop does body off restorations and said on bug 70 and up have the half moon side vents, VW blasted foam in vents for about 2 feet. It is the expanding foam like Great Stuff from Homedepot. It expands and blocks engine noise. But after years absorbs water when it rans and starts rusting the inner walls. When you see the bubbles it may be too late.
To fix it correctly he has to cut open the car too see the damage and usually over time it is bad.
He said his advice to anyone with the vents to first get as much of the foam out, using a long wire brush. The foam is no longer soft, it cracks into pieces. you can get at it from the vent side and the other end is in the engine compartment in the upper left and right corners . To get at that end you have to remove the firewall sound deadening material in those areas. I stripped my bug of firewall insulation years ago, so I can see clearly the excess foam sticking out both sides of the vent tubes.
He said he has seen guys clean out the foam, then spray in a rust preventative paint or truck bed spray. Then leave in the vents and seal back of the vent cover with black silicone sealant and no water will be able to enter.
The from the outside grind down the bubbles to make a rust free area, bondo and then paint. Body shops can match old paint jobs.
Some guys are lucky and that lasts for years, but body shops are more interested in getting insurance claim cars in and use aftermarket parts. That is were the money is not in doing real body work, which thanks time and skill. _________________ email: [email protected]
The TYPE IV UPRIGHT CONVERSION MANUAL
BEETLE MAGNETIC DEFLECTOR SHIELDS
LETS TALK DUBS https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joe+cali+ghia https://letstalkdubs.libsyn.com/ep-200-joe-cali-ty...qI3xJTCzjs |
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nextgen Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 6008 Location: CONGERS, N.Y.
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Onceler Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2010 Posts: 1646 Location: Indiana
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:32 pm Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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I see this being closed or moved, but VW used the death foam before 1970. My ‘67 also had it. _________________ 1972 Karmann Ghia |
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nextgen Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 6008 Location: CONGERS, N.Y.
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GARRICK.CLARK Samba Member
Joined: June 30, 2012 Posts: 1267 Location: Lancashire UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:25 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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2 grand is too much money for that job. You'll be able to prep it yourself, not hard to do. I use a hooked welding rod to pull the foam out. You'll need to do this any way because welding in that area causes the foam to catch fire. |
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txoval Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2004 Posts: 3540 Location: The Woodlands, TX
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:30 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Depends how bad it is...most Body Shops charge $75/hr plus materials. The price per hour can vary between body man and painter.
That’s only about 20 hours worth of work... |
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GARRICK.CLARK Samba Member
Joined: June 30, 2012 Posts: 1267 Location: Lancashire UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:49 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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I'm a body man/restorer, wish I could charge 75 an hour.
And yes. It does depend how bad it is. Nextgens area of concern might be pretty bad. Let's see a pic of it. |
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txoval Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2004 Posts: 3540 Location: The Woodlands, TX
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:54 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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That is the shop rate per hour, not the individual worker.
I’ll have to find my last invoice. |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2003 Posts: 4863 Location: Harmony, PA
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:31 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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txoval wrote: |
Depends how bad it is...most Body Shops charge $75/hr plus materials. The price per hour can vary between body man and painter.
That’s only about 20 hours worth of work... |
The other issue is most body shops don’t do restoration/rust repair work. Their most profitable part of their business is being fed collision jobs from insurance companies that can be turned around in days. Most actually loose money for a non-collision job. Most local to me are $90-$125 an hour.
Heater channels rust from the inside out too. It’s something that’s just delt with on 40+ year old cars. I’m sure there were a lot of VW’s, that are now Chinese soup cans, that had fatal rust issues in less than a decade when being daily driven year round. Consider yourself lucky it’s taken this long for the rust to show up in a Northeast vehicle. |
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oprn Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016 Posts: 12632 Location: Western Canada
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:54 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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^^^This!^^^
As an old body man I can tell you that rust repair is at the very bottom of the "Will do it but only as a last ditch desperate attempt to keep from starving" list. Physiologically it's like asking a registered operating room nurse to clean toilets. Financially it's like asking a bank manager to go pick bottles to raise funds. Rust repair is a dirty time consuming thankless job. No shop worth it's salt will stake it's reputation on rust repair because you cannot guarantee the results will last. It could rust through a foot from where you just fixed it 6 months from now.
Car body restoration/rust repair is a labor of love involving mega time and effort and is best done by the owner in my view. No one else will care as much about the outcome as you will, therefore will not be willing to sacrifice the time and grunt to do it thoroughly. _________________ We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age) |
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nextgen Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 6008 Location: CONGERS, N.Y.
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:20 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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I will get you guys some photos. No way am I going to pay that crazy money but I understand, it is reputation. If they can get away with just insurance jobs they are not going do a job on rust. Here in NY all the body shops I went to had at least 5 guys on the phone just ordering body parts.
Talking about heater channels. Mine were rotted out years ago. I have no heat.
Ran a 3" dia galvanized pipe from front to rear on both sides and bolted it to the frame. Then cover that pipes in stainless steel sheet metal.
As mentioned I do not have a headliner or any insulation I tried to not have anything that will hold moisture. Even Stainless Steel floors, I used Stainless steel bolts, only the few regular steel I missed you an see the rust on those bolts and washer, most likely brought in by wet shoes.
RUST NEVER SLEEPS, it has the upper hand.
_________________ email: [email protected]
The TYPE IV UPRIGHT CONVERSION MANUAL
BEETLE MAGNETIC DEFLECTOR SHIELDS
LETS TALK DUBS https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joe+cali+ghia https://letstalkdubs.libsyn.com/ep-200-joe-cali-ty...qI3xJTCzjs |
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GARRICK.CLARK Samba Member
Joined: June 30, 2012 Posts: 1267 Location: Lancashire UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:22 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Well said, and is all true. I turn those types of jobs down. I used to want to do them in my younger years, {20's}.but as you get older and wiser I tend to pick the jobs I wanna do. |
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nextgen Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 6008 Location: CONGERS, N.Y.
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nextgen Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 6008 Location: CONGERS, N.Y.
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GARRICK.CLARK Samba Member
Joined: June 30, 2012 Posts: 1267 Location: Lancashire UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:31 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Your rear window seal looks to be letting in water. Where the bubbles start at the rear screen rubber there are 2 water holes to stop water collecting. Looks like it's tracked into the foam and along to the gutter and down to the side vent. There's a lot of hours there, and you'll need to find a gutter cut off another bug as that area needs cutting out properly. Seeing as it's into the Lower roof area you'll be looking at a full hit paint job, unless the sprayer is a paint match God. What with summer coming I doubt you'll wanna start ripping in to it as your summer time driving will be affected as that's a big job. |
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raydog Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2006 Posts: 1157 Location: Cape Cod
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:39 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Actually, now that I've seen the amount of rot and where it is, $2000 doesn't seem that bad to repair. Ever try matching red paint? What was their plan, just patch, or cut out the whole section? _________________ Come on, It's not rocket science. KISS |
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GARRICK.CLARK Samba Member
Joined: June 30, 2012 Posts: 1267 Location: Lancashire UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:42 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Yeah. I was under the impression it was just a bit of bubbling on the side vents |
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capedave Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2002 Posts: 134
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:51 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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That first pic shows a fiberglass repair inside the vent.
Someone did some very shoddy work on that first paint job. |
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spencerfvee Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2004 Posts: 3071
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:17 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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capedave wrote: |
That first pic shows a fiberglass repair inside the vent.
Someone did some very shoddy work on that first paint job. |
..................................................................................................................................i live in ohio and i have had a lot of vws over the years . and i have never had a bug that made bubbles in the paint like you have on your bug . . to me i think you have a bad paint job . the only rust i have had over the years .was floor pans and heater channel . when we live wheres there is snow and salt on the roads . theres going to be rust thats why people in ohio with vw bugs only drive there bugs in the summer back in the 60s 70s bugs started to rust out after 3 to 4 years on the roads . most guys used them as work cars to go to and from work . because they were cheap at $1,900.00. and you could pick up a good used bug from $800.00 to $1,200.00 back then spencerfvee
Last edited by spencerfvee on Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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oprn Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016 Posts: 12632 Location: Western Canada
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:20 am Post subject: Re: Warning Side vents eating our bugs from the inside out !! |
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Fiberglass is not a repair. It is a Band-Aid only slightly above "beat it in and Bondo it", but not by much. _________________ We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age) |
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