Buggin’

Progress on the Beetle is moving along. We have the fenders bolted down with new fender beading. The German running boards are on and looking really nice and the door glass is all in and functional. We have also removed the old exhaust system in preparation for the new one that is on its way.  We also cleaned the engine up some while we were at it. The new turn signals are on and wired up as well as the head lights. We have also installed the new triple plated front bumper after we sandblasted the original brackets and repainted them semi gloss black. This one is really shaping up and it wont be long till its off the upholstery shop to get a new head liner.

C-10 Cab

After many hours of blocking a filling, the cab on the C-10 is pretty close to being straight. Yes, this one lived the life of a truck but glory days are in its future. With all the body work fairly close to being finished we will next turn our attention to the floor and bottom of the cab. Just like the rest of the underside on this truck it will get a bedliner both inside and out. We will then once more make sure the bodywork is complete before priming. Because of the extensive body work, we will most likely prime it twice to be sure its good to go.

Prime time ’55

We shot a few coats of primer on the ’55 hood and trunk today.  As you can see they were in pretty good shape. We did have a few places that needed some attention but once they were straight and the booth was open, we slid them on in. These parts will be blocked one more time to be sure they are ready for paint. Its a long process but it really pays off in the end.

Just hanging around

The ’57 is getting its doors. After installing the door and trunk rubber we are ready to get these back on where they should feel right at home. Lining up the left door went pretty smoothly. We still have some fine tuning before moving to the other side. We will be installing the latches and catches once we are happy with the fitment.

Its a Bug again

The bug is looking pretty happy.  The fenders went on yesterday and with that we also installed the front and rear turn signals. We have a few more parts on order that should arrive next week to continue the progress.

All hands on deck

Great progress was made on the C-10 project today. Cole and I worked a good portion of the day blocking out the roof and fixing dents. We worked some on the inside of the cab as well as the left door jamb. The fire wall is pretty close to being finished as well. Tomorrow we plan on attacking it like we did today and hopefully that will put us pretty close to priming it again.

C-10 body work continues

The progress continues on the C-10. We are working hard to make sure the body work on the cab is as nice as the rest of the panels we have ready to paint. The cab needs pretty extensive body work but each day we get a little closer.

No junk in this trunk

 The ’57 got a trunk today. We installed the rubber on this and the doors last week and today we were able to get the trunk installed. Tomorrow a door goes on and the last door hinge should get painted. We had to send that hinge over to our buddy Kelly to get it repaired. One of the decorative covers was bent up pretty badly and he worked his magic on it and was able to save it.

Finally fenders

Paul was back on the bug today. Last week he stripped off the e-coat and primed the fenders. The next day he blocked that primer out and fixed a few dents. The next day he primed the parts once more and then had time to prep the bottom side for epoxy and bed liner. Those steps were completed last Friday. So today he blocked them out one last time and prepped them for paint. He did have enough time to get them painted today as well. Lots can get done when things go smoothly and here is a fine example. These came out really nice. Tomorrow we will hang the fenders on the body but they wont quite be ready to fully bolt on. We are still waiting on a few rubber parts to come in. The fender beading is one of them.

Seal installation

Now that all of the sanding, buffing and polishing is complete, lets start putting this beauty back together. We like to start with the seals. Its much easier to install these while the parts are off and you can get around them. They also aid when lining up the panels. If you align the panels without the gaskets, you may have to adjust them again when you do install them. No since in doing it twice. We ordered our parts from Danchuk. These rubbers are very nice. They fit very well and come in bags labeled for where it goes. As you can see they look great as well. Goals for this week are to start hanging parts and getting them operational. That means the latches and mechanisms that make these parts functional will all be cleaned inspected and lubed up for installation. Stay tuned.