A Great Blog

Paint and Body Update

2012-02-11T19:10:00.000-05:00

The Bug came home from American Stripping last Friday. It ended up costing me a little more than I had planned on but with three layers of paint and two of primer it ended up taking longer to strip all of it off. I've added a page with photos and descriptions - Body and Paint Part II. I've also gone back and added a bunch of pictures to Body and Paint Part I covering the welding and undercoating work that was done last summer.

Earlier in the week I spoke with the guy that did the welding for me and will also be doing the painting. He's backed up with insurance work right now but he's supposed to come by my house some time soon to take a look in person now that the Bug's been stripped and figure out exactly what will need to be done to get her painted. I'm hopeful that will be done sometime in the next month or two. I've got spring break from work coming up in mid-April and I'd really like to be able to spend that week starting to put her back together.

At the stripper!

2012-01-30T19:17:00.000-05:00

The Bug is now sitting in the blasting bay at American Stripping on Cary Street in Richmond. With my father-in-law's help we trailered her up there this evening and dropped her off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about her being away from home as this is only the second time in six years that she's been out of my garage. I doubt my stress level and blood pressure will return to normal until she's back home. But I'm also excited about getting this step of the project done. For now here's a photo from tonight of her sitting in the blasting bay on her cart.

Body and Paint Update

2012-01-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

Time for an update. Last week I spoke with a local company that does glass bead stripping and tentatively scheduled the Bug to go in for stripping and a basic coat of primer at the end of January depending on their work load. I also spoke with the auto painter that did the welding work for me last spring. He's more booked up but hopefully be the end of February or early March he can get the Bug in for painting. He'll be doing a Cherry Red single stage polyurethane. I asked him about doing a clear coat as well but he said since I plan to keep the car in the garage except for when it's driven that he wouldn't spend the extra money on it.

The big unknown at this point is what will be found under three layers of paint. I don't believe there's any major body damage save for a hit years ago (before I got it in 1997 at least) to the driver side front fender well that appears to have been fixed correctly. I'm sure there will be some small dents and dings that will be uncovered that will need to be filled in but hopefully that's it.

I'm really excited about this. The body and paint work are the last major step that needs to be addressed on the Bug before reassembly can start. It's also the last major thing I can't do myself. Getting it done will mark a major turning point on this project and once it's done the end will finally be in sight.

Back from the Welder

2011-06-17T20:09:00.000-04:00

After almost two weeks the Bug came home from the welder this evening. It took longer than expected but the repaired sections look great. I'll be posting additional photos and details of the work soon in the Body and Paint section. Here's a photo of the repaired front firewall:

Suspension Rebuild

2011-06-12T18:34:00.000-04:00

With the Bug still at the welder my plan for this weekend had been to take the front strut towers apart to clean every thing up, paint everything with a coat of POR15, and once the parts arrive, to rebuild them. Saturday morning I went by Advance Auto and rented their strut spring compression tool. Once I got home I got the springs compressed but then discovered I lacked the offset box wrench (22mm) needed to remove the nut at the top of the strut. I was able to borrow one from my brother-in-law later in the day but due to family commitments, yard work, and a crazy storm that passed through that knocked out our power I wasn't able to get back out there until this afternoon. On attempt #2 I discovered I needed a socket hex wrench bit (6mm) as using a regular Allen wrench doesn't provide the needed leverage. (One of the pictures in the Bentley manual covering this procedure should have been a clue.) So it's off to Harbor Freight tomorrow afternoon to get the tools I need. Here's a before photo of how the strut towers look right now:

At the Welder

2011-06-09T21:23:00.000-04:00

The Bug is finally at the welder getting patched up. Not long after writing the previous blog entry last month my father-in-law told me about a small body shop located a half mile down the street from my house. It's somewhat hidden from the road and in the almost five years I've lived here I never realized it was there. I went to talk to the guy that runs it and after several weeks of trying to schedule a time to get the Bug we finally took it down there Monday afternoon. I was hopeful I'd have it back by now as that was one of the issues with scheduling, that I wouldn't bring it down there until he was able to do the work therefore minimizing the time it would be there. (I won't lie, it scares and worries the hell out of me having it away from my garage.) But the shop owner (and sole employee for that matter) has been working on insurance jobs (his main moneymaker apparently) and hasn't gotten to mine yet. Supposedly he'll have it done by early next week but I'm not holding my breath. He does good work though and the price he's charging me is very reasonable so I can't really complain.

To get the Bug down to the welder my father-in-law brought over his motorcycle trailer. The picture below doesn't really show it very well but the fit was very tight. He had measured it a while ago to make sure it would fit but it ended up only being a couple inches of clearance on each side and less than two inches at the end. Had the Bug been any longer the rear door would not have shut. And had I been any fatter I wouldn't have been able to squeeze out the side after getting in the Bug to push it inside the trailer.

Along with replacing the front firewall the front sections of the heater channels and other smaller holes are being patched and the bent front apron is being straightened. I also opted to go ahead and replace the rear apron. The one on the Bug was hit at some point in it's life and covered with a very thick layer of Bondo which has since been bent and cracked. It was easier to simply replace it with a new one.

Rot and Welding

2011-05-05T20:23:00.000-04:00

Now that the body is up on sawhorses my attention has turned to addressing the rust and rot on the underside of the body and elsewhere. I've posted a few pictures on the Body & Paint page of what I've found so far. By far the worst rot is in the front firewall and front sections of the heater channels. A few weeks ago I ordered a new firewall from OEVeedub/Mid America Motorworks. (MAM recently bought OEVeedub.)

Getting it welded however has proven to be far more difficult than I expected it to be. While my father-in-law has a truck and motorcycle trailer he's been working a lot lately and arranging a time to transport it somewhere and back hasn't worked out. I've also been out of luck finding someone that can come out to my house to do the work. So as of right now I'm stuck until I can get the welding done.

I'm continuing to probe at the body looking for additional rust. Just like with the pan the undercoating in the fender wells and elsewhere hides small holes. Along with the rot I've noted above I've also got a large-ish hole in the passenger side cross member and small holes in the fender wells and a few other spots.

Birth Certificate

2011-03-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I finally ordered the Bug's birth certificate from the Volkswagen AutoMuseum in Wolfsburg, Germany. (After meaning to do it for years.) It arrived in the mail today and is one of the neatest additions to my collection of items related to the Bug. Definitely well worth the $50 or so it cost to get it. I've scanned and posted it to a new page in the "Everything Else" section of the website.

Now I finally know the exact day the Bug was built along with what it came with from the factory. Despite it saying under Options that two of them can't be identified I've since found out through research on TheSamba.com that the M290 code was for rear mud flaps and the M691 code is something 1973 specific but I can't find anything else about it.

I told my wife that I wanted to frame the certificate and hang it up in the living room. Despite arguing that the Bug is a member of the family I was very firmly shot down on this. It will however go into the Bug's scrapbook for eventually display when she's done.

Black and Gold for the WIN!

2011-03-27T18:09:00.000-04:00

Totally non-Bug related post here but as a three time graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University I am beyond proud of my alma mater after seeing them advance to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. GO RAMS!

Sawhorses Part II

2011-03-24T19:12:00.000-04:00

With help from my two older brothers the Bug is now up on the sawhorses giving me the space to address the rust and rot underneath. I'll be posting some additional photos soon in the Body & Paint section.

Sawhorses

2011-03-20T19:27:00.000-04:00

When I built the second cart last spring to replace the original one I didn't take into account that I would need to be able to access the underside of the body to address a few issues before it goes back on the pan. Namely, repairing the front rusted out front firewall and dealing with surface rust underneath the front luggage area. I didn't want to build yet another cart so I bought a 2x4 Basics sawhorse kit along with the lumber needed, and built those instead figuring I can use them for something else later. All told I spent about $50 for all of it. Assembling it was pretty easy although the angles of some of the screws caused a issues making sure they went in without cracking the wood. My two older brothers will be coming over later this week to help me move the body over and I'll go from there.

Spring is Coming! Spring is Coming!

2011-03-14T20:27:00.000-04:00

It's slowly but surely been warming up the last few weeks. While there have been some cold days here and there (and down in the 30's most mornings) it's been in the mid-upper 50's most days and even in the 60's quite a few times. It was a brutally cold winter with one major-ish snow storm a week before Christmas (Central Virginia missed the major, repeated snow that nailed the northeast thankfully) and I'm very glad to see it warming up. I haven't done much on the Bug in months but I've finally been able to make some progress recently.
The garage received a major clean up and I'm in the process of selling off pretty much everything I won't need to complete this project. It's giving me an infusion of cash to spend on the stuff I do need as well as clearing out clutter and freeing up additional space. I finally POR15'd the rear end of the frame last week. (For some reason I didn't do this when I did the rest of the pan but I can't remember why.). I'm also starting to price out getting the body stripped and painted. I view this as the biggest obstacle to making progress and am determined to get this done this year even if it's the only thing I end up having money to get completed.

'Twas Cold This Morning

2011-02-10T19:55:00.000-05:00

Pulling out of my neighborhood this morning I was passed by what looked to be an early 70's standard Beetle. This wouldn't really be noteworthy I guess except for the fact that the temperature was in the low 30's. I don't expect to see Beetles or really any aircooled Volkswagens during the winter.

Years ago when I first bought my Bug I drove it through a single winter as my daily driver. The heat never worked very well and I have some not so fond memories of freezing while driving it in cold weather as well as using a rag to wipe the frost off the inside of the windshield. (As the defrost was pretty much nonexistent too.) The lack of heat was a major reason why the following winter I bought the '88 GTI 16v that became my daily.

Got a seat

2010-07-08T19:19:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Ronnie over at the Bug Haus in south Richmond I now have a complete rear seat for the Bug to replace the one burned up in the fire years ago. He was parting out a badly rusted out '72 Super Beetle prior scrapping it and I was able to get the seats. They'll need to be recovered in black vinyl but they're in pretty good shape otherwise.

The Pan is Done

2010-07-06T21:07:00.000-04:00

After working on it off and on for the last month and a half or so I've finally finished cleaning and POR15'ing both sides of the pan. I've added a page to the site detailing the process.

Don't Be Dumb With Power Tools

2010-07-03T16:06:00.000-04:00

I'm about to admit I'm stupid but it's with the hope that the lesson I learned yesterday will serve as a warning and prevent the same thing or worse from happening to someone else.
I've been laid up for the most part since yesterday after a run in with an angle grinder. I was out working on the Bug's pan yesterday morning using a wire wheel on an angle grinder to remove the last bit of undercoating. I was sitting on my little Craftsman roller seat and in a brief moment of inattentiveness as I went to move the seat the wheel on the angle grinder made contact with the bare skin of my leg just above the knee while going 12,000 RPM's. The result wasn't pleasant. I now have a three inch or so long abrasive burn and it hurts like hell. I called my doctor almost immediately but luckily it wasn't bad enough to warrant a visit but rather I was advised to clean it thoroughly (which I'd already done) and apply Neosporin and a bandage. I'm also going in next week to get a Tetanus shot since I haven't had one in about ten years. (Something I've been meaning to do for a while.) By this morning it had started to heal and I've been able to leave the bandage off but it's still very painful off and on to the point where I'm walking with a limp at times.
So let this be a lesson to everyone. Don't be dumb with power tools. If I had just taken the time to turn it off yesterday before moving my chair and resuming work it would have saved me a whole lot of hurt.

Summer Vacation At Last!

2010-06-30T20:25:00.000-04:00

As of 3:00pm this afternoon I'm officially on summer vacation for the next seven and a half weeks and don't return to work until Monday August 23. This is definitely one of the perks of working in education. Starting tomorrow morning I'll be outside working on the Bug as much as the weather will permit. And at least now I can get in a few hours in the mornings before the temperature gets too high. I'm hoping to make significant progress this summer.

Heat

2010-06-22T14:11:00.000-04:00

I'm sad to say I haven't been able to make much progress on the Bug for several weeks now. Richmond has been suffering from extreme heat with high temperatures above 90 degrees something like 20 days out of the past month. The handful of days we had where it was reasonably cool outside about two weeks ago just had to be during the week and when I was sick on top of that. Even with three fans going in the garage it's just been far too hot to get anything accomplished. It doesn't look like the heat is going to let up anytime soon but I'm hopeful after Wednesday of next week when I'm finally on summer vacation that I can start getting some things done early in the morning before it gets too hot outside.

CV3's Summer Show

2010-06-19T21:12:00.000-04:00

The local Volkswagen club, Central Virginia Vintage Volkswagens, put on their summer show today at Iron Bridge Sports Park in Chester, Virginia. With around 90 Volkswagens of all models on display and 8 vendors it was the largest show I've ever seen in this area. Some very nice cars were on display and I also picked up some very useful information from various people I spoke with. I hope this

Paint Layers

2010-05-31T21:03:00.000-04:00

I spent a little time this evening testing out the random orbital sander I bought a few weeks back on the body of the Bug. I thought this photo of the layers of paint was interesting. The orange at the center is the original color, the cherry red in the center was the color it was originally and the color it will be again eventually, and the top layer is the darker red it is currently.

$40 and a Bump in the Head Later

2010-05-30T20:50:00.000-04:00

I installed a ceiling fan in the garage this morning. Lowe's had a 52" contractor grade fan on sale for $20 this weekend and it was too good a deal to pass up. Installing it was pretty simple. There was a single bulb overhead light in the center of the garage and all I had to do was remove that and wire in the fan in it's place. During the process however I managed to drop the fan motor (the piece the blades attach to) while on top the ladder. The seven foot plunge to the floor it took bent it out of shape and resulted in another trip to Lowe's (third of the weekend) to get a replacement. At least it was only $20 and not more. I've since been able to bend the other motor back into decent enough shape so I may actually be able to put another up somewhere to provide additional circulation.

While I was installing the replacement my four year old son was out in the garage watching me work. As I went to reposition the step ladder the round metal motor housing (that goes around the motor and wiring to give it a cleaner look) that I had (stupidly) left on top the ladder fell and landed on the top of my head. After yelling a few choice words my son asks me in a very nonchalant tone of voice, "What's wrong daddy?" "I hurt myself Matthew," I replied. "You need an ice pack?" "Yea, go get daddy an icepack." So he runs into the house. A minute later he and my wife run out to the garage. "You ok? my wife asks, "Matthew ran into the house frantically saying you had hurt yourself and needed an ice pack. I thought you had really hurt yourself." But other than a bump on my head and feeling stupid for it I was fine.

A little bit at a time

2010-05-21T21:23:00.000-04:00

This week I've been making progress on the pans slowly but surely. It's taking far longer and more effort than I initially thought it would. One of the problems I've run into is the old body to pan gasket. Initially I tried just using the wire wheel on the angle grinder to remove it (before realizing exactly what it was) but this created a huge sticky mess. Note to anyone trying to remove this in the future: don't use this method because of the aforementioned huge sticky mess it creates. After a little research I went to Lowe's and got a paint scraper and used that tonight. It was much easier and made far less mess. And the angle grinder will make quick work of the leftover residue.

I also started removing the tar board over the tunnel tonight to make sure there's no rust anywhere. So far I've found nothing but I've still got quite a bit of it left to remove. I'm hoping Sunday to finish up cleaning the pan and have it ready for a coat of POR15 early next week.

Cleaning the Pan

2010-05-19T19:42:00.000-04:00

Over the last few days I've been working on taking the pan down to bare metal. Using an angle grinder with wire wheels mostly I've been removing 37 years worth of rust, tar board, and grime with the ultimate goal of giving them a coat of POR 15. The angle grinder makes quick work of it for the most part but it's dirty work and eye protector and a dust mask are a must. Ear protection is helpful too as the angle grinder can get very loud. I'm sure my neighbors are not too thrilled with this step of the project because of that. Below is a picture I took early on of the difference between a cleaned/uncleaned side. I haven't touched the driver side yet but the passenger side is down to bare metal. It took about 45 minutes or so with the angle grinder to get it to that point. Once I get more done on this part I'll be posting detailing it further on a new page - Cleaning the Pan.

And then there was one

2010-05-08T13:21:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the week I exchanged the brown Bug for cash and sent it to it's new home. I got less than I wanted for it but after having it for sale for a few months without much interest when I finally had someone make me an offer on it I jumped at the chance. While I'm sad to see it go I really needed the space in the garage if I'm ever going to make any progress on my other Bug. As the picture below shows I now have a lot more space to maneuver around. From here I'm going to start working on the pan.

My Daily Driver hits 100k

2010-05-01T18:37:00.000-04:00

Earlier today my daily driver GTI reached the 100,000 mile mark. I knew it was coming and made sure I had my camera with me to capture the moment. As it was the wife was with me to snap the picture so I wouldn't have to stop on the side of the road to do it. Aside from the Bug I've owned this car longer than any other and put far more miles on it than any thing I've had. When I took delivery of it from the dealer in January 2004 it had 10.7 miles on it. They sure grow up fast.