A massive push and you will be ready for the NEC with the beetle, and a good build thread

The brief my wife gave me for the rear seats was based on an this image she found on the net.



Essentially, she wanted two individual seats with a central section for storing coffee or drinks.
The best match I could find was the rear seat setup from an Alfa Romeo 916 GTV. They make a great starting point, and my plan is to open each seat up and widen them by about three inches so they fit the car as if they were designed for it.

Feeling confident after stripping and priming the first wing, I managed to get the remaining wings done in no time.
Once again, there were no damaged or rusty areas to deal with, which made the whole process much smoother.










However, it was a completely different story when I moved on to the engine lid.
It looked perfectly fine while it was still on the car, but once I stripped the paint back, I found a huge section of filler running across the entire bottom edge of the lid




By the time I'd uncovered all the filler, things got even worse.
The entire bottom section had been cut out and replaced at some point, but even the replacement panel had started to rot.
There were several large holes that had been covered with fibreglass and then filled over.
To make matters worse, the welding job was so poor that the whole area was dented and uneven.










There was no way I was going to be able to repair this, so I stripped both sides completely, cleaned everything up, and gave it a coat of primer.
At this point, it's probably a job for someone braver—or more patient—than me.

While I was searching for a new engine lid on various sites, it was time to tackle the bonnet.
I was dreading what I might uncover, hoping I wouldn't find the same problems as I did with the engine lid.

Luck was on my side — the bonnet was in excellent condition overall, with only a small area at the bottom that needs attention. It's nothing as major as the engine lid, and I'm confident I can repair it and get a really good finish












It took almost 30 minutes to get both sides in primer because the compressor kept needing to refill, but the finish came out perfect in the end.









After a couple of weeks of digging through various Facebook groups, I finally came across a really clean, well‑looked‑after engine lid.
Within a few hours of getting it home, I had it fully stripped and in primer.

Hi Folks, Apologies - I've been away for a while tending to other priorities, and then things got quite busy preparing for and attending the Classic & Restoration Show at the NEC with Ludicruz. It was a fantastic venue and a great show overall. Even better, though, was the warm welcome I received from the buggy community members who were there - really appreciated that.

Anyway, I'm well overdue for an update.

A few weeks ago, I started to tackle the doors. I was pleasantly surprised with the driver's door once stripped back, it turned out to be in very good condition. There are no rust patches or dents on the main structure, which was a nice bonus.
There is, however, a previous repair in the outer skin, roughly 8 inches above the handle, so that will need a bit of attention.





Unfortunately, the passenger door didn't turn out quite as well. Whilst stripping back the paint, I uncovered two large areas of heavy filler. Underneath, it became clear that some fairly poor-quality repairs had been carried out, with no real attempt made to straighten the metal beforehand.



One of these areas is on the bottom corner of the outer side....




The second is on the other corner on the outer side....
Both will need some proper attention to get them back into shape..

Plans for the weekend ahead are to focus on the rear bench area and the inner quarter panels.

I've also been in talks with someone very well known in the beach buggy world regarding my floor pan. I have a suspicion it may have been heavily coated in layers of thick paint to conceal some questionable rust areas, so I'm now exploring options for replacing it altogether.

Great work Nav keep pushing on some solid work there 

Going for a quality finish again it is looking good 

Hi Nav   Just had a look through the thread from beginning again.
A memory surfaced, (that`s was a bit of a surprise as I thought there was very little left floating around in my head now   )
One of my real pet hates about Beetle rebuilds stems from my first attempt at putting the metal "roof bows" back in and getting the lining material in a position to fit with no sags, stretches, tears etc.  If you are planning fit the metal bows again along with a standard style roof liner then you are in for some fun. Hope you have plenty of choice words ready. Having said that it`s all part of the fun.

Hi Nav  Just had a look through the thread from beginning again.
A memory surfaced, (that`s was a bit of a surprise as I thought there was very little left floating around in my head now   )
One of my real pet hates about Beetle rebuilds stems from my first attempt at putting the metal "roof bows" back in and getting the lining material in a position to fit with no sags, stretches, tears etc.  If you are planning fit the metal bows again along with a standard style roof liner then you are in for some fun. Hope you have plenty of choice words ready. Having said that it`s all part of the fun.

Hey Paul I remember what a hassle it was just removing the bows and the roof liner — fortunately, they're now safely sitting on a pile of rubbish at my local refuse centre.

The plan will be to cover the roof with a layer of Dynamat, then finish it with a top layer of felt or leather. I'll add a thin foam lining underneath to keep everything smooth and to hide the Dynamat joint lines.

Up early on Saturday morning, I was ready to tackle the rear section, thinking I'd easily be able to strip off all the paint and glue residue and have it primed by the evening.




Well, I was completely wrong. By Saturday afternoon, all I'd managed to do was a small section, however i uncovered a repair panel on the wheel arch.




It wasn't until early Sunday evening that I finally got everything stripped and cleaned, and managed to get two coats of epoxy primer on.

This weekend I woke up determined to tackle the largest surface area yet — the roof — quietly hoping I wouldn't uncover any corrosion, especially around the rain gutters.

I managed to remove the first two layers of paint reasonably quickly, knocking them back within an hour. However, it soon became clear that the stubborn red paint beneath, along with the older layers, was going to be a tougher challenge.







So I decided to try the trick Speedy shared: covering the brushed-on Starchem with polythene.
It worked brilliantly. Within minutes I could actually hear the stripping agent doing its thing — a faint sizzling, like bacon frying in a pan. After leaving it for about an hour, the paint came off with ease.






From there, it was a straightforward job to clean everything up and give the whole roof a quick sand down.




I was absolutely delighted to find no rust at all — not even around the rain gutters, which I had been most concerned about.




By the evening, I'd managed to get two coats of primer on as well. A full, productive day's work — and one that was definitely worthy of a couple of glasses of Rioja while admiring the progress.