Getting the engine lid ready

Last of the major body parts to prep for the final spray

Okay, so I ran out of sandpaper

Sorry it took so long

Back in business now

And the magic word is BONDO

Luckily the body is in pretty descent shape as is

BONDO BONDO BONDO and sanding
Lots of it where we welded the ragtop in

Drum roll please...
The body is finally completely primer painted!

And rear apron welded in place

Passenger side and door primer painted

More primer painting - Very happy that more of the bug is painted than not - The end of body work is nearing!

New rocker panel looks great!

Last of the missing pieces - deck lid and rear apron are a go
The super-sized engine going in should have no problem breathing now with all that ventilation

Driver side painted and looking good

Brake lines installed

Brake reservoir and brake light switches

Turbo pedal in place

New rocker panel skin is a nice fit

Cover up this rot

Whole right side gets primer painted

After the sandblasting and before the primer

And the back gets done

The entire nose section is ready to go

Slowly but surely every square inch is getting sandblasted and primer painted

Very tedious and meticulous work - blah :p

Grinded the weld down flat

Filled in the seams with fiberglass

And sprayed the whole thing with primer to prevent any more rust

A ton of body filler and lots of smoothing gonna happen still on those rough spots

And now for a little mechanic work
Dual circuit master cylinder installed

Pedal assembly all hooked up

Clutch cable connected

After MUCH welding - I now officially have a ragtop

I'm not a master by any stretch, but I'm not completely brain-dead with a welding torch anymore after completing this job

Now I just gotta make it all look pretty and seamless

We'll see what kind of challenge that turns out to be :)

Getting the ragtop clip lined up for the weld
Top of roof looking down...

Underneath looking up...

As fresh as the day it rolled off the assembly line




These few parts won't be seeing rust any time soon

Getting a little better
At least that front apron is plenty secure in there

And at least no on is going to see this under the wheel well

My best attempt at welding
I'm not quitting my day job

Fill in the holes with fiberglass