Super Challenge: Saving my first car from a fallen tree

[SnowDaySyncro]

One more pie-in-sky tangent and then back to real-world assessing and procuring.

There is a peripheral project for this car that I've been dreaming and sketching for a few years:

One of my automotive kinks is that I love a good matching trailer, not just paint-matched, I mean 1.5 vehicles rolling down the road.
I've seen photos of a few Beetle variations on the theme. Some were basically the flat-fronted arse of a bug from the B-pillar rearward, which I didn't really like for their abruptness of form. Some were more pared-down motorcycle toters that were mostly a flatbed with the rear fenders and apron of a bug. One was a bug body reimagined as a teardrop trailer, which was sorta cool, but not quite what I want.

The two concepts from the aforementioned that I do really like are a small camper and a motorcycle trailer, so how about both? What I'm imagining is a shape that includes a complete Super nose, sans fenders, flowing back to a rear clip with fenders and at least the lower half of an engine lid, enough for a stock license plate light. The vestigial trunk and engine lids would be part of a single fiberglass cap that could be raised like a pop-up camper or removed to carry a motorcycle. The motorcycle is a whole other project, but also happens to be an air-cooled horizontally-opposed, German machine from 1971. This is a sloppy doodle of the basic idea. The tape measure tells me that shortening the body by deleting the door openings will leave sufficient length for a long-wheelbase R75, and more than enough for adult humans to bed down.

This was going to be slated to build after the car in the before tree times (BT?) BUT,
Now I'm thinking that making the trailer first would be a good way to sharpen my welding and fabricating chops before taking on more crucial structural work on the car. It would also take up less workspace in-progress, and might be small enough to do at our local Makerspace which I belong to, and where there is often somebody else around who knows a lot more than I know. This would also mean snagging a utility trailer frame, or, more enticingly, an IRS pan with at least the rear 2/3 or so salvageable.

Okay, I'm going to float back down to earth and plan to assess what I have, what can potentially be saved, and what needs to be replaced. In the spirit of monthly progress, that's my January goal: to spend a few hours poking, prodding, measuring, and taking notes to form a more structured plan.

[TDCTDI]

You’re in luck, that 71 shell comes with two pans.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[SnowDaySyncro]

[SnowDaySyncro]

JANUARY ACTION: Assessment, topside.

In keeping with my intention to do something each month, today's task was to inspect the car from front to back, to get a better idea of what can/should be saved and what needs replacement. One advantage here is that, aside from the amateur rattlecan flame job I did at 16, the car is wearing its original paint. The only body filler is localized and blatantly obvious.

NOSE/TRUNK:
Okay, useable. Nose has never been hit, strut towers are solid, spare well feels solid when probed through that nasty mass of varmint nest. Driver side quarter is pushed inwards at fender mounting surface. Trunk lid has no rot, very little surface rust, and some creasing from someone climbing on top. I consider all of the above to be repairable.

RIGHT SIDE:
Lower quarter and complete heater channel need replacement. Door has some rust bubbling and one small dent. I already have the lower quarter repair panel, and the damaged driver side door can provide patching metal as well as the planned factory mirror mount. Crescent vent area shows no sign of rot.

LEFT SIDE:
This has been the bad side of the car for 45 years. It was sideswiped in the mid-1970s and the previous owner did the sort of backyard bodywork that makes me wish Bondo was a controlled substance. I replaced the front fender and driver's door circa 1991 to get rid of the worst of it, but the quarters and rear fender still have that stucco-over-rust thing going. This side also had the worst heater channel and took the brunt of the tree impact, so it's a goner. The top of the door is distorted and pinched shut at the top rear corner, while the bottom rear corner has a gap of about 20mm. The crescent vent area shows no sign of death foam rot.

The roof is, obviously very bad. While I am still planning to see how straight I can get the structure, I think that replacing the roof will be the best course of action.

[Buggeee]

All that's left to do is smile, smile, smile.

I now have a motivational quote for my signature block. Thank you Snow Day.
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[SnowDaySyncro]

FEBRUARY ACTION: Stripping seats

There were lots of animal nests in the car, consisting of that greyish felt padding that covers parts of the hair padding from the factory. I decided to strip the seats down to the frames to remove the source of nesting materials, and the seats are going to be refurbished of course, anyway. Tearing into the seats unsurprisingly revealed more nesting areas and lots of nut husks. It was a nasty endeavor to be sure. I scooped out the mass in the spare well also. It was late afternoon when I began, so I ran out of daylight before I could remove remaining carpet or bust out the HEPA shop vac.

By the time I called it a day, I had fillled 3/4 of a trash can with crusty old vinyl, seat padding, and animal detritus.
March action will be a continuation of February's, probably pretty soon

[SnowDaySyncro]

MARCH ACTION: Moving metal, removing seats.

This month's visit was mostly spent cleaning and stripping out interior bits. I removed the rear and passenger seats (driver's seat wouldn't budge), carpet, headlining, and the many nasty animal leavings mixed in.

With the rear seat out, I was eager to give the new hydraulic kit a whirl, and it didn't disappoint! I improvised some wood bracing on the package shelf and maneuvered the ram and fittings into place against the lowest spot on the upper edge of the rear window opening.

Several pumps later, the opening was looking much more window-ready than before.

I tried to do another push against the roof from the right rear seat area, using a chunk of the actual tree trunk that crushed it as a "dolly".

Those results weren't nearly as good as the first session, but gave me a better idea of how to proceed. Next time, I'll bring a good selection of sturdy lumber and tools to make better surfaces to push against.

The roof is going to be especially challenging, because half of the damaged area includes the sunroof tray, preventing me from pushing directly on the roof skin from below.

I think that some more work will get it much closer to its basic original shape, though. I don't think the roof skin and tray can be saved, but this gave me some hope that the body structure might get into the right shape to accept a donor skin and tray. The amount I did thus far was enough to make the driver's door close and latch, which wasn't possible at the beginning of the day. That's very encouraging.

[Tha Driver]

That CAN be straightened. Get a big rubber hammer & start from the edges of the dent & work toward the center & work it gently as possible - don't go beating the hell out of it. Rule of thumb is two or three "light" blows are better than one hard blow. Once you have the dent out, you'll need to hammer & dolly the creases smooth, probably with a friend holding the dolly under the roof. On the edges along the driprail & sunroof you may need to weld a plate to it & pull it up with a come-a-long from a big tree branch (or if you have strong rafters...).
HTH
_________________
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

[TDCTDI]

The Bus crowd use the “football” method. Make a tray that attaches to the top of the ram & place a deflated football on it. Position the ram & football under the low spot, jack it in place, & then inflate the football.


Link

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Tha Driver]

[raydog]

[heimlich]

You did a good job on that window opening.
_________________
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[TDCTDI]

[Blue Baron]

My first reaction is, if the car is sentimental, how was it left to get into its present condition? It looks like it was not touched for decades.

The fact that it's a sunroof car is both a blessing and a curse. The double-wall sunroof tray added strength to the top, keeping it from getting further squashed, but also acts are an impediment to getting to the underside of the roof. Regardless, I love to see another car saved, especially one most people would not fix! Good luck!
_________________
We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.

Heinz Nordhoff

[Dusty1]

[SnowDaySyncro]

[Dusty1]

Here's something I've been looking at on Marketplace. It'd described as a '73 but look at the dash. Then look at the front quarters. Near as I can tell it's a '71- '72.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/16360952...0dc35e5592

Make a cool motorcycle trailer if nothing else.

If you're towing a BMW I suggest cutting up a BMW, perhaps a rotted 2002.

.
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[SnowDaySyncro]

[Dusty1]

[Nogindrops]

Dealing with a fallen tree can be a massive headache, but thankfully, it’s not completely unmanageable if you have the right tools. From my own experience as a truck driver, having the appropriate gear for unexpected situations like this can make a big difference. I always keep a mini chainsaw in my truck to clear trees or large branches that fall across the road—this could be a good option for you too.

For your car situation, assessing the damage and carefully removing the tree without causing further harm to the vehicle is key. A mini chainsaw is handy due to its size and ease of use, making it perfect for cutting through the tree in more manageable sections. It's affordable and really easy to carry around, which is why I never leave without mine.