well, the beetle is finally getting an extreme make over. New paint, interior and engine are all on the agenda.
Work is in full swing on the body. The roof has been metal finished, and some dents and wobbles have been taken out. Door frames have been welded.
The shell is pretty much completely stripped and ready to go to the sand blasters to get the bonnet, engine bay, wheel arches, dash, and upper door frames stripped. There's still a lot of rubbing to do on the rest of the body to get the old paint off.
There's a bit of metal manipulating to do, the car has had a smack in the front at some stage, and needs to be straightened. Also same story in the rear.
** looking for a good solid straight H panel rear apron if anyone has one to sell**
here's some progress pics.

Hey Dan, Greg here - changed my user name to get back on.

Geez that's changed a bit from the last time I saw it!!! No turning back now but will be all the better for it.
I think I've seen the H section stitched into a later apron before, could be an option if you can't find a good H apron anywhere. Provided your H section is OK that is. I have a 60's apron down the back if you want to look into it.

Good luck with the resto

Hey Dan
Great to see - will make another awesome car for SA.
What are plans? Ie motor etc. Are you running sprint-stars still - hope so...
Keep us posted mate - are you coming up for Warwick?
Cheers Tom

hey Greg, yep, definately past the point of no return now. My apron is a bit bent out of shape. will be a lot easier to weld a straight one in to get the back of the car straight.

Tom, plans are for stock body, full trim etc. New interior, standard pattern. Have got parts for a 2054cc with twin 40 Webers, Engle W125 cam with straight cuts. A simple streetable engine. I got some Radars about a year or so ago, so I will be running them. Would love to bring it up for Warwick, if it's done, or perhaps Portland.

Here's a pic of what it looked like up until about 2 weeks ago.
cheers.

wow dan that look`s great long time since iv`e seen ya, george from classic vee dub in sydney sells em that`s where we got ours from great quality fit`s nice too.

cant wait to see some pics of it during the resto and when it`s finished.

matt

hey mattie, yeah, been a while. your project is looking pretty nice. how's progress coming along with that? when did Steve get his Radars?

how much are the aprons from George? I've dealt with him on a few occasions, he's usually pretty good.

it`s gettin there mate steve got the wheels with his car i/we swapped it for the wagon that matt tyler has now.

im fairly sure the aprons are no more than $150 posted we`ve never had a problem with him.

Hey Dan, Long time coming but cant wait to see the final product. Looks like your getting some help and with the way his projects turn out it should be in great shape. Just another cool ride for SA and the fact it's a 54 really makes me excited.
How's fatherhood treating you? Any progress on the white 54 Greg?
T54

got some very capable hands helping me out.
AE on Body,
PR on interior,
JK has offered to help with paint.
Fatherhood is great, she had her 1st birthday a couple of weeks ago. Time has flown.

Hell yeah it goes very fast. I take it your doing some crazy 50's gold leaf signing down the side if JK is involved?

These are nicely made but expensive!

http://www.wolfparts.com/shop/product_info.php?currency=USD&cPath=21&...

Well, the old apron has come off for ease of panel beating.
going to re-use the old one.
The bonnet has had the rust cut out and will be repaired after not coming up with a replacement better than what I had. Pleased with this outcome a little, cos now the car will retain all of it's original panels.
Decided to run a removeable apron for ease of engine installation too, which can be re-welded on later for originality if I decide to.
All the doors have been stripped of the insides and removed from the shell.
The shell is now at the blasters getting some paint removed.
Got a little repair work to do on the door pillars too.
The crap that came out of the heater channels was amazing.
**looking for a nice set of body trim if someone has some**

dad spotted this on the back of the trailer going to the blasters.
by body trim do you mean the stock stuff?? i might be able to help you out dan ill pm you my number.

yeah, that's what I'm after. the aluminium strips along the sides and down the centre of the bonnet.
cheers Mattie

well, it's back in black, so all the areas that need attention are clearly visible.
no horror surprises.

the doors are perfect.
the door frames are as expected.

Engine lid is in great shape.
I already knew the bonnnet was going to be a hassle
rear apron requires some attention.

engine bay is pretty good.
bumper brackets are being replaced.

Not as bad as you though dan, sure you and andrew will have it straght in no time. Kepp us updated. Did you get the bonnet?
T54

Hey Dan,

Looks like you guys are making some progress, how long till you think it will be ready for paint? What's you time frame, should be ready for Volksfest right?

Paul

well it only took a night to pull it apart, so it should only take a night to put it together yeah?
AE is on hols at the moment, so should get a fair bit of welding done.
Some bits are practically ready for prime and colour, hopefully not too long before the whole thing is ready for colour.
You'll have to come up and have a look when you have a spare minute.

Is that an open invite?
T54

yep, any Fri night.

Hey Dan, how's it going, making much progress?

Looks nice back from blasting and all in one colour. Even though it needs repairs it still looks good in the primer, really being a 54 it could have been a lot worse.
Must catch up and talk shit one of these days.

He's neck in neck with you Greg to see who can build a car inthe most time!!!

Both of you need to pull your fingers out!! LOL !!

Paul

I'll win the longest time hands down, that's no contest.
I'm getting there with mine Paul, but I think it will need to go to the blasters to have the interior done and tricky bits like under the bonnet etc
Where should I go for blasting, Dan or Paul?

I think I might be winning this competition.
I am using Fast Blast SA. He is arund the corner from you greg and he uses a soda machine which is better than media.
T54

Hi Guys,

I used customer powder coaters in Cavan for the 57, (around the corner from the Deb's) he did the whole car for $500 less the roof which i did by hand to save any potential warpage. the end result was OK and i think it was good value seeing as it had a lot of crap on it. But Heath's right the Soda blast is much kinder to the metal and doesnt heat up as much. It cost a bit more but he end result is great. It all depends on what results your after and how much $ you want to part with.
If its all internal panels id just be using standard fine grit blasting.