Gotta keep ’em separated

As you can see we have been making great progress on the ’70 beetle. Unfortunately, our progress has revealed a few real rust issues. Some of these rust problems were caused by a leaky master cylinder and brake fluid  resivoir others good ole fashioned water. Because the owner wants to keep this car for another 45 years we will replace all rusty parts and take all measures to keep it from returning. We didn’t have any issues separating the body from the pan and all of the pan bolts came out with no problems. Most of them however, were just about rusted in two so they will all be replaced as well. The engine was also removed so that we can more easily degrease the chassis. The engine runs well already so we will just clean the engine tins and paint them. Next on the agenda will be to remove the old wiring harness, windshield and back glass so we can get the body over to the blaster. Once back from the blaster our replacement parts should be in so we can start rust repairs. Stay with us on this repair. We are looking forward to this project. 

Introducing our newest project

Our newest project is the this 1970 Beetle. It is a special build because this was the owners very first car, bought new when he turned 16. Although it hasnt been in any major accidents, rust has gotten hold of this little bug in a few spots. We will be repairing the rusty areas and freshening up the outside and inside with new paint, bright work, interior and suspension. The engine had a recent check up and got a good bill of health. As you can see we got right to work disassembling the car. We did get quite a bit apart on it and the rest will be apart next week.  We will then start the rust repair and stripping off the old paint. This will be a bone stock restoration back to the factory color. Stay tuned to see the progress.

Dashing

We have been plugging right along on the ’57 in between the FJ and the collision work this week. Paul painted a whole slew of brackets and the radiator support. Jordan was busy disassembling the dash, tagging and bagging all of the parts that go behind it. For an old car, this thing is really pretty complicated. Lots of time was taken to make sure nothing gets broken, bent or lost. I believe that we have done a pretty decent job with that but it does take extra time. Hopefully all the documentation will make it somewhat easier when it comes time to put it all back together. There are cables, brackets, wires, levers, pulleys and all sorts of other things behind that dash. I did some finishing work on the fenders that Jordan started on last week. Those should be ready for the first round of primer next week.

Deconstruction continues

Yesterday Jordan spent a good portion of the day breaking down the doors. Today, he has been at it pretty steady all day. The doors are both completely apart and removed, the trunk is off and apart, the hood moldings have been removed as well, as a few more interior molding parts. The time consuming part of all this is bagging and tagging all of the parts and their bolts to make reassembly much easier. And buddy I’ll tell ya, their are a lot little parts. We have tubs that we use to store parts in so that things remain in one spot for safe keeping. Inside the tubs are bags with screws, bolts and clips labeled where they came from as well as the tons of bright work from the same panels. Hopefully tomorrow these newly disassembled parts will be going to the blaster.

Yo Holmes, to Bel-Air

Here we have a beautiful 1957 Chevy Bel-Air in the shop to get a new lease on life. We started by disassembling the front end and sending all of the parts out for stripping. Once back from the blasters, Jordan got to work sanding all of the parts prepping them for primer. Since this is an extremely important step, extra time was taken to be sure the metal was as clean as possible. Today we hung up all the parts and prepped them for PPG’s DP epoxy primer and applied 2 good coats. Next step will be to perform any metal work that needs to be done and start straightening the panels. The inner panels and fresh air vents will be prepped for paint since they wont really need any body work. Stay tuned.

Halloween scare

This little Mazda is in the shop to get a little bump up repaired that happened on Halloween. A new hood, bumper, grill and radiator support is on tap for this one. We did find a bit of damage to the radiator and condenser as well, so these are being supplemented to the insurance company. Once we get that squared away, we will start putting it back together and get it in the booth to make it shiny again.

Too close

You know those posts that keep you from hitting a gas pump or the ATM ?  Dont you hate it when they move them?  Thats what we have here. It happens to the best of us from time to time. Luckily we were able to straighten this one out with out having to install a new panel. We will be fixing the rear bumper as well but most of that damage was just on the surface. We started by removing all the parts that were necessary. We then welded some tabs to the quarter to pull that sheet metal back into shape. We then used a stud welder to pull out the remaining low areas and tapped down the high ones. We then used filler to start smoothing up the body. This is about as far as we got today. Tomorrow we plan on having this one in primer and ready for paint on Thursday.

When golf carts attack

Yes. The damage you see here is from a golf cart. An unoccupied golf cart. The story goes that someone loading a golf cart up with some farm supplies when one of the bags landed on the gas pedal. Across the yard sat this Karmann Ghia minding its own business when WHAMO! The fully loaded, unoccupied cart slams into it. Now, I guess the good thing here is that no one was injured but the Ghia and the cart both suffered moderate damage. We started by removing the interior trim panels to access the inner quarter panel. We used hammers and pry bars to push the dents back out as far as possible. We then used the stud welder to pull the rest of the more stubborn dents out. Once the metal was in good shape, we used body filler to smooth out the final dents. While that was being done the rear end was disassembled for a quality job. The bumper, tail lights and reflectors were removed. Once the dents were straight a few coats of primer was sprayed. Tomorrow we should be able to get this one sanded early and in the paint booth.

Parking lot derby

This new style Camry is in for a new door skin from a parking lot bump up. The damage on the door was a little too bad to repair so a skin has been installed to ensure a quality repair. Its not too often you get to see what the inside of your door looks like so above is a great shot of the typical door on a newer car. The two round bars are called intrusion beams. The are high strength steal and are the main structure of the door. The outer panel is what was replaced. Tomorrow we will trim out the back side of this door and get it reinstalled on the car and prep the other door and quarter for blending to ensure a good color match.

Shelby gets a face lift

This Shelby GT 500 is ready to get its front end freshened up. It has a few miles on it and it has seen a few laps around the track. Its noting really major, just a few chips We must remove the stripes to refinish the hood and bumper, but while we were at it, the owner opted to redo all of stripes on the car just be sure that they all match and look the same. The track days are over for this Pony. Cruising and car shows are all that the future holds for  her. We intend to make sure she looks her best.