This is what Paul started off with... A real bargain for £50 and two beers!
The build
Paul basically bought the car as a learning opportunity – he thought he could strip the car down, learn more about how air-cooled VWs work and perhaps sell some of the parts. But the more he got into it, the more into it he got, and four years later he’d totally restored the car himself. Hat’s off to Paul for a top job!
into the car. It was reinstalled incomplete and the tinware and ancillaries added later. Petrol was fed via a mower petrol tank into the carb. The engine was turned over for a couple of minutes without the spark plugs but with oil in the bores in order to get oil round the engine before it was fi red. With the spark plugs refi tted I worked the starter motor while my father worked the throttle and the engine fi red into life for 30 seconds!
Phase two
Next I stripped the interior, electrics, bumpers etc and lifted the body off. The extent of the work needed on the chassis could now be seen. It was rusty but solid, the jacking points needed replacement and some of the edges of the ’pans needed attention.
I worked from the front of the chassis to the back. Most of the parts needed soaking overnight
The original doorcards were removed and scrubbed clean with a toothbrush. The original 1962 vinyl was restitched by Resto and Custom
“I hadn’t spent this much on the whole car”
in penetrating oil in order to remove them for cleaning and refi tting. I purchased a MIG welder and removed the jacking points with a grinder back to solid metal and then removed pieces from a repair panel to fi t. I bolted these into place before welding and then fi lled the holes as it prevented problems with shrinkage and made sure the right fi t was maintained. To paint it underneath, the chassis was wired up against the garage wall and I used POR-15. Next came the bodyshell. I built some steel goalposts, which were bolted to the fl oor of the garage to allow room for the chassis to be wheeled in and out underneath. I could now do all
the grinding and welding with the chassis out of the way. I scraped off the underseal, which added a ton of weight to the car! New heater channels and rear crossmembers were needed, and the front panel needed replacing together with adjoining parts of the inner wings. I braced the bodyshell with 1-inch square steel section, then removed one heater channel and a crossmember by drilling out spot-welds to keep as much original metal as possible. The new heater channel was offered up and made to fi t before it was bolted in place on the chassis. The bodyshell could then be lowered onto the chassis to check the fi t. The rear quarter panels were one of the most diffi cult areas to renew. I managed to
get the new panels straight and only used fi ller primer as per the rest of the car.
Busting the rust
The front of the spare wheel had to be replaced. Inner wings were repaired using a section of new repair panel. After a few more repairs it was ready to be etch-primed and by summer 2009 it was time for paint! Quotes ranged from £1500 to £2500 for a body already prepared! I hadn’t spent this much on the entire car so far, so I decided on DIY using cellulose. I bought paint, a compressor and a spray gun and made a dolly to allow me to wheel the shell around for access.
Paul had never even removed an engine from a VW before taking this one out... He went on to totally strip and rebuild it himself. Apart from the obvious bearings and gaskets it needed a set of new pistons.
The heater channels were shot
It was no surprise it had a fair bit of rot
Paul did all the work himself
This home-resto was full-on!
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