The Viking Project - restoration of a 1965 VW beetle

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Quattro (Quattro) 2013-01-13 16:13:15 +0500 #21

[QUOTE=nmshaikh;3706290]I took (and continue to take) a ton of pictures documenting every detail of the car. I have shared just the ones that best describe the condition as well as the areas that are going to need some serious attention. The condition of the car deterioated due to neglect when the present owner moved to the US however the car remains a low to medium mileage car that has had her share of misfortune. The car has some serious potential and you are going to agree with me as we proceed[/QUOTE

Pictures can never describe what the naked eye can see. I am sure it will turn out to be a great project. I myself am a great fan of vdubs (old and new). Will follow this closely....

Tanveer_1 (Tanveer_1) 2013-01-17 04:09:49 +0500 #22

This is my 47th air cooled VW restoration and my personal goal is to turn out a car that wins the best of show prize at the first show it attends in the US. I would be happy if you stay with me and share your comments here on this thread.

Show time![/QUOTE]

Wow, 47th, an achievement. Will be following the thread, best of luck.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-17 12:41:33 +0500 #23

We did not have digital cameras back when I started restoring VW's (we did not have Google or all the resource material available at ones fingertips. When we wanted to look something up we pulled out a manual and thumbed thru the pages) The pictures i took were the 'old fashioned' hold-in-your-hand-and-look type. Over the years a lot of them were lost as I moved across continents but I still have some. Even when i went digital it was no guarantee that pictures were going to be safe. I lost a whole bunch when my lap-top hard drive crashed. I took it to Dell who promptly replaced the hard drive as it was under warranty. However they did not return the old drive or retrieve the data off it. When i protested they said the faulty hard drive was sent to Singapore or some far eastern place.. Lesson learnt. Ever since, I back-up files!

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-17 15:04:37 +0500 #24

As a first step, the body has been removed from the pan. There are layers of grime covering the inaccessible areas but they would be gone when the chassis receives a thorough steam wash. The floor pans are badly rusted and poorly repaired / patched up in the past so they would have to be removed and new replacement panels grafted in place. Once the welding work is done the axle beam and the transmission would be removed so the pan can receive the POR 15 treatment.

I will share some pictures of today's exercise with you shortly.

lazeez (lazeez) 2013-01-18 02:25:16 +0500 #25

Do we have POR 15 available in pakistan?

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-18 03:22:28 +0500 #26

I have a few tins that I brought from the US for use on my projects. Its pretty pricey too. The landed cost of a quart is about $150 but it covers a fair bit of area and once applied I can forget about that area ever rusting again.

ansarghani (Syed Ansar Ghani) 2013-01-20 08:05:16 +0500 #27

Instantly subscribed!

Nasir bhai your are about to achieve half century of restorations, keep it up!

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:11:37 +0500 #28

The body and pan were seperated so work on the pan could start

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:16:09 +0500 #29

the frame does not look too bad which confirms that most of the rust was caused due to leaky seals and water that accumulated as a result

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:20:08 +0500 #30

Using mainly muscle power, the body was lifted clean off the pan and supported on two 45 gallon drums

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:23:54 +0500 #31

Ilyas looks perplexed..he is the one who would have to clean the gunk off the chassis.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:30:57 +0500 #32

He has his job cut out for him

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:33:22 +0500 #33

a few more pictures to give you an idea of the state the car was in...looks like we made not just the dogs homeless here..

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-20 15:39:50 +0500 #34

the bottom of the heater channels were removed to reveal some more horror stories. Water must have gotten into the heater channels and caused rust.

mfdarvesh (mfdarvesh) 2013-01-21 06:35:31 +0500 #35

Good Luck with your project

lazeez (lazeez) 2013-01-21 07:44:06 +0500 #36

What is a suitable way to fix any of the metal pipes inside the tunnel on a car which is not in a restoration process?

rebel (rebel) 2013-01-21 10:48:49 +0500 #37

If only there was a "good" answer to this...I say live with it and then restore it one day

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-21 14:12:25 +0500 #38

The metal pipes inside the tunnel are tack welded in places to the side therefore it is hard to replace them without a surgical procedure being performed. The best non-invasive treatment i can suggest is the running of pipes along the tunnel outside. The brake line can run on the driver side along the tunnel inside the car. The fuel line is another tricky bit and the same option is open but on the other side of the tunnel. Bentley manual suggests the same. Running it under the floor is not advisable given our road conditions and the speed breakers. The accelerator and clutch cable can run as is inside the tunnel because they are not affected by the wear in the tubes if properly lubricated as the cable is pushed thru.

Quattro (Quattro) 2013-01-21 20:19:08 +0500 #39

@nmshaikh

Sitting home following this thread with keen interest. Looks like we are on to something big and impressive, which may becone a gold standard of vdub restoration amobg pakwheelers. As i mentioned a few days ago, we are particularly lucky to have such knowlegdable and enthusiasts out here in pakistan.

From my limited knowledge of VWs, I was wondering if you could sand blast some of the older panels and parts to get the rust/gunk off as much as possible before applying rust oleum or POR15.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-01-22 01:05:47 +0500 #40

Thank you for your kind words. Yes as i go along and accept a new project I have that much more experience to do it better. There is a lot to learn still..one can never claim he is a know-it-all. The day you think you know it all is the day you start the downhill journey. Internet is a useful resource and I too follow other peoples projects and pick up tips here and there.

I wish we had the sand blasting (or media blasting in this case) facility here in Pakistan. I would just send the car over for a complete strip but unfortunately there is none that i know of which would undertake such a task. Sand blasting would be too harsh for the body (maybe right for some heavily rusted areas) The best option would be soda blasting.

I plan to use gallons of paint stripper to get rid of the paint and rust is going to be sanded off manually. - the old fashioned way. Once the shell is clean it would receive a caustic soda 'bath' and then primered immediately The areas that are going to be POR'd would receive that treatment at the same time. POR works well in rusty areas as it penetrates the rusty layer and bonds.

The following links should make good reading...

POR-15, Frequently Asked Questions
Buy POR-15 Coatings from Canada-POR15.com