Painting Dad's Beetle

My dad invited me over to help him paint his beetle. I assisted with keeping the air hose out of the way and off the fresh paint and learned in the process. It's one thing to watch Youtube videos, but  quite another to see, smell, hear and feel the process.

• See:
• How the paint goes on-how much overlap, how to set the air/paint mix
• How to mix the paint, thinner and hardener, and how often to do so
• Paint spray linger in the air and vent out of the garage-It doesn't actually "get all over everything"
• Smell the fumes and remember to seal the respirator better
• Hear:
• The air compressor
• The gun spray
• Feel:
• The weight of the paint gun
• The air hose
• The heat and realize your limitations and strengths

Awesome job dad.

Thanks for letting me help. Now I can plan the logistics of painting my own car.

Getting to the Metal; Paint is Off

I’ve managed to strip almost every bit of paint from the beetle. After reviewing many videos on Youtube, I decided to go back to chemicals to remove the paint. The grinder is just too exhausting.

For the task I've used a few gallons of Klean-Strip Aircraft Paint Remover. The new sheet metal that came with a protective coating were simple. Just put on aircraft paint remover and scrub off with a green pad or other coarse pad such as Brillo. The fenders, body and anything with 40 years of old paint on top of old paint required multiple applications.

The 1969 VW Beetle had about 4 different colors from shades of green, blue, and red. For the fenders and doors, I eventually needed a grinder with wire brush to get of the mounds of body putty. These body fillers were used primarily to fill in dents that I could easily pound out with my Wilmar Hammer and Dolly set. 

.That’s the benefit of a total vehicle tear down. I can actually get to all areas and not worry about taping off areas or messing anything up. Some of the body filler covered torn metal.

I used my new found welding skill to weld over any torn areas. The grinding skill I picked up helped smooth out the welds.

Fenders were once green, and blue, and red.....

After removing paint, had to grind putty.

Holes in door to be repaired.

                                 

Another tear to weld

A big tear in the fender

After welding and grinding. Nice and smooth

VW Beetle Welding Repairs and Replacement.

I am working my way from the back to the front. As I settle the welding, cleaning the old paint, and repairing the rear of my 69 Beetle, I'm also ordering replacement sheet metal for the mid and front section.

I have to replace part of the heater channel, repair the left rear cross member, weld in bolt receivers in rear quarter panel, and replace heater channel end cap. I'm getting there slowly, but making some progress.

This is the rusted driver's side heater channel I'll  replace

I'll repaire the cross member at the lower left.

Weld in bolt receiver here.

Heater end cap goes here.

Cleaning up holes in the 1969 VW Beetle Wheel Wells...Still...

I'm still learning to weld. Earlier, I cut out bad metal and fit in new metal. This is my effort at plug welding small holes and welding metal on top of fragile 50 year old sheet metal. I am working with adjusting the heat, spooling wire and etc.

I cut new sheet metal to fit. Drilled holes and welded them in place. 

I will buy some sealer to prevent water from coming in. This VW has lots of sealer in place from the factory. I had to grind it off, but will replace it later.

This is inside the car looking at the wheel well.

This is the sheet metal I cut out to fit

Here is the outside wheel well with the sheet metal welded in

Vintage VW Rust Repair in the Rear Wheelwell

Lots of rust holes. They are ground down and clean of all rust.

 After stripping the paint, I could see all the rust holes. Here are some holes in the left rear fender well. There are a lot of holes and I want to cut them out and replace them.

I drew the areas I wanted to cut.

 Instead of using just one sheet of sheet metal, I decided to cut out constellations of rust holes. I figure a few small repairs may be easier to make than one large one. You know, the "how to eat an elephant" philosophy.

I cut out a small section for practice.

I decided to mark out areas to cut and see how it goes. I began with an easy square shape. I used a grinder with a 6 " cutter wheel to remove the piece. The piece became distorted and shrank a bit, so I made some compensation by adding a little dimension as I traced the new shape on the new sheet metal.

Here is the original on the replacement metal. I compensated 
by cutting the new piece bigger and grinding it down.

The piece I cut out needed to be bent to fit the wheel well contour. It cut out the piece, cleaned out the excised area on the VW, ground out the rough edges of the new metal with a bench grinder. Cutting was slow as I took a bit at a time.

Next I used an anvil and a hammer to countour the metal.

I haven't welded the new piece on yet. It took a while to fabricate the replacement, but I think I'm ready to go.

Almost there. I just have to clean up and bend the metal.

Right contour, right fit.

               










This looks like a great sheet metal book. My next buy...

Removing Paint From 1969 VW Beetle

I left grinding for a while to return to chemicals. I tried aircraft paint remover before, but worked like a dog and gave up. That's when I discovered industrial grinders and wire brushes.

This time I tried something new that I learned from the internet; cover the chemicals with a garbage bag and let it sit for a while.

I played with the kids, went shopping and came back to find a lot of the paint lifted down to the metal. I also found lots of holes and bondo. Oh boy!

I know I have a lot of work to do now.

1969 VW Bettle Louver Paint Removal

As I continue to scrape and grind paint from my bug, I am learning new things. Recently I ran across a video on Youtube.com about another VW Beetle project. In it, the host used a media blaster to get those hard to reach places behind the louvers, or the grill holes above the engine compartment.

I bought a 15 pound portable soda blaster. I've never bought one before and didn't know what to expect. If I were going to media blast my entire vehicle, I would definitely need a larger one. But this is great for small jobs. I have a small air compressor, so I had to do a lot of experimenting to get the pressure and soda volume correct. I have just a few small spots and I'll have it done soon.

Here it is so far:

Removing the 1969 VW Beetle Luggage Compartment

What a mess.

When I removed the carpeting last year, I discovered a giant rusted out hole. I knew I had to fix it to prevent us from getting asphyxiated. The first fix I used fiberglass cloth and POR 15. That was a good fit and all I knew how to do at the time.


 Since then, I've purchased an Eastwood welder, watched a lot of welding and body work "how to" videos, and got pumped up enough to do a more permanent fix.

When I first considered welding in a replacement, these babies were about $600 to $800 about a year ago. However, the prices dropped drastically. Two weeks ago ordered a replacement luggage section from WolfburgWest, for around $350 including shipping.

I began with using a drill and spot weld remover drill bit to remove the old welds. There are tons of them and I thought the job was taking to long so I decided to switch tactics. I used a grinder and cut off blade to just cut out the metal close to the welds.

This is the right rear area after removing the old section.
You can see the new piece to hte left. You can also see where I drilled
all the way through the car...ooops.

This is from the engine compartment, see the new section to the front. To the left is the drill out metal brackets where I removed old welds.

Great mess. Lot's of rusted out pieces.

This is the underside. You can see the rust as well as the POR 15 patch. It did the job, but I wanted more.

Everything is out, now I have to smooth it and get ready for welding

Just sizing up the new section

That turned out to be a great idea. However, I also had to use a reciprocating saw to get some hard to reach and stubborn metal.

Be careful with the drill bit, you can still go all the way through the car and not just the spot weld. Be sure the grind old paint and filler to find the welds. In some cases I had to use a hammer and screw driver to lift up old welds. Nothing works perfectly, so don't be afraid to improvise. Also, be careful to protect the metal you will be welding the new piece against.

 Finally, I had it all off after a few hours and decided to call it a day. Tomorrow, I'll clean up the metal and begin welding in the new piece.

Here is what I've used on the project::