Project car T34 Karmann Ghia a.k.a Rustbucket

[RevHappy]

Any new year updates?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

[80 Vert]

Took a break from working on the car over the Christmas hollidays but time to get back on track with it, must say it took a little effort to get going again as its definately easier to do nothing 
Just more of the same really, sanded the front underbody and wheel tubs so that these can be seam sealed and primed.
With everything sealed I got a coat of sanding primer on and once that had flashed off followed that up with the water based sound deadener.
All of this should keep things sealed for a few years to come.
The whole underbody is now pretty much done meaning I can get on with straightening up the outside of the body, I'll do all the lower parts of the nose and rear 1/4's with it upside down in the rotisserie which should be a lot easier.

[brian]

Is that the Wurth protectant/sound deadener you are using?

[80 Vert]

Yep, Wurth waterbased......SKS I think its called.
Really great stuff, nice finish and dries very quickly unlike some of the solvent based ones.

[brian]

Yeah, I thought so, used that on a couple of my projects and is the best stuff I ever used

[80 Vert]

On with more bodywork, started on the filler work yesterday which I'm really not a fan of at all but I do want it really straight so its gotta be done.
You very quickly realize how big this journey is when you try and do everything yourself, rust, bodywork, paint, chassis, motor/trans, interior etc etc etc as opposed to sending it from shop to shop and manage that process but thats no fun now is it...........
I'm very happy though with how little bog its taking to get things looking right, just little bits here and there to feather out panel joints etc, ultimately though my goal would be for no filler repairs but I'm not there yet.
Right rear 1/4 and top of rear deck are now close enough for a 180 grit block but I'll get the rest of the body to this stage first and hopefully I'll be at that point just before the new roof gets here.

[BB]

Was just showing my mate this build and he is just amazed at the level of quality and skill.
Good on you John.

[80 Vert]

Back on the bodywork, managed to get the other rear quarter done and the lower half of the nose as well.
With the sun beating down outside it was ideal to prime those areas and guide coat them.
Its all actually coming up better than I thought it would, can't wait to have gone right around the body and will then do a 120 grit block before doing 180 then 600.
I guess its not crazy far away from getting some paint on it but once the body is ready for its final 600 I'll leave it to settle so that all the primers and any filler have a chance to shrink while I paint and build the chassis and motor.

[BB]

Smooth

[80 Vert]

What better thing to do than use Waitangi day to do sanding  spent half of the day at work to finish off sanding the front end to get the body in primer, the left front guard was the previously badly repaired one and even though I'd done a pile of work on it including welding in another section I still wasn't 100% happy with it so now that it had the epoxy on it I just hit it with 80 grit to reveal all the lows and had another go at beating those out.
Got it a lot better without being silly about it which suits me a lot better, did a little filler work and primed the front end.
Roof arives 3 April so I gotta get my crap together and finish this body, its funny I look at it now and think oh wow its actually a pretty nice body 
This weekend I'll start the 120 grit blocking so we'll see then just how straight she'll be.

[BB]

Its a better than new body with all that modern non rusting thicker steel in it.

[spud mk2]

A nice T34 has just turned up on 'Bring a Trailer' . Cool looking car.

[80 Vert]

Time to carry on with paint stripping panels, bare metaled the outside of the other door during the week and was surprised to find no rust holes, bog or dents......Bonus!
Quite the opposite to the passengers door which I've already repaired, still to blast the inner frame etc which I had planned to do yesterday but ran short of sand and had to keep recycling what I had as it was just to be able to finish the decklid.

Used the same method on the outside of the decklid as I did on the door, purple paint stripper discs on a grinder which work well on multi layers of paint, don't think blasting would be an option when there are so many layers of paint to get off.
Stripped the louvres by hand with an angled air grinder and an 80 grit wheel which was fun..............NOT 
Sandblasted the inside and over the louvres as well once most of the paint was gone, the decklid was very surface rusty, especially under the paint for some reason but it came out pretty mint really with no repairs needed at all.


Sweeping up constantly and re using the sand got pretty annoying but did that just long enough to blast the inner rain try as well, at least thats another part done.
Will have to go get more sand next week to finish off the other door and front hood which I know has a couple of rust holes in the very front of it.

[DubMan]

what a trooper!

[80 Vert]

Doing another side project at home, this time making the interior panels.
Armed with the OEM cloth and some Bus center panels I've started with the door panels first, taking my time measuring before cutting anything the 1st one has come out awesome.
Really like the combination of the red and off white material, getting on with the other side tonight and will sew up the door pockets during the week.
Still to find some staples short enough so that they don't poke through the other side, quite like doing upholstery stuff even if the house reeks of glue now  :lol:

[DubMan]

nice...im following this closely!

[coons]

Ohhh interior, nice. That colour combo looks great

[the phantom]

you'll have to change the title of this thread to ex-rustbucket, John!

[BB]

Doing another side project at home, this time making the interior panels.
Armed with the OEM cloth and some Bus center panels I've started with the door panels first, taking my time measuring before cutting anything the 1st one has come out awesome.
Really like the combination of the red and off white material, getting on with the other side tonight and will sew up the door pockets during the week.
Still to find some staples short enough so that they don't poke through the other side, quite like doing upholstery stuff even if the house reeks of glue now  :lol:

That is awesome

[80 Vert]

Not much motivation to work in the heat this morning but felt I really should do something at least so started paint stripping the bonnet, tried a few different methods now and paint stripper discs in a grinder are by far the quickest but there's a big difference in quality as per usual.
Smith and Arrow coarse blue paint & rust strip are the ones to get, last longer and cut through the paint quicker, you do have to be carefull of how much heat you build up though especially on something thin like this t34 panel.
Pretty much worked my way right around the whole thing and also did part of the inner frame and inner flat areas too.

Right at the front were a few rust holes so the only way to repair it right was to cut and remove a section of the inner frame so that I can blast it, repair and prime it after which I'll just weld the section back in.
Couldn't be bothered blasting this afternoon so worked on one of the doors instead before packing it in early.

Made more progress on the door panels too during the week, finished the other side and made new map pockets which were stapled / glued on like original, pleats worked out exactly how I wanted.
Last night I made the first of the rear panels which worked out nice, heat seamed lines didn't line up unfortunately so had to make some "adjustments"  :lol:
One more to make tomorow and the welt to staple on, SMS auto fabrics sent me the wrong welt in the wrong colour and are also being a pain about fixing their mistake, what is it with companies these days?