The Squareback Zone!

[Kev]

Well, I now have 'most' of a floor on the passenger side.  It is plenty strong!  I need to tie it in with the existing pans a bit more. 

[Kev]

Well, thanks to Ryan, Jeff, John, Tony and Todd for coming out today! 

Ryan was able to clean up the driver's side rear window, and will be able to rebuild the seal lip next time.

Jeff worked on filling and smoothing fenders.  I hope to have primer on the car within two weeks!

I framed in and have nearly finished the driver's side floor pan. Will finish both pans tomorrow.

[Kev]

OK, floors are about done, except for a few holes in the front part that I found today...

I am going to modify the dashboard. There will be no pad!  The speaker hole will be filled and I am still thinking about how the guages will mount.

[CatBox]

be careful when welding/grinding near glass as it will be ruined in a hurry if not properly protected

[corradojeff]

all glass is out but thanks for the advice peter :)

[Kev]

Actually the door window glass is still in, and it may be too late for the warning... >:(

I picked up the primer today!  Yikes, spendy stuff, about 120 bucks for 3 quarts, plus the hardener and a galon of cleaning solvent.  I also picked up a quart of PUR-15 for 41 bucks.  Ouch.  But my new floors won't rest either!

Swaped some steel wheels, stock carbs and air cleaner to John for those Western wheels off of his squareback (OK, I threw in some greenbacks as well).

Found a fantastic used tire place on 82nd.  Pain 55$ for 2 used but very nice 195/55/15's from Kumho.  Did I mention only 10$ to mount and balance them?  Turned out one had a sidewall leak when they tested it, so off it came and a different one went on, no questions asked!  I will be using a pair of 195/50/15's from a certain toaster on the front.   :)

Tomorrow I hope to finish the floors.  Only have to patch a few small holes in the front parts.  I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not shining through the car's holes nearly as much!

[CatBox]

correction the fronts are 185/60/15's

sorry i havent been able to call you back yet as i had a long meeting yesterday and then i was out playing with the kids the second time you called.

today is less heck-tick so i will call you when i get a chance.

looks good the man.

[Kev]

My bad on the tire size, coulda sworn they were 195/50's.  No biggie, they should be about the same height as the 195/55's.

The floor pans are done, or at least about 99% there.  Finished patching and filling the fronts today, and got POR-15 down, then some undercoating on that a while later.  I think I am about 95% done with the welding!  A few small areas and trim holes to fill, and the dash to fill / smooth and the welding will be done!

[Kev]

OK new pans are done!







And I have POR-15'd the air intake areas and joints.

[Kev]

OK all, Shop day my place on Sunday the 25th in the afternoon! I hope to get the car primered that day.  I still need to do a bit of sanding and prep work, so if anyone wants to come help I am off Mon, Yue and Wed this week!

[Kev]

Duane, I would like to know what you did for primer on your Rustoleum paintjob?  I think I am going to go that way myself. It is just too much moolah to get the automotive paint.  I may try spraying the rustoleum.  What kinda roller did you use?  Any tips would be really appreciated!

[T3Squared]

Hey kev I have looked into doing this my self over the years. There is tons of info out there. here is the base that every one I have known has used.


here's how i painted my car for about $50, it's actually very easy and the results are amazing. First off, get a can of tremclad real orange (or what ever color u want) in the can, not spray, yes tremclad, it is a acrylic/enamel paint which is very durable. next prep your car as if was any other paint job, fix all the rust, ect....no need to prime the car since the tremclad allready contains elements which allow it to be painted over bare metal. next, after prepping the car get a small 4" professional FOAM rollers, it's tiny and has one end rounded off, and the other cut straight, and is a very high density foam. u also need a jug of mineral spirits to thin the paint. The thing i really like about this is that there's no mess, no tapeing the whole car, just key areas, and u can do it in your garage, since your not spraying there is virtually no dust in the air, just clean your garage first, also it does'nt really smell at all, dries overnight and it super tough paint. also it you decide to paint the car professionally later, just prep and paint, there's no need to strip the tremclad. i have done this to a few cars, and i can say it works amazing, u just have to be paitient. next u thin the paint with mineral spirits so it just about as thin as water, a little thicker. get out the roller and paint away, don't get the paint shaked when u buy it, enamel is stirred, otherwise you'll have bubbles in the paint for a week!!! after u do 2 coats, wet sand the whole car, then repeat, 2 coats, wetsand, 2 coats wetsand. i painted the charger using a can since your not spraying the car u use all the paint and not spray 50% in the air, use progressivly finer sand paper each time. it's not really that much work, cause u can stop and start any time, u can do just a door, or the hood, ect. do one panel at a time, and don't stop once you start. once your done the final coat, wetsand with about 1000 grit to a totally smooth finish, and then using a high speed polisher i use a buffing bonnet and turtle wax polishing compound. do the whole car with this, and i'm telling u, depending on the amount of time and paitence you have, the results are amazing. laugh if you want, but for $50 ($30 for paint, about $20 for rollers, sand paper, ect...) it really looks good. also you can do these steps overnight, paint one evening and by morning u can wet sand. i have personally done alot of painting, mostly single stage acrylic enamel, and i've sprayed several cars in my garage with really good professional results, just it stinks, it's a real pain to do, easy to make a mistake, messy, and expensive. The tremclad is awesome paint, the "real orange" is an amazing hemi orange, and almost looks like it has some perl in the sun, awesome color right out of the can. I used this technique on my 1974 beetle also, here are the results:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture10.jpg
the car before:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/IM000475.jpg
another after pic:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00164.jpg
here is a car i sprayed (71 beetle, midnight blue metalic):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00194.jpg
here is the car before (71 beetle):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture1.jpg

here's a few pics of the charger done:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC02764.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC02769.jpg

well that's my 2 cents worth, sorry for the long post. i was borred lol
i painted the orange beetle in 1999, and it still looks like the day i painted it, the 71 blue beetle i painted in 2000, and built the car for my dad, i used the same paint on my charger, maybe one day i'll spring for a good paint job, prepping is 90% of the work, stripping the car, sanding, ect.....painting is overrated!!!
So if you have TIME, then i'd say go for it, the worst that could happen is that it does'nt turn out and your out $50, but if your paitient, and expriement with lets say just the trunk pannel and if you like it do the whole car, if not just get it done by someone else for $4000. i don't know about you guys, but i would rather spend the $4000 on other parts like getting the mechanics sorted out and new chrome, cause when u have really nice paint and crappy bumpers, door handles it just sticks out more.

I hope that helps you out some man. Here is the link to the info too

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

[BuginU2]

Duane, I would like to know what you did for primer on your Rustoleum paintjob?  I think I am going to go that way myself. It is just too much moolah to get the automotive paint.  I may try spraying the rustoleum.  What kinda roller did you use?  Any tips would be really appreciated!

So Tremclad is the Canadian version of Rustolium. 

I used Rustolium "Professional" to do my car. 

First, I used the rattle can primer over the whole car after fixing the body work.  After I finished priming, I block sanded the entire car to knock out the high and low spots.  There are some primers that are "filling" primers.  If you have a ton of scratches you may want to use some of these.

Once primed, I washed and dried the entire car.  Used tack cloth over the whole car, wiped it down with mineral spirits and then again with the tack cloth.

Now for the paint.  I went to Home Depot/Lowes and bought the Rustolium Professional in a can (the kind you pour).  If it rattles - you have the wrong stuff.  Then I bought a gallon of mineral spirits, a measuring cup, a pile of high density foam rollers, and a paint tray for rolling the paint.  For my beetle I poured about 8oz of paint into the measuring cup and another 8oz of mineral spirits and mixed it together - it should be the consistency of water/milk when you are done.  Pour the paint mixture into the pan.  Put the roller into the paint and let it soak up a bunch of paint.... then run it across the tray and squeeze most of the paint out.  Put roller on car and roll on the paint.

It is going to look like crap for about 6 coats.  It won't look like it is covering completely.  Resist the urge to put the paint on thicker - trust me on this.  In your garage you should be able to put a coat of paint on the car once every 12 hours.  If it is tacky - do not even think of putting another coat on.

After 6 coats, you are going to start wet sanding.  Start out around 500 grit.  After wet sanding you need to clean the car again.  Mineral spirits first and then a tack cloth.

Do two more coats - sand with 800 - clean.

Do two more coats - sand with 1000 - clean.

Do two more coats - sand with 1200 - clean.

Depending on how it looks you may do one or two more coats and then sand with 1500 or 1800 - clean - wait a week and then buff.

I have about 12 coats of paint on my car.  Oh yeah - the door jams and tight spots should be done with a foam brush.  I sprayed the vents and other tight spots with a coat of rattle can white before I painted the rest of the car, but you will want to go over them with the brush as you progress.

It takes about an hour to do one coat of paint and 3 hours for every wet sanding session.  If you are out of shape it is good cardio exercise.

[RyanB]

Looking good. Sorry the window repair taking a while. I am kinda anal retentive, especially working on someone elses car. Should be able to get the lip finished tonight. THe goal of course is that nobody can tell it was way rusted out when I am finished.   ;D

[corradojeff]

on the roller paint did you do any type of clear?