Hood Fresh 1962 Euro Rag

[thekera]

So another area of the FWD section removal is the front firewall. Both the inner and outer panels. I will be replacing the lower sections with Klassic Fab replacement panels.

FIREWALL INNER AND OUTER SECTION REMOVAL:

Also did some corrosion prep with zero rust. Went ahead and painted the inner section that would not be accessible later.

Thank you everyone for the kind words and positive reinforcement. Keep checkin in.

[thekera]

jays58s, Im psyched you like the thread. You should get a new welder man.

Thats awesome your right down the road from TRP. Gotta love the kind of work coming outta there.

[thekera]

So after prepping most of the panels for the FWD section, I decided to start by installing the outer panel of the front firewall. If you look in the photos you will notice this panel has a U shaped bead. The Klassic Fab U shaped bead could be better and did not match on the drivers side either.

As far as the inner panel of the firewall. I think on this side in contrast to the drivers side, I will wait to install this until the heater channel is being installed.

Hope everyones Holidays are going well and keep posted.

[thekera]

Sorry, I have been a little slow on the progress lately. A friend hit some ice while driving his 1960 Beetle. Ended up pushing in his front apron a little on a curb. He Asked if I could straighten it for him, so I have been doing some metal shaping on his bug which has taken most of my time.

I did find some time to finish the install of the passenger side A pillar. First things first I sprayed the backside of the panel with weld thru primer. Then followed up with taping and zero rust, careful to avoid where I will be welding.

From here, before actually tacking in the panel I make sure to check all measurements and use any locating tools I might have. Maybe in the next post I will show a sweet A Pillar locator I have. Once the panel is all locked in, I went ahead and began tacking in the panel.

A PILLAR INSTALL (RH HAND)

Then follow up with grinding down the weld. Just want to say grinding your welds properly is a true art and takes a lot of practice to do properly.

The areas I taped on the bench while painting, once installed I go back and hit those areas with zero rust.

Thank you everyone for following the thread and keep posted.

[stanovich]

good job and thank you for the panel info and pictures, I am going to start my 7-55 bug and will need many of the same parts

[thekera]

Stanovich, thanks for checking out the thread. I hope this thread is helpful to all those out there with a restoration on there hands.

One of the reason for sharing this project, I don't know how many times I have gone to look at a VW and have walked away due to poor metal work. Vintage Volkswagen's are not getting any newer and as they age, inevitability will need rust repair. I feel these cars need the respect that they often don't recieve. That being said, this kind of metal work takes time, patience, and skill. So if there is anything I can give back it would be, to maybe help show the proper way to repair those crunchy panels, and if your not sure you can do the repair properly,find someone in our VW community who can.

Thanks again
GOT RUST?

[grandpa pete]

[thekera]

Grandpa Pete, gotta love Flap wheels. I have an assortment of grits and sizes. They also make a flap wheel now for small pneumatic grinders. Pretty cool cause they are quick change, only bad thing is you have to special order them as I haven't seen them yet sold other than online.

I will say even with a flap wheel, it still takes some skill for a proper blend. Can easily take off to much material.
Thanks

[thekera]

It has been awhile since I have posted some photos/descriptions of the tools I have acquired and been using as this project progresses. When doing this kind of panel replacement, keeping the correct factory locations that the engineers at VW drew up in the engineering drawings.

Before cutting or removing any panel I first check the Bentley manual drawings for location. From here I cross reference the drawing to the actual panel to make sure everything is in cahoots. You never know, what looks to be a perfectly straight panel could have been pushed in or out over the years slightly throwing it out of specifications. I then will try and think of a way to build some sort of locating jig for the panel Im replacing.

Most jigs are something you have to build yourself. That being said, one jig I have found being sold is, A Pillar locator. The one I found is only a 3 hole but will work on your 1962 and earlier 4 hole A Pillars. This jig will help set your height and also help in holding the panel in place while welding.

Another common problem I have faced is, straightening out dents that Im unable to reach the backside of the panel with a dolly. Also, sometimes while butt welding, once the seam is done being welded you will notice a slight concave where the seam was. Usually you can flatten this out with your hammer and dolly but not always due to accessibility issues. This Great tool helps solve a lot of those problems.

This is an american made H&S stud welder with shrinking tip attachment. This is their best model and comes with their lifetime transformer warranty.

Some of the included accessories, minus the hammer and stud buddy.

Example of concave seam with poor accessibility.

Thanks for following and keep checking back.

[thekera]

It has been awhile since my last post. I have been busy with another project but am getting back to the 1962 as of recently. So a few post back I believe I showed a couple photos of the removal of the front lower quarter panel. The new panel that I will be replacing it with is a Restoration Panel made by Mika. Love how thick his panels are, sure makes grinding down the welds later a lot easier to blend.

First I started with panel prep: cleaned bare metal followed up by some Zero Rust.

Quarter Panel Install:

After I finished the install, it was time to spot weld the welt to the A pillar and fold it over. I first hit it with some Zero Rust. I just wanna say, folding over the welt is tricky and took some time. Slow and steady.

GOT RUST?

Keep Posted and thank you

[thekera]

The next area on the ever shrinking panel replacement list, would be the passenger rear wheel well mount panel. This side was actually worse than the drivers side.

First I laid out some reference lines and measurements. After getting all of my measurements, I went ahead and cut out along where the mount panel adjoins to the wheel well panel.

The rust was worse than I had thought. I marked out visible spot welds and began to remove any remaining OG wheel well panel still attached to the mount panel.

After removing all the spot welds, I hit the mount panel with a wire wheel, then let the panel soak in vinegar over night followed by a sand blast in the morning for breakfast lol.

I bought a new weld thru primer that I really like. The name slips me right now. Anyway, I began preparing Mika's at Restoration Panels rear wheel well panel for spot welding to the mount panel. This panel from Mika was special for me and this project in that he special made this for this project. I will say this is one of his best fitting panels that I have received from him. Check out Restoration Panels.

Keep posted for the install of this panel and thank you for following the thread.

[thekera]

PASSENGER SIDE WHEEL MOUNT INSTALL:

Installing this area takes some fore thought and preparation. Many panels tie together in the rear corner of the Beetle: Wheel well, Luggage tray, Cross member and Rear quarter panel. It seems that each of these have there issues on the 1962 and need to be addressed and installed in a certain order.

First I laid out and scribed the wheel well mount where I would be cutting it down to size. Then from here I located the panel and drew my trim line and trimmed.

Just like the drivers side, the flange of the luggage tray that is spot welded to the wheel well mount was very rusted and needed to be replaced. I will be making a replacement panel that will be in another post. Like the drivers side, the rear cross member would also need to be removed and replaced. This too will be covered later in another post.

Once the panels surrounding the Wheel well panel were out of the way I located the panel and began the install.

Im happy with how this panel went in. This area is tricky and takes some patience. There is still some final metal work to be done but not to bad. I would like to thank Mika from Restoration Panels, for making me this one of a kind panel. Mika's panels are awesome! Also thank you to everyone following the thread your kind words are appreciated.

Keep Posted

[thekera]

As this project has progressed, I have been acquiring and replacing many tools. Tools are a great investment. It sure pays to spend the money once and buy the tool that may cost a little more. Many tools that I had before I started this project are now being replaced, due to not being able to keep up or breaking.

This project has required a lot of pneumatic tool use. In the beginning of the project I was getting by using a small 26 gallon air compressor, I had purchased at a big box store many years ago. Now, this worked great for light garage work but when I started grinding away at this project it just could not keep up.

I like to save a buck like anyone else and have found after some patience and searching you can usually find the tool that you really want, but cannot justify spending the money on new, used. An example of this is my air compressor. Like I said, I was using a 26 gallon that I had to rebuild twice. For this kind of metal work I knew that I needed something more substantial.

After some searching and asking around, a buddy at work said he was going to be selling his 60 gallon Speedaire. That day after work I went and picked it up and got a great deal. The difference from the 26 gallon oilless vs. the 60 gallon Speedaire is night and day. I cannot stress the importance of your air supply when doing metal work/fab. Bigger is better.

A couple pneumatic tools I really like and have found to be valuable in this project are grinding/sanding tools. I have found when it comes to panel replacement for me the welding in of the panel is not the hardest part. The hardest part is, grinding down the weld to get that seamless look but also at the same time to retain the structural integrity of the panel. Here are a couple great pneumatic tools.

Keep posted, I have been working on a couple sections that have been a real pain in the ass, so the updates have been a little slow. Thanks for following the thread.

[Jamlit]

Looks like you are doing an awesome job on the sheet metal work. I love doing my own as well.

I just wanted the add on you r Craig list finds. The Harbor Freight stretcher and shrinker work well for the cost and are very handy the English wheel though has much to be desired. It is a fun tool and can be useful for playing with but the Wheels are true radius which causes trouble when doing most shaping. The frame also has to much deflection. You can however mod it a bit and make it a much more useful tool. There was a site called Metalmeet a few years back where I spent so time learning how to build one. I am not sure if the site is still around but they did have a thread on how to improve the Harbor Freight English wheel.

Here is a link to my Ewheel build for those interested.

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?17238-English-wheel-Project&highlight=English+wheel

[corolla11]

Wow man you are doing a great job, just checked all your thread and its simply excellent. I am currently restoring one too a 1962 euro model. please keep posting since it really helps especially to a guy like me who never did any welding or metal work. I have done the rear corner last month, I think i achieved a good results considering that this is a learning path for me.

[thekera]

Jamlit, I checked out your English wheel link and that wheel looks awesome! Great job, on documenting the build and sharing it for others to learn from. I would like to also build my own wheel and this will be a great reference.

As far as my english wheel, it does have much to be desired. I cannot complain, as I got the wheel and shrinker and stretcher for only 150.00 bucks (CL find). I have done some research on the Harbor Freight wheels and have found they produced two different styles. The earlier model from what I have read is the one you want. The difference between the two is in the way the upper arm structure is constructed. My wheel just so happens to be the early version with the curved one piece upper arm opposed to the later version with the welded 45 degree arm.

I have not made many panels with the wheel yet but have mostly been using it to planish small imperfections or slight alterations to panels. My wheel does have some mods, added a I beam stiffener to upper arm to help with deflection and yoke/spindle mod. These mods have helped in making this unit not a bad wheel for the amateur.

I beam stiffener also 1"x1" tubing to weld in place to wall/garage beam. Notice, the curved upper arm.

Yoke upgrade along with spindle mod.

Thank you for checking out the thread and keep posted.

[Jamlit]

Thanks.

Keep up the great work and I am looking forward to seeing your project completed. Metal work can be very rewarding.

Cheers

[thekera]

corolla11, Looks great, Im glad this thread could be of help to others in the same boat. Like Jamlit mentioned, metal work is very rewarding. I look forward to future VW metal work/fab projects after this one is complete.

[corolla11]

Thanks, i will follow your thread till the end and surely I might ask for some info help too. Awesome job keep it up

[jzjames]