Super Project '71 Part: 10

We missed something, we know (now). It was pretty big but it escaped most all of us. In last installment of the rebuilding of our beloved Super Beetle, we proclaimed that we were finally ready for painting, and nobody who saw the car argued with us. This "Super Project '71, Part 10" was scheduled to show you the ins and outs of a paint shop and their talented work, but thanks to our unplanned omission, our plans have to be extended by a month. We really thought we were ready: The old paint was, if not in primer in most places, scuffed to a dull sheen on the rest of the car; the interior was gutted and clean; the wheel wells primered; the pans resurfaced; and the car was in a general state of readiness. Or so we thought.

Standing proudly in front of the Super, I decreed to my wife Kara that the car was ready for the paint booth. After circling the garage, mildly impressed, but groaning about the intended cost ("unnecessary" and "bad timing" I think were the words she used) of getting the "hulk" painted, she knowingly remarked, "You must be using a talented painter."

"What makes you say that?" I responded somewhat surprised. "Because he can paint a car with the windows still in it." It seems that in our haste, we had forgotten completely about the door hardware, windows and regulators. Oops. With that victory, my wife retreated back into the house and I was left with some work to do.

So, in addition to those errant leftovers, we decided to do our paint guy a favor by removing the deck lid and hood, and along with the fenders, we would get them media blasted and primered. Lucky him. However, odds are pretty good we'll screw something else up before be move on and we'll never get this little car painted.

There are very few talents or tricks involved with removing the hood and deck lid. I mean, seriously, eight bolts and a spring are all that hold the two parts to the rest of the car. For the hood, grab your nearest 13mm socket and remove the two inner-most bolts first, then the outer-most. This way, the weight of the hood rests on the outer bolts and the hinge pivot bolt. Leave the hinge in as it can be painted on the car.

The deck lid is easier still, and there's no right order to remove the spring or the bolts. We chose first to unclip the spring with a pair of pliers before we unbolted the 10mm attachments.

With these two parts (and the four fenders) off to our friendly sandblaster, the overall car is seriously lacking the rounded character of a typical Super Beetle, but nonetheless looks like progress.

Follow along as we tackle the windows and doors on our never-ending quest to rebuild/restore a once-beautiful Super Beetle.

Conclusion:
Removing and dismantling parts and systems from a car, any car, is relatively easy. Find the attachment points and unclip, unscrew, unrivet or unbolt. It doesn't take a lot of know how, as confidence on your part to follow along with these seemingly simple procedures should be higher than, say, rebuilding a six-speed-sequential gearbox. Next month, perhaps we'll be showing you all about painting a Super Beetle; we're hopeful, but there's chance in everything. Stay Super.