Restoration of an Autostick VW beetle..A fathers gift

[nmshaikh]

The chassis is back on its feet with most of the welding already done. The next step would be the wet sanding in preparation for the rust proofing procedure.

[msabbasi]

Nasir Sb. Fine work indeed. Already I am unable to recognize if this is the same car or not. Only you could pull it off

[nmshaikh]

Work continues...The chassis or shall we say the platform is ready. The next step is to build from there. The first piece of sheet metal that comes in contact with the chassis is the heater channel bottom plate. These panels have been locally fabricated as per original in thicker gauge MS sheet. The plates are then placed on the chassis and the holes for the bolts that are going to hold the body in place are marked. The holes are punched out and new hardware used to secure the plates to the chassis. Once the plates are in proper position 18 nuts are welded to the heater plate. This ensures that the nuts would not spin when we are ready to secure the body to the chassis with new heater channels in place.

More on this later.. For now I have a few pictures to share where you can see the bottom plate being positioned and the securing nuts welded in place

[nmshaikh]

The heater channel bottom plates that I mentioned in an earlier post are part of the body. These form the lowest part of the body shell and therefore are most exposed to moisture and rust badly. When this happens you hear the squeaks and groans as the body, though held in place, is not tightly attached to the chassis anymore. A band aid solution is to weld the body to the chassis however this burns the body to chassis seal that is sandwiched between the body and chassis resulting in more water getting between the two and more rust plus the carpets getting soaked everytime you drive in the rain or drive thru a puddle. There are no shortcuts that one can take if the idea is to restore the car properly.

[nmshaikh]

The chassis is being meticulously cleaned using caustic soda to cut the grease crud then cleaned with a wire brush and finally by wet sanding.

[lazeez]

The chassis is being meticulously cleaned using caustic soda to cut the grease crud then cleaned with a wire brush and finally by wet sanding.

Caustic soda burns the skin, right?

[Dongskie]

I'm tuned in to this

Restoration is one of my passion too

Good luck!

[nmshaikh]

Caustic soda burns the skin, right?

Yes and that is why it is applied with a rag held by a long handled pair of tongs or tied to an end of a wooden stick. After the corrosive mixture has had a few minutes to work on the oily layer it is hosed off with clean water. It is only then that the wet sanding by hand is carried out.

[nmshaikh]

The chassis is all ready to receive the body shell. As mentioned earlier the original body is too far gone to attempt a repair by way of grafting donor panels. Areas like the rain gutters are rusted through so it would be a lot of work and even then the finished surfaces may be less than straight when a coat of paint is applied. While I was waiting for the work to start I found a solid donor body shell and luckily came across a solid Rawalpindi registered autostick car of the same year. I bought it and am going to use the complete body shell for the project using just the few good bits from the original car (like the window winding mechanisms, tail lights, speedometer etc.)

[umar.shadab]

knock knock.. any update?

[nmshaikh]

knock knock.. any update?

The car is being worked on but I do not have any updates as I am in Canada. Updates Inshallah when I return in a weeks time. Thank you for your interest.

[basic]

Good going

[chemicalqazi]

Looking forward to some activity when you return

[mtmoghul]

Sir, very nice project. Superb
Waiting for the updates?

[chemicalqazi]

updates please.

[nmshaikh]

The bodywork is mostly done. I am not satisfied with the shape of rear fenders and am trying to find replacements. There are no fenders to be found in rawalpindi islamabad. (that are even marginally better than the ones on the car) I will try and find some in Karachi and share news here.

[zubeirmoin71]

The bodywork is mostly done. I am not satisfied with the shape of rear fenders and am trying to find replacements. There are no fenders to be found in rawalpindi islamabad. (that are even marginally better than the ones on the car) I will try and find some in Karachi and share news here.

Not seeing any update since June 26th. I hope the project hasn't been abandoned.

Zubeir

[nmshaikh]

Not seeing any update since June 26th. I hope the project hasn't been abandoned.

Zubeir

Not really...the lack of updates was due to my 6 weeks visit to Canada and the US. Then there is the monsoon that slows things down considerably.I am back and while we are still receiving the tail end of monsoons, the work has resumed. If all goes per plan the car is going to be at the painters before Eid.

[Proverbial_Slang]

Awesome! Waiting for more updates

[umar.shadab]

any update?

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