1971 VW Type 3 Fastback

Mid march 2018, remember that snow day? I took a screen shot from the AA travel map to show the closed roads



After the great motivational progress of the last update, a dose of reality was thrown my way.

A slightly light start, when stripping the drivers door I found it had the anti theft lock protection plate fitted. after a root around in a spare door I found I had a pair. So these will be off to the powder coaters.



With the basic structure of the car sorted i felt it safe to take the body off to enable the access I needed to tidy up pan edges and genrally strip all the grotty waxoyl off. Ive learned alot of about corrosion protection and waxoyl aint the wayto do it any more.

I meaured up to make sure id clear the shock towers and started to make some trestles on casters.







I bravely sat on them in the middle and jiggled around, I then filled in a detailed form to conclude I had a suitable safety factor

Having at one point or another had the bolts out on this none of them caused any issues and I had it all unbolted in half an hour. My next challenge was how do I lift the body high enough on my own to get the trestles under.

Idea number 1



So the action shots were missed as I had to do some tricky ballancing. But the short version is jacking as I photographed and then putting blocks in between the shock tower and the body at the back until it was the height of the trestle. I think I unscrewed part of the trestle and slid the croos beam through and reassembled the trestle, using the jack to take the weight I removed the spacer blocks and lowered onto the trestle.

The front was much easier as the majority of the weight is at the back so I can lift the front and kick the trestle under and then position as required.



Oh how smug I felt with myself, off I went for a brew and a sandwhich.

It was only when I tried to roll the body back the issues started to arise, the wheels hit the sills. Doh!!! To make up the difference the easiest way I could I slid some more battons of wood under the body and removed the rear wheels on the chassis and got the thing over. Though this weekend its been 0 degrees or worse and a couple of inches of snow. So I havent been able to get the body out, but here it is at its new altitude.



Having never had the body off I sort of expected but really didn't want to admit to myself that I would find this.



The major structural parts are still good and solid so it isn't all doom and gloom but Its still more work I didn't want to do. Anywho feeling sorry for myself isn't going to get the car on the road. I just got stuck in and with in 3 hours this happened.







Just the pan corner to repair and that's that job sorted. The otherside requires similar work but not quite as extensive.( I hope) Looking forward to sticking the body outside so I can have a bit more fighting room. I want to get the pan off the sub frame and strip it all down then give it a good coat of epoxy primer. Lets hope the snow buggers off and it warms up.



Well kind of, i am going to be playing with silly engines so I expect a few stuck in a field swearing trips too!

Elbow deep in my B1 license course for a few weeks but I do get the odd hour to spare in the garage.

Now that were mobile it was time to take advantage of said fact and make some working room.



And with the body out the way I could do the matching repair to the drivers side of the pan.



I forgot to photograph the small piece from the underside. But it is in there
The fact I was grinding the surface rust away left a lot of dust making things look alot more orange than they really are.





Pretty happy with that one myself

A sudden burst of mild weather at the weekend quickly drew my attention back to the body and the removal of the old waxoyl and sealer from the rear arches and boot floor. So Saturday I wheeled it out and spend 4 - 5 hours with a blow torch, heat gun, chisel, scraper and angle grinder getting it all off. As well needed as this was, some places were stuck fast other is pealed away. It found me some more holes to repair.









I seem to have forgotten how to weld here. it very bird s@*ty



The last job I did was this evening,







So thats lots of work done down a road I never planned to head down! Still were nearly back to where we should have been a couple of weeks ago and there isnt an inch of the car I havent seen now so I cant be rotten anywhere else!

Oh you ARE an optimist!!

I am slowly seizing up, though its muscle ache rather than joints. From sitting at odd angles to clean up and reach various bit plus ive been getting back on the bike recently, not that there is any point with the weather still being wibblepoo. Has anyone been consulted on this? I thought the curse word weather was also issued when it was dark. The clocks have changed now, it doesn't need to be -5 any more, but I digress.



Hmm I might have had it for 18 months. but its no where near as intense as this, its an 81 mini which in short needs painting and putting back together! But it will wait some time yet. I need a dose of summer. Also be careful with cheap panels, they are often a very curse word fit, or made from waffer thin steel so arent much better than the bits you cut off. its worth paying a little more for the better panels. The type 3 is a more complex construction so even if a lot of the panels were around, they would be incredibly hard to fit.

Although a lot of works gone into the last 48 hours, the update is brief.

I have folded a couple of sections of seal channel for the rear section of the body to pan area.



From then on you know how it works, so the pictures can talk.







So thats the passenger side nailed back together and I set about attacking the passengers side.







This was a tricky one to try and cut out.



The only exciting news is that my pair of German door seals arrived, and I can report the quality seems great and they do fit the door very well. If anything they're a bit on the tick side but as they spend 90% of their life compressed I'm sure they will thin down in 5 or 10 years!

Thanks for the kind words. Progress has been a little thin recently but this weekend I certainly made up for it.

The other pan front end mod.



Not quite as neat but its all there, bit more work to shape it up will give a decent results.



Ive also fetched another pile of parts back from the powder coaters.



I also got most of the pan furniture blasted rather than spending ages cleaning it up myself.



The kick pans are a little pin holey towards the bottom but its pretty minimal compared the rest of the floor!

That was the last couple of weeks. Now there is the weekend 21/4/18 I'm desperate to get the chassis back together and rolling. Having it all in bits is cluttering up my garage and its annoying me.







I then sheeted the ground down with the spine one the trestles and used a sand blasting gun Ive recently bought to speed things up and get into all the fiddly its before the epoxy goes on.

its done a decent job of things like the seat rails.



I blasted the while rear end as well, better than a wire wheel which just polishes it. And any rush edges were just eating the strip discs.



Once complete I gave everything a good clean up and sweep up. Followed by some strip disc action on the spine to remove the paint. Following this was the major surgery, Pans in! I bolted the spine in, followed by each pan being secured in place. Then tacked along each edge and any trimming required.



To give it some strength once I unbolted it, the rear corners got a little reconstruction.



I then got it back on the trestles and started the long jobs of welding them in and modifying the rear of the pans to match the type 3.



The drivers side pan is now in and I'm happy with it. Id say ive broken the back of it

Great progress with the floor you should be ok for panels as long as they are not from Expressed Steel.

Ta I'm hoping the work will end soon

Lots has been done this week, I spent every evening doing something and most of the weekend. Once ive got paint on the pan ill take my foot off the gas a bit.

Not a huge number of photos here, lots of tidying up of edges with a file, and reinstating holes ect. Not lots to photographs but lot of progress. First of all I cleaned up the back of the passenger pan half.



Then repaired the IRS clamp plate mount.





The bulk head had suffered somewhat on the drivers side to so that was infilled. Some of my least pretty welding here though.

I had hope to get it in paint this weekend, but as its mid December again, I figure ill wait until its May next week and much warmer.





Once that was complete I though it was time to weld in the stiffener plate for the pedal cluster. Ive had this lot powder coated and I'm happy with the results.



I have neglected to take a photo of the stiffener but it has been welded in.

This left three things that needed doing. The rear seat kick panels, front seat outer rails and the pan strengtheners need fitting. So step one.

I offered them up and with a bit of trimming to fit the new pan shape dropped straight in.





I spent a good few hours today aligning the outer seat rails, I have had to order a set of the plastic guides, but in order to make sure I have the rails suitably gapped I used some old broken bits of guides roughly installed. I hope this works! I haven't weld the rails in solidly yet, just well tacked.

Heard a few comments on here about expressed panels, and ‘where there is nothing else they are ok’ seems to be how they are described.
I think some panels are pretty good, but others are only just better than doing it from scratch.

Anyway, looking good and awaiting the next update

Respect!!! Qualty restoration.

Monday motivation any one?

A small update for you this week, it was a job I hadnt been looking forward too as it was actual body work. And I can cock that up far too easily. The results a very nice though. Monday evening I was having a potter and clean up in the garage after and hour I was about done. I thought id just have a quick look at the rear valance and do any set up work to make the job easier on tuesday evening. One thing led to another, and the panel just about fell on the car, it all went very well. Those are the best kind of evenings, it was warm and still doing a job which I hadnt planned to do and it was no effort.

Here it is lined up after a rough cut.



Further trimming, and a little work to take some ripples out as well as getting it to follow the contour of the body.



And welded on.



I'm sure you've noticed it is still the missing the bumper iron slots, I fitted both rear wings to give me a reference points and then made up a couple of pieces with out the iron holes in. Welded them in and then with some careful measuring and filing. I put the slots in.





Here is the nearly finished job.



Tomorrow night i plan to get the gridner out and tidy up the welds, followed by a coat of epoxy and then its all in primer. I have also made a start on the seam sealing. This week is the Le Mans 24, I will be putting that on in the garage and spending hour upon hour in there sealing away.