Steering wheel resto.....

As found.......

Rust and rotten wood removed

 New Red Oak wood....

Finished wheel......

Abilene Aircooled at the American Heart Association 60's theme Heart Power gala

Tonight we met at the Abilene Civic Center for the American Heart Association 60's theme Heart Power gala.

 Then off to Sonic Burger for drinks and food.....

Abilene Aircooled

Abilene Aircooled

Spring is here....

I have been very busy with my studies and work so I haven't posted any updates in a while. After 5 months of body work I decided its time to get the car back on the road so I can enjoy the summer season. I mounted my new tires and rims. The tires I originally mounted in the front where 165/45-15s. Unfortunately the roads around here  are in disrepair so the car was too low for comfort. I used the car 1 day before deciding to swap front tires to 145s instead. I will begin this post by showing you a few pics of the car the way it was sitting with the 165/45-15s.

Here is the car with 145s out front and 205/65-15s out back sitting in front of Big Rons VW Shop in Abilene Texas.

Got some more work done today....

Filler sanded and its now in primer........

 I hung the fender to make sure everything lines up.... and it does...

tomorrow I plan on giving the fender some much needed attention...

 

Once the fender its done I will put it on and ensure the fender beading is on properly............

Finally patched the black hole....

I had cut this rusty spot above my Rt rear out back in Oct...

I also cut out another rust spot in front of the above hole...

 

Here it is all welded shut waiting on some icing...

Icing is on will start sanding tomorrow...

 

Speaking of sanding this picture pretty much sums up how I feel about sanding...

Yeah block sanding Sux!!!

Got some more work done today...

I noticed that the door and the quarter panel are not even so I started working on squaring things up today...

I also cut out another rusted spot on the rear wheel housing.

Out with the old and in with the new...

 

Now copious amount of icing (first coat)...

More block sanding

Today I worked on the rear quarter panel again. More putty, block sanding, guide coat, more putty, block sanding some more then primer. It will be worth it in the end.

In between putty drying times I pulled the dent on my front rt fender. Putty, block sanding, guide coat, more putty, block sanding then primer.

 

A little more work today

Cut out a rusted spot on the rear wheel housing (fender attach point). I welded new sheet-metal in as required. After I finished welding I began working on the rear quarter panel. I applied some USC Icing Polyester Finishing Putty and began the tedious sanding/blocking process.

I also pulled a dent I had on the LT front fender.

Ran out of  "Icing" so I must let her rest for the night. The goal is to have her finished for the Texas Classic in April.

My Dad sent me a pkg. I have been after this cooler for years. It has been in the family since the '60s. This will be my next project after I get done with the car.

 

More work

I finished the front wheelhouse. Now work starts on the rear of the car.


I started to work on the rear quarter panel. It was heavy with body filler. It was over 1 inch thick in some places. Once I got all the body filler off it was obvious that there was a major dent in the quarter panel. My work colleague let me borrow a H & S 5500 UNI-SPOTTER STINGER STUD WELDER-Dent Puller which my son helped me utilized to pull the panel back out. Really happy with the results.

Texas VW Classic April 17th & 18th 2010

Texas VW Classic 2009 from cwnation on Vimeo.

Happy New Years

I am sorry I have been dragging my lazy ass during the holidays. Should be back on track in the new year.
Happy New Years to all and hope 2010 is full of peace and happy times for everyone...........