what order to fix? and a bit of help needed.

Hi everyone,

Just after a bit of help with my 1970 beetle.

I have taken the fenders of my girl and will be starting all the hard work soon, a look around her the main things that need to be done are :

rust repair in I think its called the quarter panels (inside the wheel arch to the back near where it joins the doors) on front and back, some small and some will require new panels put in.

new rear apron need to have a better look at this might be able to fix the one on there.

new front apron thinking of putting in a Front Clip Assembly so that is all renew at once there are a few old patch jobs and a lot of bog on her in the front from other owners.

new battery panel welded in

the side of the car where the running boards are fixed has rust holes along it, is this the heater channels ? I seen a side member on the classic parts site that looks like it so is this more the part I need to replace?

the back door area on the drivers side bottom is missing not sure what that part is called but it will need to be replaced.

Need some new wide fenders also. I am thinking of, I think they are called smoothies. Has some look at standard but just wider.

She had a fiberglass body kit on her when I got her that I have removed as it was wrecked, but when it was installed they used all fiberglass over the body to attach it not just a little bit but heaps (had no beading on the car at all) , do I need to remove all this? If so how do you remove fiberglass.

I think thats the main of it on the outside. :-) Just a few bits..LOL so what I am after is do I need to do any of these in any order as I dont want to fix one to find out that I need to undo it to fix something else, hope that makes sence.

Also is it best to get the car soda blasted to show all rust under the paint before I fix these or after.

Also could some one in perth could tell me the best place to get some of the bigger parts as postage on the large bits will be to much to get them form over east.

thanks for all the help
looking forward to getting her taken apart and making her whole again.

Tan

crickey.... sounds like alot of work in front of you...
would suggest that you go and talk to a few panel beater/ spray painters as they can help assess what should or needs to be done. If you want to find all the rust you would have to take back to bare metal, but having said that a vw painter would know what they are looking at and should be able to point out all the trouble spots etc.. but always expect more when they rub it back.

once the body work is done then panels can be repaired or replaced as needed and bolted back on the car.
we had some of the fender bolt holes rusted out on our car and they were replaced so cant see a prob with fixing the running board bolt holes etc..

good luck and hope all goes well.

With that amount of rust you would be wise to take the body off the pan. Then you will be able to assess what is ahead of you. In my opinion it sounds like it would be more efficient and cost effective to find another body. Being a 70, they are not 'rare'.

Still it is your decision what you would like to do, and sounds like you are willing to give it a go. Just don't underestimate the time and effort required and give up. I would start with inside panels like heater channels an bottoms of front hing pillars on the inside first.