Harry 1976 Sopru

[Mr Beckstar]

Wanna give the panel beater a plug so the rest of us know who we can trust to actually cut the rusted panels out and replace them rather than fill the holes with bog and a coat of paint over the top ...... My '74 really needs some body work and I just don't seem to have the time any more ...... so much for reaching retirement age   

T1 Terry

Yeh, I'll wait until he's finished. Don't want to put the mocker on myself 

[Oldman]

You certainly toook a lot of guesswork out of the job by supplying a complete roof….
Wise move, methinks .

[Mr Beckstar]

You certainly toook a lot of guesswork out of the job by supplying a complete roof….
Wise move, methinks .

Thanks Mark. Yeh, I had a few conversations about that with the panel beater. It was all guess work though as you don't know what you're going to find until the roof is off. It turns out we probably could have just repaired B-pillars forward and maybe half a roof cut. But there's no real way of knowing that without cutting the roof off. I'm really happy I spent the money and have seen what's there and now know there's no more rust at all in the top half of Harry. And I know he's had the dog legs replaced. There's no rust around the battery tray. And the chassis has no sign of rust at all. So yeh I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling about it all.

I mentioned fixing up the rest of the body work to the panel beater and he said he likes the worn look that Harry's got in places LOL. I know what he's saying; it's a bit of character. Plus, as I've said on the forum and on FB a number of times, "beware the shiny Kombi!". I've seen quite a few that use new shiny paint jobs to cover up loads of rust and then charge rediculous prices, so I guess as a panel beater he's seen a lot of that and isn't impressed by shiny kombis!

[Barry]

I have seen too many rust free VW's blow up once they have been sprayed.
I'm on your panel beaters side - leave alone.
Plus - if you dont get EVERY ripple, dent, imperfection out, those big flat panels of shiny paint show every imperfection

[Mr Beckstar]

I have seen too many rust free VW's blow up once they have been sprayed.
I'm on your panel beaters side - leave alone.
Plus - if you dont get EVERY ripple, dent, imperfection out, those big flat panels of shiny paint show every imperfection

Good point. I won't be doing anything more on bodywork any time soon so plenty of time to think about it. It's a shame we are not heading to Bus Stop this year; could have been a good topic to discuss over beers. I'll focus on shiny Aunger Hotwires for now.

[T1 Terry]

I have seen too many rust free VW's blow up once they have been sprayed.
I'm on your panel beaters side - leave alone.
Plus - if you dont get EVERY ripple, dent, imperfection out, those big flat panels of shiny paint show every imperfection

You only get an idea of just how rust free with a timeline photo series showing the rusted panel, it removed, the surface under that, if solid then coated with rust preventive and a sealing coat of what ever with clear evidence it has soaked into all the joints and crevices. Then the panel welded on, then flattened out by grinding down the welds and stretching/shrinking as required .... a straight edge or panel shaped edge moved along the panel both ways showing the amount of light shining through so you can determine how thick the bog will be to get it flat ...... that sort of work is very expensive ....... sometimes it's a compromise between bog thickness-cost-desired end product as far as finish goes. 
I guess a lot of that depends if you want to drive it, show it, or drive it only on special occasions ...... the rather rough finished vehicle rarely gets parked in and idiots have a second thought about pulling out in front of you .... you might be just looking to get rich on their insurance ..... or at least getting the money to do to a major resto .....

T1 Terry

[Mr Beckstar]

And here's Harry back together now with an orange roof, orange front vent grill, restored pop top, new windscreen and new windscreen seal :-) 

   

   

[Barry]

And a new motor!!!

Looking good!!

[Oldman]

Veerrry niiice…..!

[DavidH]

Lovely Chris  .
Cheers