If you must retain the early hood hinge, make sure you have a solid as rock front hood. Fabricating a W decklid is always a possibility if you have a pre 66 decklid to start with, pre 64 even better as you would get the fitting for the T handle. If your denter is really good, use Nasir bhai's Billo's decklid for measurements and get the curves copied like I had done.
VW wheels are becoming scarce, even the four lug ones in good shape. Its all the more important that any salvageable VW parts must be saved, be they wheels or a whole car and any extra dispensable bits offered for sale to fellow VW nuts. What parts are you looking for this project? As far as I know, the only way to verify the body number is to get the Birth Certificate of the car from Stiftung Auto Museum in Germany. Let me know if you are interested. I also have to get one along with Mohsin Ikram bhai for his split bug. Maybe we can have a combined request? Would save us individual trouble.
Sounds like a good idea...is it still at a 100 USD? also, the decklid on the car currently is a '58. easily reversible to a 57 in Arshad's capable hands...
Resuming the journey... We got around to delivering the car to Arshad for the body work to commence. The dash clip was stripped and out came some amazing goodies... take a look for yourself!!
The Chrome speaker grill. Remarkably clean too!The ash trayThe original speaker which even has a datestamp at its back 1957!!!The speedo with the correct glass needle and remarkably clean too!!Glove box lock Another few shots of the ash trayThe wiper assembly!!!
How many of you knew that the speedo came with a round rubber seal? I personally have never seen or heard of one...This too, very much intact!!
headlight switch
Glove box stopper. 1 of 2 present
Cover plate behind the speaker protecting it all these years!!Speaker grill from the back...see the rubber covers on the clips??
Finding all these parts seperately is one thing but all in one bundle and so correct and so clean!! How amazing is THAT?!!?!?
There were though some rusted corners that needed to be attended to. but even still...a 1957 clip with all parts intact!!! its a dream to get these goodies!!
The stripped dash that remains...
So Finally, the vehicle prior to commencement of any work...Take a good look because soon she will come out looking much much different...
So the next morning I drop by to find work already underway. Arshad had used the template we had, THE original 1957 ragtop that Nasir Uncle had so kindly parked for a couple of weeks for us to take measurements and templates from.
Based on these lines and measurements, Arshad had already started trimming the ragtop clip for the graft. I made it a point to ensure that none of the pillars were cut in this process including the horizontal beam above the windscreen holding the 2 A-pillars. Arshad was very mindful of this and kept the beam mentioned above along with that linking the A,B and C pillars on each side of the car intact. So basically we now were cutting a large hole in the roof's sheet metal while not compromising on retaining the structural integrity.
So the first of the work commences...we have major progress as the rear clip and ragtop section are both grafted in place!!
The, section is placed into place and spot welded at the corners to ensure at first that the decklid closes and things are all in line. Naturally we use Nasir Uncles Oval as a template for this all and all the curves and edges fall right in place. Special caution is taken to ensure that the rain gutter is kept intact as is the indentation in the roof line as these would be nexto to impossible to replicate to perfection if it comes to fabricating these by hand.
The welds start going in place and things start looking promising...I love the overall shape of how this looks...cant wait for this to take shape!!
Work commenced furhter as the roof clip and the rear window was put into place and measured from all directions. We did not want the roof to be misaligned or any side of the car to be other than what it should be..The clip was initially only set in place with welds in the corners and all imaginable lengths, widths, heights and angles were confirmed...
Hamza also ensured that the decklid sat straight. Naturally some adjustments needed to be made but this was achieved and soon the car and the clips to be grafted were in the exact positions they needed to be. Work now commenced towards making the welds and securing all sections in place. It is important to do this properly now since once the body is off the chassis, any inaccuracies and oversights will cause the body to warp and bend out of shape...
The air inlet fins do need a little tending to which will be done in due time...
For now though, the first priority is to get the roof in and aligned properly.
And of course, lets not forget this pretty piece of metal. This will come in handy soon enough...
A few more of the pretty pictures below and things start looking good!
And lastly, the goodies!! These include naturally, the ragtop cloth, the roof lining and the headlights. Along with those are the chrome trim, the door handles, the headlight trims, some wiring and some rubber bits...all taken away and packed in tiny plastic bags for safe keeping...
So with the welds completed and the surface smoothed, the patches begin to come together as the car begins to progress...
So finally the inside of the welds gets some attention and the lines are cleaned and analyzed. The roof will naturally undergo some panel beating to ensure the curve is correct but the basic shape for now seems to be coming along nicely. So for now, I leave you all with some pictures of the car and its beautiful roof!
the best picture.... an idea of what it would be like to drive around when the project is complete
amazing b0dy work
@ Rebel
Have a look ..... i feel its little more tilted at this side is it so ... or its just pic is not through a proper angle
Thanks a lot Nasir Uncle, It really does give a great insight into what this will be...Cant wait to hand over the keys to my father and take the first drive with him into the hills
@aliam, I am glad you are liking this now. I am trying my best to ensure the welds are clean and accurate...The body work as neat as possible...
@lt, I cant believe I have such eager and keen eyed viewers! Thanks a lot for pointing this out. While this can be due to a slightly off camera angle and of course the fact that the car is parked on uneven ground, I am honestly delighted that you actually highlighted the difference and uploaded it! I will definitely check this in my next visit tomorrow. This is something I did not notice before either. I hope you keep catching such cases in the future pictures I post! Best catch it now than to live with it later!
What is better than a VW Oval rag-top driving in the hills with the top rolled back?
Two Oval Rag-tops .....
Another father-son team would be following you in their Oval rag-top Inshallah
