Right I thought I’d finally get off my arse and post some pics of my ’56 oval project. After looking for the right Oval for the right price for several months, I finally scored a ’56 model (thanks Nathan :thumb). Originally I planned on doing a full resto on an oval, however given the condition of this one was so original, I became a little undecided as to what to do.

The ’56 is mostly in its original paint with minor parking dings only, minimal rust (other than surface rust!) and the original interior (except the front seats). Its a great base for a restoration, but it seems like a shame to make it all ‘new’ again, so instead I’ve drawn inspiration from Martin Henriksson’s ’55 project (meanbugs.com) and Andy Ham’s ‘Bitch’ ’59 project (restowagenUK.com).

The plan is to remove the body, powdercoat the pan, paint all the suspension components, replace all the brake components with new parts, tie-rods, link-pins, king-pins, underbody items, new rubber seals, refresh the 36hp engine, convert to 12 volt, drop it a few notches at the rear, lowered CB spindles, plus a narrowed front beam with adjusters. Still undecided about what wheels to roll at this point.

“Let the games commence!”….









Surely this means it was only ever driven to church on Sunday’s……..

:o Probably should be in Members Rides section...... Can this thread be moved??

Noice, it needs to be lowered.

Damn that is awesome. Best find I've seen on here for a while. Where do you get one of those? Who's Nathan? I want his number - haha.

I like it, good base for that style of project....good luck with it and chuck up some more pics as it comes along.

congrat's looks like a absolute gem

paint don't need no stinking paint it's like chrome hurts ya eyes should be baned

Goddam, that is a gorgeous thing! One of the most beautiful ovals I've seen.
Will be watching progress closely!

nice... it would look so much better all shiney though dont wat you guys get out of rusty slammed cars LOL

holy sh#t the paint on that thing looks amazing PLEASE dont paint it ever.
great score.

Still got that sweet 54 356?

Nice score:thumb

Reub - the '54 has been sold to a good home to make way for this project

Good to hear you have started on it mate.
Didn't take long for me to fill her space in the shed after she was gone. LOL

A SET OF PPQ WOULD SUIT IT NICELY.....
CARE TO BY THE ONE I HAVE FOR SALE?/????
OVA156

Body Removal from Pan

The body is now off the pan. If anyone’s interested, the link below provides an excellent step by step guide for anyone considering removing the body from the pan:

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wired/wired_03_02/wired_03_02.htm

This was a pretty straight forward process (to get it off at least) – I did it with a mate in an afternoon, although I had gone around and WD-40’d all the bolts several times in the days leading up to doing this). Getting it back on the pan, I suspect, will be a little more challenging. Here it is once the body was off

IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/Nevada51/tn_IMG_0898-1.jpg[/IMG]

Note the ultra rare VW accessory – the disco mirror ball (note to self: always check what’s above you before lifting the body….fortunately it hit the ground and not the car when it fell).

The next step was the disassembly of the pan. To make the whole assembly process a little easier, I’ve bagged and labelled all the bolts and small parts so I actually know what goes where when I go to put it all back together (well that’s the theory anyway ).

Here it is in the process of disassembly. The project supervisor was keeping a close watch…..



I’ve tried to take as many detailed shots of things along the way so I have a reference when I go to put it all back together.

The pan has now been sent to be media blasted so I can assess how much rust repair is required (there is a small amount just forward of the battery tray, but not much else that I can see).

Numerous parts have also been sent to be stripped and are now awaiting powdercoating.

D'oh - here's the first pic in the above post.....:duh

Good work mate - best of luck with the hard work which lays ahead!

Rust Repairs - Pan

I finally received the pan back from blasting and it did not reveal any surprises – just the rust around the battery tray area - the rest of it appeared really solid. I didn’t want to go with a repro pan section as the pressing is different and the metal gauge is thinner than the original pans…..plus I am wanting to keep the car as original as possible so a replacement section was/is required.

Here’s the pan in the process of being measured up for a new (old) section.



As you can see above, the battery tray area had been repaired at some stage in the past and wasn’t too bad, but the blasting did show the metal was very thin in this area so rather than do a half arsed job of it, a replacement was considered necessary.

Here’s the pan after the installation of the battery tray area – thanks for doing this Nathan, quality job so far :thumb



Forward of the new section you can see where attempt was made to weld up the holes that were existing, however the metal was so thin the welder kept blowing holes in the metal. So I'm now after a second-hand section as shown below. If anyone has a section like the highlighted section in the photo below or knows where I could get one from, please send me a u2u :thumb

Hows the grinding going mate?

Pan

The pan rust repair has now been completed and has now been zinced and powder-coated in gloss black and it looks awesome . I had the pan blasted and powder-coated at A-Class Powder Coating in Moorabbin for a very reasonable price – significantly less than if it was professionally sprayed, but more expensive than brushing on POR-15.



If you are considering powder-coating your pan, you might like to do something about the chassis number before you get it done as mine has almost disappeared!

Here’s some of the other parts I had powder-coated.

Bolts

All the undercarriage bolts and washers have now been zinc plated. Pretty reasonable price of $40 for a can of bolts at Andrews Metal Finishing in Moorabbin. Other bolts such as spring plate cover bolts, fender bolts and interior shifter and pedal bolts are stainless items from Coventry Fasteners….not so cheap at around $1.50 per bolt…...

Door Cards

There is nothing worse in an interior than crappy door cards, so in the spirit of trying to keep most things original on the car (and as the original vinyl and piping was in great shape) , whilst tidying it up a little, I had the original vinyl and piping removed from the cards and put onto new card with plastic backing. No pic, but you all know what great looking door cards look like :thumb

Quote:

Originally posted by Dasdubber Good work mate - best of luck with the hard work which lays ahead!

Pan looks sweet....thinking of the same for when I start on my 56 oval....

wow ,looked scary at first "ive started in a similar fashion once before" a few pics later man your on a roll, looks great

I like shiny.
Looks grest mate!

It'll all be worth it in the end !!

Cheers Nick:thumb

Inspirational. Looking forward to watching this come come togther. Best of luck.

b]CLR
An update on my slow progress so far.

I’m currently in the process I tidying up the inner guard sections and interior paint work. I’ve been using CLR to get rid of the surface rust in these areas. Here’s a comparison shot – guess where the CLR has been applied!



After CLR I plan on using a rubbing compound, followed by polish to restore that factory shine on (what’s left of) the factory paint, on the undersides of the car - I don't think I'll touch the patina yet