Digger89L wrote:VERY NICE WORK!!! Couple of questions, as I contemplate my own 66 bug rebuild, with much the same work required on mine. (1) for the repair around the rear body mounting points behind the rear wheels: did you actually replace those mounting points, or just reinforce / repair the metal around them? If I choose to replace mine, I'm concerned about getting everything lined back up correctly ..... (2) It appears that you did a 'body on' restoration, rather than a 'body' off restoriation. Was this choice based on space limitations, or other factors? Would you do it this way again, or consider the body-off route? Could you explain a bit more about the process you used?? Thanks!
Thankyou
The car has been done to a budget. My son has a part time job at a DIY store so the money was tight. Also he wanted it back ASAP, so this was the reasoning behind the none body off restoration. Floor pans didn't need replacing either. I think the decision was based more on circumstance rather than the ideal.If it was my own car, I would have done the welding, then split and detailed the chassis, and done it over a longer period. This car has been welded, bare metalled and painted in about 5 months. I also read a lot of info on the net regarding welding with the pan removed and on, and there doesn't seem to be a conclusive answer to which way is best. I didn't find it an inconvenience working with chassis still on and possibly it was useful for aligning in some circumstances. The other thing to note was, I wasn't changing the colour of the car, so painting inside wasn't an issue.
http://www.justkampers.com/111-801-201- ... -1998.html
I used this panel for the rear cross members, and they are a surprisingly good fit for a klokken ploppen. Because of the mount holes already being drilled in the panel, i used them as my point of reference. So, i cut out the whole rusty panel and surrounding rust. I then loosely bolted new panel in place and then rebuilt the rest of the panels around the cross member (this is where the floor pan came in useful),then welded it all up once i was happy with the fit and alignment.
All the outer panels i took datum points(think thats what they're called or measurements) from the original. Swage line to the bottom of the quarter panel, 'B'post to the rear arch in a couple of places, 'A' post to 'B' post, etc etc....
I would recommend only cutting out as much as you need if using reproduction panels, as quite often they are the incorrect gauge metal. Also, once you have all your panels ready for welding, tac them in place and re hang doors wings etc for that piece of mind everything is still in it's correct place. If not, it's no biggy to undo tacs, but nightmare to remove full welds.
I'm sure there are people reading this who say this is wrong, but it worked for me. Feel free anyone who thinks they know how to do it "correctly" and can further Digger89L's resto knowledge, I won't take offence.
Hope this helps
