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Rust FightersAgain, the Super Goes Under the Torch From the March, 2009 issue of VW Trends By Ryan Lee Price
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01. Tucked in the corner... 01. Tucked in the corner of Deuce Kustoms is our Super Project '71 awaiting new fender well pieces. As you can see, we've already done the passenger side, replacing the rusted-out rim of a gapping hole. The driver's side is still damaged. There's one thing we hate at this magazine and that's rust, nature's way of returning everything to the basic elements of the universe: oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and iron. This combo would be just great if it wasn't for water, as iron would stay iron forever and our VWs would keep their shape until the end of time. Philosophically speaking, we only rent this life, and this is true for our possessions. That doesn't mean we can't preserve what is ours now for those that we give them to after we are gone. Since rust is the Grim Reaper of cars, we spend a great deal of time and money to eradicate it whenever it is found because once it is there, it won't go away on its own. This brings us to our subject at hand, the Volkswagen Super Beetle you may recognize from our Super Project '71 series, as it has seen better days in this department. You may remember in the October 2003 issue, we tore out the package tray and replaced it with fresh metal. At the time, the fender wells were nicely hidden by a thick layer of undercoating, so evidence of the rust in that area wasn't clear until we had a chance to remove it all. Upon doing that, rust again reared its ugly head and, at this point, it was too much to blissfully ignore. 02. Clearly, the rust has... 02. Clearly, the rust has actually turned the corner and is working on the area under the door hinges. Left unattended, it will eat into the heater channels and finally into the car. So, off to the paint and body specialists at Deuce Kustoms, a one stop, all inclusive restoration shop for nearly every kind of old metal out there... if you can carry it to them in boxes, they'll make sure you can drive it home. After pulling apart the body and pan (see Page 72), expert bodyman Jerry "Chopper" LeMieux assessed the situation and concluded that the job wouldn't be too difficult. If you plan on doing this at home, and there's no reason why you shouldn't, you'll need a reciprocating saw (or some such metal cutting device), a grinder, a hand drill and a wire wheel, along with a chisel, hammer and a wire brush. Most important, you'll need a welder, much like the Hobart Handler 135 model, specifically designed for 110 home and light shop use. We're using 35-gauge wire good for sheet metal. Speaking of sheet metal, all replacement panels for most all Beetles can be found at BFY Obsolete Parts in Orange, Calif. Since we're working with welding equipment, there are several safety measures you'll need to realize. First off, keep a fire extinguisher nearby. Second, protect your eyes. If you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night blinded and feeling as though your eyelids are 60-grit sandpaper, you'll expense a welder's hood. While you're there, get some gloves.  03. First things first, explore...  03. First things first, explore the area. Use a screwdriver to poke and prod various areas to get a reality of the damage. How far up does the rust truly go?  04. Roughly mark off the area...  04. Roughly mark off the area to be removed. Give yourself enough clean metal for the replacement piece to weld to. Our problem here was that if we went up any farther, we would begin to affect the double skin of the fender well where it meets with the interior skin.  05. To make the cuts as close...  05. To make the cuts as close to the marks as necessary, we're using a 0.035inch cutting disk and air power. Though these disks don't last as long as thicker ones do, we can get a sharper cut, which means a more exact cut  06. Once the piece has been...  06. Once the piece has been removed, you'll notice clearly the rust's tendency to climb up the metal.  07. It would make sense to...  07. It would make sense to simply blow out the rust and debris with compressed air, but that would, in effect, push the rust down through the body, on the outside of the heater channel. Instead, use a magnet to collect the scraps.  08. Included with the piece...  08. Included with the piece that we removed was the lip that curled down over another body piece, forming the lip that rests on the pan. You might be able to tell but this area is completely covered with surface rust. Unchecked, we would have to be doing this process again in a few years when all that rust finally breaks through.  09. For this purpose, we are...  09. For this purpose, we are covering all accessible areas that we can find with a rust-inhibiting sealer. A few well-known brands sell products like this, such as Por-15 and Bullfrog.  10.  10 and 11. This is where the...  10 and 11. This is where the important part comes up: measuring. Measure the length of the opening and the height...don't forget to add approximately three-quarters of an inch to make up for the lip replacement.  12.  12 and 13. Once cut to fit,...  12 and 13. Once cut to fit, we bent over the lip and drilled several holes into it. Because we are using a welding technique called "drill and fill" these holes will be filled in with welding material and sanded smooth.  14. Before welding, wire brush...  14. Before welding, wire brush (or coarsely sand) the surface clean of all primer, paint and undercoating. You cannot properly weld to material other than clean metal.  15. Line up the pieces perfectly...  15. Line up the pieces perfectly and use a magnet to hold them securely while you lightly tack-weld the two together on the corners.  16. To make it around the...  16. To make it around the corner, we did the same steps as before, except using a smaller piece. The smaller the piece, the less heat it takes to warp it, so go slowly. Spot-weld on one side, and then go to another side to let the first part cool. Use a misting of water to help with the cooling.  17. Once that is done, fill...  17. Once that is done, fill in the welds all along the perimeter of the replacement piece, making sure to fill in the drilled holes too. Sure, it looks ugly now, but...  18. ...the next step is to...  18. ...the next step is to grind down all of the bumps and weld marks to flat metal.  19. Once ground down, you...  19. Once ground down, you can hardly tell work has even been done, especially in such a rough state as this.  20. A nice coat of primer...  20. A nice coat of primer and we're done, ready for final sanding and paint.
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Deuce Kustoms
1055 Ortega Way, Unit D
Placentia
CA
92870
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BFY Obsolete Parts
1460 North Glassell
Orange
CA
92667
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