Roofs on and inside welded

Well It's been a busy weekend in the garage.

The rear deck lid hinges have been modified a little to get the rear lid to open and close properly.

Next I moved on to welding up the rear luggage wall. Then welded up the extra piece that I added to the rear of the oval section.

Had to take a drive out to Monarch, AB to get another roof to finish mine. I had my choice of a few different ones as the fellow had a small VW graveyard. I'm sure I'll be back to see him soon for an older deck lid and apron.

The roof section was cut and tack welded on.

The car was put back on the rotisserie which should make it a little better for welding up the roof.

It was off to the inside now to finish off the rear section and weld up all the roof section on each side.

All in all a pretty good weekend. All that's left on the inside to finish, other then all the grinding is some relief cuts on the B pillars that need to be filled and the pinch clips that run down the B pillar need to be welded back in.

Rear Deck Lid

Well after a few days to think about how to fix the problem with the deck lid not sitting right or closing I came up with this. I first put a relief cut in the body just above the rear fender area by the deck lid. Then I put a relief cut about in the lid about 18" long on each side. I then added a section to the bottom of the oval to give me that nice 1/4 gap between the deck lid and the bottom of the oval section. Last I filled the gap up with some medal from the donor car.

All in all it looks pretty good. I'll have to extend the hinge brackets under the hood and figure out if there is some way to still use the spring that keeps the lid up when you open it.

Rear deck lid problems

With the oval section being tipped down there is a small problem with the way the rear deck lid fits. It doesn't close, and if I remove it from the hindge and set it where it should be I seem to have a little over an inch gap from the top of the deck lid to the bottom of the oval section. I have looked at this for awhile trying to figure out the best way to fix this with the least amount of cutting and welding. I have come up with something but will wait to share until I'm done and can post some pictures of it.
The shot with the CUT lines on it was a thought but that cuts into the rain gutter in the oval and was not a good idea.

Rear Quarter Drivers Side

I was able to finish the back corner of the quarter glass area. This side took a bit to get right because it was there was in inch difference in length from the drivers side to the passenger side.

I then moved onto the gaps that were left above the quarter glass where I had to put relief cuts in and spread the medal open to keep a smooth trim for the window.

It was on to the front, to the windshield area. The very top center area was a little off, plus it was missing some medal so a new section was welded in.

A full day on rear quarters

After getting a late start I was able to get a lot accomplished. I cut the spot welds along the top where each piece is butted to each other and was able to get rid of the warped section on the passenger side.

I next moved on to the passenger rear quarter where I had to fab a piece for the very rear of the window section. This took more time then I thought it would but it has to be near perfect for the glass to fit right.

Next it was the section behind the window. I cut a section from another bug I have and cut and transferred it to the chop top.

I then moved on to the passenger door pillar. The section that was added at the top needs to be widened a bit to have everything line up. At this point everything is just spot welded, I'll wait to weld it all up until everything is in place.

It was off to the other side. This side took longer because is was really bad from the last person that worked on it. There was an inch difference in window size from the front of the window to the back before and I wanted them be about the same size. I was able to cut and spot weld the section I fabed in to place. I then moved on to the drivers door pillar. This took some time as well due to the fact that I need to cut and move into place two different parts. On the passenger side the medal around the window that holds the rubber lined up perfect an the drivers side not so lucky. Relief cuts are put in and then the medal is either spread apart or squeezed together to line things up.

Oval Section

Well today I finished the piece over the drivers side rear window and put the oval section on the back of the car. This took most of the day, trimming bit by bit to get it to fit. It's all just spot welded right now just in case anything needs to be changed or moved, but all in all it looks pretty good. I trimmed both sides up to make the last section go in better. It seems to be warped a little on the passenger side which my correct itself once the rest of the roof is welded on. Tomorrow I'll work on the the back quarter section right where the glass goes in. I still need to find one more roof to finish the the, a 2 or 3 fold sun roof would be nice.

The roof has become a puzzle

What I thought was going to be the fast part of putting the roof on turned into a long day and not getting to oval section in. I was hoping to use the oval section I have which is about half of the roof but once the old was cut out and I set the new section in I could see the it was going to line up the way I wanted to. So it's back to piecing the side section in over the rear quarter window. Plus the roofs that I'm using are different years so there seems to be a little difference in some of the window frame size which had to be fixed so the glass fits right. I made a die from my other bug to get the right line for the rain gutter. This seems to be what everyone looks at when the car is done to see if you've keep the right lines on the car. Tomorrow I'll tackle the other side and try to get the oval section cut and put on as well.

Roof, roof and more roof

Today was roof day, well the start anyways. Cut the front section out to replace the crappy job the last person did. I started with the section above the the doors which went pretty good. I then moved on the the B pillar section which took a little more to make sure the door closed and lined up. Tomorrow I'll change out the rear section with the oval section I have.

Another day done

Today I replaced the section behind the rear seat, the luggage compartment panel. It's a nice pretty orange.

Cleaned up some of the under coating that seems to be all over the car. Had my good friend Dustin pop over to help me lift the car off the rotisserie and set it down on something lower for working on the roof.

Tomorrow I will start cutting to old roof off.

Front End Work

I've got a whole week to work in the garage, the wife and daughter are in Ontario visiting family and friends.

Two small road trips have been taking this past week, one to Drumheller for a oval window roof and one to Taber for a 61 roof section.

Here are some shots of the weekend work I was able to get done. Front clip was changed but the replacement has some bad spots in the spare tire area so a replacement has been ordered. Front apron is off and will have to wait to go till the new medal comes in. But all in all it looks and everything seems to line up with the new section in.

I cut both the spare roofs up to the sections I need. I also welded some braces inside the car for support.