Fubar 64

[vwhelmot]

Door fit seems nice. This is without the striker plate , just hung.













After this , it was a hundred and one little welding jobs, small holes to plug or holes to drill for this and that. Got to remember to get it right now rather than later after its painted. Even drilling the hole for the antenna etc is so important. Mistakes can be fixed now but not later. I just hope I've remembered everything as I've finished the welding on the shell. It's been such a long job , so many hours I've lost count.

I've heard that painting over weld thru primer is a no no. In some cases it can react and lift so I wasn't going to take that chance. I've had to blast the shell again in all the areas that I've worked on to remove the primer and re etch the body. There was no way I was going to blast it upstairs so I had to fork lift it down from the mez floor again. Not something I enjoyed doing but it had to be done.

Got it down safe



Big milestone to finish the body welding!

[vwhelmot]

A super exciting video of me shitting myself on a fork lift. High octane action.

[vwhelmot]

Re blasted



Re etched primed











Expoxy coat

[Dalland]

Absolutely stunning piece of work you are doing!
But one little question, how long time has gone between etch primer and epoxy and what type did you use?
Reason I ask is because I have many times seen when painting with epoxy over etch primer that they start to react because the epoxy is almost air tight and that’s not something the etch prime likes...

But this is something you will see in the next weeks if so.
best of luck and keep up the posting, beautiful work!

[vwhelmot]

Thanks. I "baked" it as much as I could and left it for a few days and to be honest it was a really thin coat of etch , more of a wash. That stuff goes off really quickly . This is only the first base coat of epoxy. I`ve got to start all the filler work yet. I`ve never had a problem with this combo (touch wood)  

[vwhelmot]

]

[Gwar72]

Amazing Skills..!! 
Getting inspired to start my project but will be a shadow of this build..!! Loving your detail..!! 

[vwhelmot]

Thanks, post up some pics of your build. The more the merrier.

[vwhelmot]

Nothing much in the way of exciting progress , it's just been a solid two months of bodywork flatting , every inch , every seam , every nook and cranny.  I'm aiming for crisp lines and smooth everything.  Still lots to do before it's ready for paint but it's getting there.













In the meantime, the seat frames are causing me headaches!

[vwhelmot]

Its all fun and games here. On the high build primer stage and its nothing but fun. Hour upon hour of flatting is getting monotonous but no one said its easy. The body has been back on the pan to check a few final details and recheck the door fit etc. Not far off a trip to the paintshop. About a month off I reckon.

















Big Airfix kit

[Iryanu]

Another face melter of an update. That decklid with the subtle scoop in is   

[vwhelmot]

Ha cheers. The scoop has a story in itself. When I used to use the car as my everyday car back in the mid nineties I used to park it in the street. One morning I went out to drive to work and "someone" had kicked a huge dent in the deck lid and my wipers looked like spaghetti  (something to do with me having it away with a jealous blokes ex woman   )   I tried to straighten the lid but to no avail so I made a scoop instead. I must remember thank the jealous bloke. 

[karl h]

 love your updates, keep ´em coming!

[vwhelmot]

Well after six solid months of blocking it's ready for paint. 



Made a frame for the chassis to sit on.



Made a sponge gasket to protect the body from the chassis















So here goes. I'm looking forward to seeing it in paint, I've done the best I can and been over the whole thing not missing a mm.

[glassback kid]

fantastic, cant wait to see the next post of it in paint, stunning work well done

[vwhelmot]

Thanks, appreciate the comments.  I've still got the floor pan to finish then the fun begins.

[Gwar72]

Awesome work..!! Can't wait to see it in paint..!!     

[Clatter]

Ugh!
Killin' me..

Don't tell me they are doing like all of these other shops, and leaving it out in the rain for months! 

It was all ready to shoot, right?

Don't hold out!

[vwhelmot]

No, it's being well looked after, they are the consummate professionals. I'm confident of the finish

[baz]

This is gonna be incredible when done,  kudos to the workmanship already done and good luck with the rest of the  build.

What colour you going with?  I love the primer colour looks almost fontana grey.

[vwhelmot]

Cheers , I did toy with the idea of changing colours but who am I to argue with sea blue. The factory got it right first time.

[vwhelmot]

So while the body is away I can get on with the chassis. The frame head is in good condition after blasting, there is pitting but nothing that warrants cutting out and replacing. The amount of shitty factory welds and non aligning seams is unreal. It's taken a lot of work to clean all these areas up so everything is smooth and lines up. I've run a 3/8 solid fuel line down the tunnel with AN-6 fittings either end and had to make a boss for the lock nut to sit properly on the frame horn. This was my first mod which I did over two years ago.



I cut a section out of the frame horn to modify it and to pass the new fuel line through then built up the section so there is a flat area for the nut to sit on neatly







Mass produced bird shit







Rewelded and smoothed

[vwhelmot]

Lots of cleaning up welds like these













This weld took an age to make straight









Nearly ready for reblasting and then the blocking can begin.

[baz]

Can you call over to mine and make my fuel lines look like yours?   

Nice work as usual 

[Good-Old-Ragtop60]

Wow, every time I see an update on this tread I`m impressed more and more. Awesome skills! 
Thank you for the detailed pictures. Very intersting and inspiring.
I hope I´ll see this great car in real when it`s finished.

[vwhelmot]

Thanks very much.
More of this sort of stuff. Factory glued on....





Made my own



Not running heaters so I cut the cable tubes off





Torsion mount



Re welded and smoothed



Rear trans mount looks ugly from the back so I made a cover to beautify it





It needed lightening. Welded on and smoothed.







Started to clean up the rear shock stays. Lots of flash to remove .



I will carry on and blast the chassis this weekend so I can re etch prime it and start the filling etc...

[jick]

amazing stuff dude..... 

[vwhelmot]

Thanks Jick,  building the other seat frame at the mo.

[Jeff68]

Not a stone unturned or ANYTHING overlooked on your car / Project. Looking at all of your pictures you can clearly see how all the panels of a beetle are put together to form a complete car. Amazing amount of thought and care. As Gene Berg once said - NO ONE will put the care in to building your engine (car in your case) as you will (the person that owns it - you in this case). Awesome work, I hope the painter does your car the way it should be done.

[vwhelmot]

Cheers, I`m kind of gutted that I`m not painting it myself but the lack of a proper heated spray booth etc makes the job impossible for me to do it.  I did as much as I could myself but I guess some jobs are better left to the pros.