[magicfiver]

Hi all, My name is Cy, im 27 and am about to start my first restoration.
Well, technically, it's not my "first" resto, as ive restored a few scooters before and stuff.

This week i bought a 1971 1200 Beetle.
I usually ride motorbikes and scooters, but i suffer from ms, which is making bike riding somewhat problematic at the moment.

So the motorbike went and the car is here.
I want to try and do a rolling resto as much as i can, as it will still be my primary transport.

I like the idea of making a long thread here to follow its progress. Ive seen other people's threads and have been very impressed by the stories that unfold as they go along.

I think i know what i want to end up with - A "vision" if you like. i will play with bugselecta and see what i can do for an image...

Ok, here it is...

Im creating a gallery online so its easier for me to post some pics into the threads here and also incase anyone wants to have a look at the full extent of the pics i take.

More pics and updates as soon as i have them sorted out

Cy

 

[magicfiver]

highly unlikey that mine will be orange at the end of it either...hehe

Ok, so now motogp has finished, and the rain has stopped for a few hours...I could crack into the car a little more.

So, a bit of a disclaimer: my knowledge of VW's is limited, and my terminology of things is bad too...but learning is what this is all about right?
Please excuse any stupid and naive questions from me, as im sure i will be asking them.
Im ambitious and not afraid to try anything myself.
As jonofdoom says - "its just a rusty car", and i want to make mine not as rusty as it is

I have little knowledge of the heater channels or where they run or how they exactly worked until today.
Well, to be more precise, i now know where mine should be.
I knew i was going to have to replace panels and stuff but due to the way the heaters were so bloody hot, i didnt expect the channels to be as shot as they are.

I took all the carpets up and took the seats out. the floor pans seem pretty decent, but the heat channels/sills/door posts will need some work.

Everything was coated in a sticky tarry type sealant, and some had a silvery look, when i pushed it, it was kinda rubbery, which i thought was a special sealant of some sort

...until i realised it was actually caulk/silicon.

I started to scrub all the tar off of that and managed to find that it was actually holding everything together.

Yes, that IS silicone globs inside there!
I kept pulling tons out etc etc...and ended up with all this fun stuff:

Which is ok, as i can now see where im at and i can distinguish the heater channels from the inner sill (?) which is strong for the most part.

I can also see where the water is coming in from the underneath as well as from the door post.

I will be honest, i'm nervy about cutting anything (first resto and all) and i know that as soon as i do the first bit, the rest will be easier.

Im thinking that this would be a good place to start the fixing

To replace this, and i know it's a case of chopping it back, just how far should i go back?

I need to replace the bottom of the door post too, but which bit do i replace first?
The heater channel or the door post bottom?
Is there an order to doing this?

Underneath the whole side of the channel is all gone too, and will need replacing.
Is there any kind of online tutorial for replacing all of this kinda thang?

ok, i will update more when i do some more.
Hopefully i havent asked too many questions (sorry if i have)

The thought of work is really not pleasing me tomorrow but i guess i have to earn some money to pay for all of this.

 

[magicfiver]

ahhh, the orange population is strong i see hehe

After reading up on the channel replacement methods...its too much for me to do here - i have not the space or expertise sadly (which pi$$es me off no end)
i have been calling this morning to get some prices and quotes for heater channel replacements.
have a guy coming to look on thursday... and a guy calling me back.

 

[magicfiver]

I have a chap coming on thursday evening to have a look and give me a price to do them.
But i just got the go ahead from my mum to use her driveway if i want to do it myself.

Id love to do it myself, but I think the whole body off thing is scaring me the most.
we will see.
in the meantime i will order up the channels and panels i need for the rest of it.
there is lots. haha

Cy

 

[magicfiver]

heater channel repair is booked in for 11th sept...
should be picking up some (read: a lot) repair panels at action on saturday...

picked up a nice welder and a 50ltr compressor now. oh, and an electric sander after managing to sand my fingertips off.

 

[magicfiver]

Thanks for your support

picked up a ton of panels at action on saturday which is good
i also picked up an empi shifter which wont let me select first or second. (not sure why and is pi$$ing me off)

also the nice 50ltr compressor i got managed to set itself on fire yesterday when i tested it for the first time.

once the channels are done, i can start geting panels tacked and welded in woohoo

 

[magicfiver]

yeah as soon as i fitted the OG one it was fine. its always been a bit of a job on the odd occasion going into second (i predict this was worn bushings/couplings)
It never pops out of any gear though.

I spoke to the shop who i got the shifter from yesterday and they said sometimes they are a total pain to get aligned. im hoping its not my bushes and couplings that are gone too. Ive heard theyre a pain to fit - how did you find yours to do?

 

[magicfiver]

mmm the courier brought me new bits.

So in total (with the parts i picked up from cool-air at action)...
2 x heater channels
2 x door post repair sections
2 x inner front wing repair panels
1 x front valance
1 x rear valance
1 x nearside rear wing/bumper repair patch
1 x nearside wing
1 x offside wing
1 x offside rear quarter panel repair panel (large)
1 x bonnet (£20 bargain from action)

As it goes... the existing bonnet had more than a just skim of filler on it... like 1/2 inch thick slab... i chipped it and pieces all smashed off. i have no idea why it was like this. very odd.

 

[magicfiver]

Well i did some more investigation today...

The thick filler on the bonnet was worrying me.
why did they need to put that much on? it didnt look out of shape with that much on it.

I decided to take the front drivers side wing off to have a closer look.

one word: Yikes.

the lip that the bonnet closes to on the body was thick filler....

....and it didnt seem to be out of shape on the inside...till i looked a LOT closer.

the inside of the wing toward the front looked like it was slightly ruffled and had had some filler smeared on it, but when i actually looked pretty closely at it, i noticed that indeed it had been crashed at some point and the panel was folded pretty bad.
(this would explain the new usa spec wings at least...)

<rant>

Im angry at myself for not noticing it before, not having much knowledge about what was what before i bought it, and also angry at the lady who sold it to me. I feel in hindsight it was maybe a few hundred quid to much.

</rant>

Anyhoo... onwards and upwards. Its a learning curve and this shit is never easy, right?

in taking the wing off, i can see the bad patch job that someone has attempted before. Sadly between that and the dents at the front, im gonna have to replace the whole inner wing for a new one. joy, another 70 quid to spend.

Its in next week for the heat channels and door post bottoms to be fixed, so hopefully i can do this inner wing repair when it comes back.

Even though im kinda annoyed at this new discovery im still enthusiastic and excited to be getting on and working on this project.
I know that its a resto project, and i work from home, but its also my transport, so minimal time off the road is always nice.

ok, more later.

 

[magicfiver]

Thanks for the good wishes crazy horse!

Gonna try to do it all myself bar the heater channels. as a first job i think its kinda beyond my current limited skillset, and not a good job to learn on.

I ordered up a new complete inner front drivers side wing today... should be here on monday or so... hooray for a local gsf.

Give it a week for the heater chanels to be fitted, then its my turn (yikes) to start cutting things up and welding stuff in.

 

[magicfiver]

oh, when it rains.... it pisses down.

haha.

well i wanted a project, and a project i have.

Tomorrow morning it goes in for heater channel replacement at the garage. I thought id make things as easy as i could for my bodyshop/welder/magician by stripping the interior down to the bare minimum.
I was also interested in seeing what was under the rear sound proofing and carpet etc as i hadnt had it apart before.

oh my, what a surprise.
This one wasnt so bad. i didnt really flinch too badly...

however, this one kinda narked me a bit.

As i had all the stuff out, i figured id go crazy with the pokey screwdriver and see what else was crunchy.

I found the rear of the passenger floorpan had some tar backed matting on it, but wasnt painted underneath. mm lots of surface rust under there once id scrapered it all off.

I also saw that under the side panel card there that the passenger side had once had a repair panel put in there. dont thinki it was a pattern part by any means, and looks like it was only tacked in too. mm lots of filler. looks a pretty bad job.

ahhh. i was nearly there.
then i was tempted to have a look at the drivers side cross member that was covered in silvery sealant much the same as the drivers footwell/heater channel area was.

i did, and it was super crunchy. i feared the worst, as i should.
yep, it was held together with the silver stuff again.
i cut it and pulled it out, to find the whole end section of the cross member was actually full off silicon (much the same as the heater channel was).

So i stripped it out and this is what i was left with.
im concerned incase my body guy wont have anything to weld to as the original patches are kinda a bit shite.

...

 

[magicfiver]

...
I took the battery out and had a look at the floorpan as it seemed to similar to the other one with the tar backed mat.
oh no. how i was so so so wrong.
its just 2 pieces of steel laid flat and welded around the outside, and then guess what? SILICONED together in the middle where they overlap. haha i actually laughed out loud.

also i noticed a small hole in the pan next to the seat runner too. (like this is any kind of worry now...) hahaha

well, im all loaded up with the new heritage channels and door post repair panels and ready to roll in the morning.

Im looking forwards to the repairs as i have said before, and im not deterred in any way. it is my mission to make this car f'kin awesome, and i WILL succeed, i just didnt bank on having this much to do to it.
Again, i cast a pox on the woman who sold it to me and obviously feigned the nerve damage to her neck as an excuse to sell it.
Struggling from nerve damage myself on a daily basis i really kinda take a dim view on anything like that.

ok, thats the last time i will bitch about it on here about the state of the bodywork. life is to short.

what a day what a day.

lets see what this week brings.

 

[magicfiver]

yeah- its all a learning curve - sadly the lady i got my car from hasnt been honest about anything so far except that the cd player was new :incheek:

If i ever buy another vw i will look for stuff more intensely, even though some stuff i doubt you'd be able to see even now. My brother bought his 64 split a few years ago and had no idea that half the front clip was fibreglass - it wasnt till they stripped it down for paint that it fell apart.

There was a mixed look of happiness and shock on the face of my bodywork guy this morning when i took the car in...
i think he is excited to work on another classic vw (he did my brother's '64 split) rather than a modern wannabe 2fast2furious racer mobile...But he nearly choked when i showed him the new holes id found. lol

Anyhow, he is gonna get it off the pans and then assess what to do from there - whether we patch or replace the newly discovered shitty panels.

I actually felt quite guilty as i took a bunch of repair panels along with the heater channels this morning too incase he needed them to weld on so he had something for the channels to weld to.

In other news, the new front 1/4 arrived at gsf ok, but i have no transport to go pick it up haha. typical...

i await a call with anxious grins

 

[magicfiver]

yikes. i dont feel so bad now. that really sucks.

i got the call i was waiting for and its gonna take longer then he estimated which is cool as he will do it right rather than rush it.

im gonna go down in a couple of days to see how progress is going and to take him down the spare rear wings as he thinks the originals may not stand being taken off and on hehe

was playing with bugselecta and came out with this.
still not sure on the colour and cant seem to find the us spec lights on there but you get an idea of the stance im thinking about.

 

[magicfiver]

Went to the bodyshop today to drop off some new rear wings and see the progress.

I didnt know quite what to expect, so naturally feared the worst.

This is what i saw..

Still on the pans - gonna be lifted off today, they were just preparing to brace the shell as i arrived.

They were glad i passed by as I could assess the work they needed to do, and what they were to leave for me. Sadly it wasnt just a case of chopping the old heater channels out and putting the new ones in. They would need to fit and repair a load more panels for them to go in.

pics:

This section between the 1/4 and the arch is just rotted right through. - it again is held tight with silicon.

Driver's side rear 1/4 that needs repairing... this was known about. sadly it does go back into the arch though..
*hoodride template to ease my conscience about having a ratty car hehe...

I have had to order another drivers side cross member from coolair today as he isnt sure if he can repair the other one cos it is so rusty.

Just another quick shot of the crunched in front 1/4.
I have the new front 1/4 waiting for me at gsf, which i want to fit myself, but if it turns out he needs it for the repair of the door pillar, then i may have to conceed and get him to fit it. this will also mean he would do the front valance too.. but we will see how it works out.

He is aiming to have it back to me by friday, but im guessing it wont be till mid or late next week now.
Either way its all good. id rather get the structural stuff done first and properly.

 

[magicfiver]

more progress in the body shop

I had ordered a new driver's side cross member, but sadly the shop sent me out the wrong side so work has kinda halted till monday.

The body is lifted up off the pans so he can get the alignment right for the channel

mmm bracing...

sadly my body guy noticed that the right hand side of the front had also been shunted slightly from the left hand side damage and will need jigging out.. he says it isnt too much of a problem though.

He is also going to weld in the driver's side front inner wing and front valancewhich i really wanted to do myself. BUT he sensibly says that there is no need him doing all this welding for me to undo it and do it again myself to fit some new panels.

In other news i sourced some late mexi doors this week.. well, not the doors i wanted so much but the 1/4 windows. but they were in a pair of doors.
They looked pretty decent when i got them out this afternoon. also scored a few more clips and bolts from them which will be handy for when i go over my doors (also gained a lot of knowledge of how they go to ether...)

ok more soon

 

[magicfiver]

Cheers, the enthusiasm is really helping at the moment. So far whatever way i turn it is frustrating me. haha.

I picked up the new front quarter panel (inner wing) from gsf this morning and to my surprise it was a genuine panel, not a repro
Weird that they dont sell cross members, and that they dont take card sales over the phone... you learn something new every day!

The next new cross member turned up in the post when i got home, only for it to be the wrong side again (The shop have sorted it out now and the correct one is on a courier due to arrive tomorrow morning)

I did fix the bonnet lip yesterday, (my welding sucks and i needs lots of practise) but the welds held ok and it doesnt look too bad.
I will upload some more pics later.

 

[magicfiver]

well, finally the correct side cross member arrived.
granted it would have been nice for them to send it on a before 9am carrier as a "sorry me messed your order up twice" apology, but there ya go. it got here at nearly 3pm.
I dropped it up at the body shop and the guy set to work right away.

They had the passenger channel botled in to measure up and also the door pillar repair post in place to test too.

more pics when i go see it again

 

[magicfiver]

ok, a couple of updates....

i grabbed the running boards last visit so i could assess the repairs needed to them.

i knew they were kinda crusty but i figured i could maybe repair these and save myself a good 40ish beans on new ones (at least for a while)
top:

bottom:

However as soon as i tried to unpeel the rubbers... they just perished.

bugger. hehe. ah well. i forsee stainless running boards in the future...

so who can tell me the difference between cal-look and regular?
(pics would be a touch too )

 

[magicfiver]

i dropped into the workshop today to see the welding progress.
looking good i must say.
the channels are welded in for the most part - all except where the other as yet unattached new panels will go.

the new cross member looks the business, and they have patched around the areas surrounding it where it was rotten/siliconed/filled.

The passenger door A pillar is repaired and has been remade at the top and the door will nicely hang on the hinges now and open/close properly.

The guy said that he isnt looking forward to the front wing repair as it will be a pain, which i can see, as when he does this he has to do the drivers door A pillar repairs too.

Ive ordered up a new passenger side rear 1/4 panel repair section from gsf (they have one on the shelf) and they will fit that on tuesday next week when they will next be hitting the car for work.

As the man says - "it's getting heavier, but still has a long way to go. But we will get there..."