My 1970 bug

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by Zebedee, Sep 9, 2011.

  1. Its one of my bits on the side but a restoration all the same.

    As bought in 1996:
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    How it currently looks 15 years later:
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    Last edited: Feb 17, 2020
    Kruger and Sick Boy like this.
  2. It was taken off the road in 2001 for a little work and deposited on my parents drive.

    A couple of years later and after loads of hints from my mum who wanted it gone, one of my mates brought i across to our house on a borrowed car trailer:
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    Its first trip on the road in quite a few years:
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    No brakes or engine and no handbrake handle saw me cruising off the trailer and past 3 houses before i managed to stop it by dragging my foot along the ground. :eek:

    I deposited it on the drive and covered it in a tarp but the lack of light getting into the kitchen forced me to consider other options:
    I made a carport to store it under instead, which is now high enough for a hightop camper too ;D
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020
  3. It had had a restoration done by a 'specialist' (specialist what i'm not sure :mad: ) so i had a proper poke around to see what needed doing. Everything it turns out. :(

    I started on the passengers side as it was next to the house and afforded me a bit more weatherproofing.
    Some of the piccies are out of date order as i didn't take them all at the same time.

    Rear 1/4 bottom was out of shape as it had been welded in badly then fillered up:
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    Inner rear arch was solid but tatty:
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    Missing engine bay side tray:
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    End of gutter rotten:
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    Area under back seat, yep you guessed it, rotten and badly patched too:
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    Heater channel was shot:
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    and inner front wing:
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    A pillar bottom was badly replaced and now strarting to rot:
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    Front bulkhead had been patched over rot:
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    It really should have been scrapped it was that bad.
     
  4. I constructed some girderwork inside the car to stop it trying to change shape:
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    Then started by cutting out the rot.
    I cut out the rot in the inner skin and remade it so there was something solid to weld the heater channel to and also so there was a reference point to get everything straight:
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    I started to remove some of the rear 1/4 bottom:
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    and front inner wing so i could pull the heater channel out:
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    It didn't need cutting out as it was so rotten. :eek:
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    A few bits i cut off:
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  5. Front bulkhead was cut out too:
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    To be replaced by a donor section cut off a mates bug he was scrapping (it was actually more solid than mine :eek: ):
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    How many patches? ::)
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    Bug jigsaw:
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    Welded in and solid again:
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    A bit of satin black to make it pretty again:
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    Chassis will need a load of rust repair as its pretty ropey too. :(
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  6. What happened, it looked great in 1996??
     
    1973daisey likes this.
  7. After a load of trimming the new heater channel was fitted into place.
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    Not the best quality part but i couldn't afford genuine VW.

    After trimming the rear 1/4 down to size the repair was offered up to see how badly it fitted:
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    Suprise, another quality panel that needed loads of work to make it fit. ::)
     
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  9. I managed to get the panel to fit better after spending a day rebending the thing:
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    A skim of filler:
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    Some paint:
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    B pillar looks better now anyway:
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  10. The rot in the back corner under the back seat was cut out:
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    The holes in the inner arch welded up:
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    Plus this bit near the rear bulkhead:
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  11. Starting with a cheap repair bit for the back of the heater channel:
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    And using nothing but cereal boxes, cellotape and loads of swearing i ended up with the shape of a panel i could transfer to steel to fill the holes:
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    Nice and solid again:
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    I could have just spent £50 on a rear crossmember but wheres the fun in that?

    The rest of the hole was filled with another homemade panel:
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    And painted:
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  12. Wire brushing the rear wing mounting panel produced this nice lacework. :(
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    So it was cut out:
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    Some repair pieces fabricated and welded in:
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    Much better with a quick lick of paint:
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  13. I made a couple of engine bay side trays to replace the rotten and missing original:
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    I could have just bought them but cash was tight and they are never gonna be seen again anyway once the sound deadening is back in.

    Passengers side welded in:
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    Rotten drivers side:
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    Solid again:
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    Painted:
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  14. Gutter rot cut out:
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    From inside the engine compartment:
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    Donor panel repair piece:
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    Welded in:
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    Ground down:
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    Filled:
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    Painted with some leftover paint:
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  15. A pillar was a little crispy:
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    So i chopped it out:
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    And some of the inner wing too:
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    This shows just how bad the cheap repair panel was:
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    They couldn't even get the bends in the right places. ::) Wish i'd just forked out for the Hooky's panel but i didn't so...

    I rebent the panel so it fitted better:
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    Hooky's pillar alignment tool is a godsend ;D
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    Welded in nice and strong again:
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    A skim of filler:
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    and some paint:
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    Spacecowboyuk likes this.
  16. This hole needs filling with something now:
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    Another cheap repair panel:
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    that doesn't fit properly:
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    after a little bending it fits better:
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    Loads of plug welds and lots of hammering later and its in:
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    Welded to bulkhead:
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    and coated in satin black:
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    Primered:
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    Some more leftover paint:
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    Wing fits nicely and so does the door. ;D
     
  17. omg you've got your work cut out there! good luck :)
     
  18. As the passengers side is now solid again i dragged it out onto the street with Fran steering sitting on a few offcuts of wood so i could get the drivers close to the house for more protection. It didn't work:
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    I lost interest in working in the freezing cold over winter so thought i'd have a look inside the engine:
    Cylinder heads weren't too bad:
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    Barrels and pistons were OK too:
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    so i just cleaned it all up, gave it a valve job and reassembled:
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    Tinware all degreasd and repainted:
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    Carb and dizzy both rebuilt:
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    As i was putting the silencer back on i noticed something was loose inside. Turned out it was the baffles, so out they came. >:D
    I bought these straight through tailpipes so thought it was rude not to fit them:
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    The engine complete and on my test stand.
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    Ok a late bay gearbox.

    To say its loud is a massive understatement.
    Birds flew from the trees, dogs howled in the distance and the earth was rocked with the sound of an unbaffled flat 4 bursting into life. It spits flames too. :eek:
     
  19. OK, back to the bodywork. Heres the rotten areas. It would probably be quicker to just list the good bits, but i won't. >:D
    Front 1/4 is rotten at the rear:
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    Rear of the gutter is rotten like the passengers side:
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    A pillar bottom is non existant and is no longer attached to the heater channel:
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    Makes opening the door a two person job. :eek:

    Looking down the A pillar:
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    Theres rot in the corner of the windscreen:
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    and behind the dash:
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    Rear 1/4 looks good but is infact made of 1/2" filler. :(
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