October 7, 2003
Most of the rust replacement is done, yet right now I
can't afford motor replacement, and since the original still "works,"
I figure the next step is wiring. Course, before that process is undertaken it
would be neat if it was painted, so the new wires won't all end up the same
color and under the wires will still be "original color." I guess I"ll
start the process of getting it ready to paint. Plus this process is cheap as
the main cost is sweat equity.
Therefore, it becomes important for me
to be able to better access the car from all angles. In its original
configuation in the garage, the body was on a static rack that was attached to
the wall of the garage. Getting to the other side of the car proves difficult,
what with my having to crawl underneath to get to the cramped room at the other
side of the car. A moveable rack is in order.
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The new rack has to have wheels so I took apart a little cart I'd made to
move the rear of the pan around the garage. Now that the pan is mobile, the
cart was redundant and was liberated of its wheels. These wheels were mounted
to the bottom of the verticals of the rack. |
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Here the car has been turned around from its original location, after the
rack has been completed. I added corner supports and put in crosspieces to keep
the rack from "racking." The new rack is wide enough at the bottom to
allow storing the pan underneath the car, and allows it to be rolled out of the
way so I can work underneath the body. I kept the rack minimal enough to allow
easy access to the body for both the sanders and paint guns, so I think it can
be easier than either on the static rack or even on the body. |
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The side view of the new rack. The astute and spatially aware reader may
notice that the back vertical appears out of plumb. I wish I could explain this
away as an optical illusion, but I can't.. it is indeed a vertically challenged
upright... |
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April, 2004
The welding and grinding has been accomplished, and the car
has mostly been stripped. For the last month or so, I've been sanding, which is
as exciting as it sounds. There were dings in the doors, customary dents in the
hood and some hail peltings on the fenders. That brings the need for the
hammers and dollies pictured here.
I'd love to see these things in the
hands of an artist. There are shrinking hammers and curved dollies and all
sorts of treasures, I guess. I'm not quite yet an artist, so I've adjusted my
objectives in using them. Just like when I play golf, my objective is to make
it sound good. If you hit them right, they ring like a bell. |
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Once the dents are hammered out, its time to add filler. Another learning
curve here, using Bondo. This stuff is mixed with a hardener that is spread on,
then sanded smooth. Its been used in the circled areas.
This is
chemistry for fun and profit. This stuff must be used in a specific (warm)
ambient temperature and sets up according the amount of hardener you mix into
it. I finally learned the right ratio so I could get to the car from the
workbench before it hardened!
That blue underneath the beige is the
original color on this car "Bahama Blue." |
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Here's a shot of the filler in a fender. After hammering out the hail
dents, there were low spots that I hope to even out using the filler.
I
think probably the best Bondo artists are blind. You absolutely have to go by
feel more than by looking at the "smoothness." Its also one of those
trades in which experience is a good teacher in working on smoothing out these
subtle dents. Once again, a humbling experience.
I'll keep sanding
and filling, and sanding and sanding. Drop a note of encouragement, as this
stage is about as exciting as listening to paint dry. |
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June, 2004
Another pic of the door with filler to fix a bullet hole. I
think the car served as a target in its former life, so welding, hammering and
then filling the hole got it healed. |
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From the rear, the poor car looks like its recovering from a good beating.
Sand sand sand...... |
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Finnnnnnnnnnnnnalllllllllllllllly I've gotten the car stripped and sanded.
The DA is in the rear wheel well - this got a lot of hours of use getting to
this point. |
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The last phase of this operation was getting the fenders ready. Here is a
rear fender as I've been scraping off the undercoating. This was a bear! I
found that wd-40 would loosen the undercoating somewhat, then scraping with a
screw driver and a wood chisel would accomplish getting it off. A regular putty
knife wasn't sharp enough, but the wood chisel's beveled side worked great!
Then, after sanding it down and using Extend on the remaining rust, I figured
they were ready for painting! |
Remember, the ongoing consideration is a paint color for the car.
At first the favorite was a dark green, like "Delta Green", with a
bronze metalflake, and a brown or tan top. Or a dark grey - "Smoke Grey"
is the official color, and maybe a maroon candy, with a black top. Or even a two
tone...
Now we're swaying toward a light beige, yellow, cream type
color with a brown top...Let me know if you have other ideas...
If
you're really fascinated with this paint choice prospect, check out this link on
paint chips.
Autocolorlibrary.com.
It will open in a new window, so you can switch back and forth for specific
directions to finding 1966 VW color chips. In the "Select European"
menu box, choose "Volkswagen" and hit "View Selection." At
the next screen, in the "Select Year," choose "1966" and hit
"View Chips" The result will be 4 pages, the first two are color
chips, the 3rd and 4th pages are mixing charts. Click on either page 1 or 2 to
look at the color chips. Check other marques' colors too, and remember to
consider the top color as well.
So its on to painting the car! Click the paint link at the top of the page
to check on the painting progress.
The
Beginning