Dragging this thread from the deepest depths of the forum its time for an exciting update.
To review where we got to way back in September 2013, the Beetle had to be removed from the garage I was using and so it ended up in the one car garage at my parents with the good intention that I could push it out, work on it and push it back.
Sadly the space available simply wasnt big enough and as is the rule with most garages, the longer it sat the more got piled up around it and by summer 2015 this was what greeted me when I opened the garage door;
I had promised Joanne a finished Beetle but I was really struggling to see how I would achieve this in the space available so that left one option. If I couldnt do it, maybe I should seek out somebody who could.
On my local club forum (West of Scotland VW club) I had seen a lot of good work coming from the workshops of Ed (Rodntod) so in July I decided to bite the bullet and sent a PM enquiring whether or not he would be willing to take on the job and to my relief, there was a space coming up nearer the end of the year where he could make a start.
Now, one thing I have not yet mentioned is Joannes reaction to her Beetle finally getting re-started......Thats because she didnt know, this was to be a Christmas surprise which is also the reason this thread hasnt been updated until now.
This also meant I had to sneak about and and get the car out of the garage without her knowing which explains why I spent the wettest Sunday in November dragging the bug and the parts needed out of storage;
The 1967 only decklid and vallance had been living under a tree for 2 years;
And then after dark the car was loaded onto the truck to make its journey to Ed's place;
Once down at Ed's he could give it a good look over and see what he had let himself in for. Thankfully he didnt laugh at the work I had completed on the nearside heater channel.
This was the o/s sill, not surprisingly it was just as bad as the N/S;
So he braced the body and separated the pan;
And whacked straight into the work completing more in the first couple of weeks than I had in the last 5 years.
O/S heater channel cut out;
The new (body cut) heater channel in place and filler work started;
The start of the bare metaling of the body revealed a few layers under the top coat;
So by Christmas we were at this point, o/s heater channel replaced, o/s top door hinge repaired, o/s rear inner arch bare metaled, glass out, pannels off, front bulkhead repaired and a start made on bare metaling the body work leaving the car looking like this;
Which incidentally is the picture I had printed into a poster and wrapped for Joanne to open on Christmas morning to reveal the surprise.
How did the news go down?
Well, the car got a double thumbs up when we visited Ed's place this week;
I think somebody is going to be very happy when its done;
More updates as we go along and a big thank you to Ed for his work so far and to him and anybody else who saw Fester in his garage and kept the secret.
Dave.
