70 Beetle Resto-Mod

[Kermit]

Was there actually a mouse in there? That's pretty horrific!

[Matts70]

You do the fab and he steps in with the machine.

Exactly, I have everything set for him and he comes in and burns away. Flashfusion INC. Jay, another LIRR guy. He's also a welder by trade and he comes to you.

What did you use for degreaser it did one hell of a job

Its called Super Brute made by applied research.
Wow, small world! I work at the same shop (hillside)

Was there actually a mouse in there? That's pretty horrific!

Yep, some time ago there was one, found the remains and all the stuffing out of the rear seat in there. Took the shop vac to it!

[Matts70]

At this point I sandblasted the nap hat and had to make some relief cuts to get it where its supposed to be. Drilled some holes for plug welds also.



All located and welded.



Welded up some seams on the front of the framehead



Fabbed a cover for inspection hole out of aluminum and some nutserts



Pulled the OG brake hose brakets off original piece to weld on the new head.



Considerable difference in thickness



Had them blasted and set in place





Cleaned up my trans to locate the Berg mid mount



Installed and brackets in







Pan time, wolfsburg west orange pans



They initially fit good with minimal trimming. Cleaned the tunnel edge, pan edge and punched holes to plug weld.



Tig welded in with silicone bronze rod.



Removed the seat tracks to make way for custom seat tracks. Plus I'll be moving seats back a little

[Big_kid]

Man, that looks nice! If I win the lottery will you do mine next?

[Raj]

Thanks Raj, kids definitely keep you on your toes!! My wife hasn't had a good nights sleep in 3 months. I appreciate the offer! It depends where you're located though because I'm only licensed in Suffolk County.

Licensed Schmicensed...... I'm in Massapequa. Shoot me a PM and we can talk off line.

[Glenn A]

Wow, small world! I work at the same shop (hillside)

That dudes name is Mike "Outbugged". He is an engineer, He said he runs trains in the yard over there.

Your off to a good start. Whats the plan? Stock body with a big motor lowered a little?

[Matts70]

Man, that looks nice! If I win the lottery will you do mine next?

I would love to quit my job and have vw resto shop!!

Shoot me a PM and we can talk off line.

Ok brother.

That dudes name is Mike "Outbugged". He is an engineer, He said he runs trains in the yard over there.Your off to a good start. Whats the plan? Stock body with a big motor lowered a little?

Ok, we work at the same building but I've probably never crossed paths. Too many employees.

The project is a little further along than the pics. I'm still working on loading them and getting them on here. Plan is pretty much as you said stock body, no chrome, lowered a little with a nice size power plant, disc brakes all around.

[Matts70]

Heres the seats set in place to get some measurments. Corbeau, picked them up from mustang magic.



Made some seat tracks to hold the VW corbeau seat brackets





Got the pan cleaned and ready to weld

[Matts70]

Picked up a torsion bar tool



Got it in place, added a large washer to prevent binding slowly tightened till the springplate lifted off the perch, then pryed springplate outward with a prybar till it just passes the perch and released the tension.



Then began the task of stripping the paint off pans and tunnel.



Totally cleaned of paint



After getting it stripped my neighbor and I carried the pan outside and gave a spray with POR's Marine Clean, rinsed with water, brought it back in, dried it. Next we applied the Metal Ready, rinsed with water again, brought it in the garage, dried it and applied the first coat of POR black. Its alot of steps but it came out great with a nice gloss. Now the good stuff...




Both sides get 2 coats. Here's the under side with the dried metal ready finish...





Finished

[Glenn]

Brushed or sprayed?

Looks great.

[Matts70]

Some new parts.....

CB's wide five 4 wheel disc brake set. I like the look of 205mm wheels so while I was switching to discs....





Franklins 4" narrowed beam

[Matts70]

Brushed or sprayed?

Brushed, Thanks GIenn,I was amazed on how it applied. If I was to do it again I would split the colors to easily keep track of first and second coat.

[Glenn]

They look like my Recaro seats. Be careful of the width, mine barely clear the door panels.

[Matts70]

Thanks glenn, I located them as close as possible to the tunnel so I could still get to the E brake. Also matched the measurments to the stock seat width.

[Raj]

wow - eee - wow!

I like when you post these it looks like you did all this in under a week. If so, how much caffeine do you drink ma man?

I'd be interested in seeing how the por 15 holds up after time. I have used it a few times and wasnt gaga over it after time bc of its UV sensitivity. I under stand it needs to be top coated, but let see how she does. Seems like a better financial decision to powder.

[Glenn]

I'd be interested in seeing how the por 15 holds up after time.

Painted in 1998, so that's 13 years.

[Raj]

Painted in 1998, so that's 13 years.

exactly... looks like poo.

[Glenn]

Painted in 1998, so that's 13 years.

exactly... looks like poo.

The frame fork... the rest was under coated.

[Glenn A]

Painted in 1998, so that's 13 years.

exactly... looks like poo.

Nope poo is a little lighter in color.

[Glenn]

Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo.

[Matts70]

Heres a shot of the inside of the tunnel, painted with Zero Rust. Doesn't seem to be as hard of a finish as POR but it will work for inside the tunnel.



Got my trailing arms blasted and POR'ed





Some miscellaneous stuff, pulled my stock beam apart. Popped out the ball joints



Had to make up some "adapters" out of some pipe and other junk



Sandblasted





Some other items blasted, primed and sprayed with regular rattle can gloss black



Added some more welds to the beam, not necessary but I wanted it right. They sprayed it with rattle can black so it'll be stripped and POR'ed.

[Matts70]

Beam stripped and holes plugged up for the process



Metal ready







Hard to see but filled all seams with a black seam sealer ( lord fusor )





Cleaned up some more parts for some POR. Drop spindles









Rear disc brake brackets









Re arranged garage in the middle of it all

[Matts70]

At this point I made a wooden dolly to hold the pan vertically so I can store it off to the side. I also made a dolly from some square tubing i had to hold the body. Has to hold up during its journey to media blasting and paint shop and probably be on it for awhile!!! ( longterm )











Started to scrape off the under coating, came off suprisingly easy





Alot of dirt here and there. Almost seems this car did some off road time!!



Drivers side heater channel is toast, as is the passenger



Cleaned away drivers rear quarter to expose spot welds for heater channel replacment and to see how much of a repair to the quarter itself



Passenger side quarter was tapped at some point and a old school repair was made with a whole lot of bondo!!



Cleaned front wheelhouse for heater channel spot welds

[AoT]

What a great setup, having it raised makes everything is so accessible. Your temp frame looks very secure, nice job!!

[Raj]

Matt,
Wasnt that 1/4 you were looking to replace a few months back? Any bites?