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::