This page last up-dated 07 March, 2006

Job description:

To strip bodywork and trim, remove body from the chassis, replace the floorpan halves.

Prepare bodyshell for painting in original colour.

Rebuild to "as new" condition, fitting a new blue mohair hood and leather upholstery.

Re-chrome the brightwork.

Before stripping the car down to a shell all electrical equipment was checked, body parts and trims were noted of condition, and then removed.

Next the bumpers, wings, doors, engine lid and bonnet were removed, followed by the petrol tank and the body mounting bolts, finally petrol pipes, brake lines etc were unfastened.

Once everything was unbolted and removed we could finally lift the body from the chassis, the floorpan halves were removed first, new ones were then spot-welded in place after repairing the frame-head nearside outrigger.

The engine was then removed, and the chassis and new floor halves prepared for painting, two coats of etch primer were applied followed by two coats of Standocryl jet black 2K paint.

While the chassis was being given a new lease of life, the bodyshell was being welded where corrosion had set in, the rusty metal was cut away and new panels were fabricated and welded in place.

This cabrio was also slightly different to most, it had once had air conditioning fitted, we had removed the remainder of the system as it no longer worked, but this left a lot of holes in the bodywork.......everywhere !!

These all had to be welded up, from holes drilled for screws, clamps and pipe-work etc to air vents behind the dashboard.

Back on the chassis the mechanical parts that were to be changed due to wear and tear had been delivered, new copper/nickel brake pipes were cut to length, bent as required and fitted, next the pedal assembly was re-fitted and adjusted to the correct tolerances, new parts included gearbox mounts, driveshaft boots, starter motor and assorted cables.

The first areas to be given attention to was the rear bodywork around the lip which the hood tucks under, the corrosion here was very serious, new pieces of metal were formed to the correct shape and grafted in place. The rear offside quarter panel had corrosion around the lower edges, filler was also covering most of this panel, when removing the filler we found holes drilled into the panel where there had been accident damage, and this had been rectified by using a slide hammer through the holes, this is an old fashioned method for pulling out dents and one that we don't approve of (we use weld on nails and a slide hammer).

After removing all the filler, we assessed the panel and concluded that it would be better for the car to replace the lower part of the panel, the old panel was cut away, corrosion was found in the heater channel area top, this was cut out and new metal welded in and sealed, a new outer panel was then fixed in place by MIG and spot welding, a special adhesive was also used along the top edge and wheelarch edge to make a total water tight seal.

Next a thin skim of filler was applied to areas that had had repairs, these areas were then sprayed with a polyester spray filler.

The doors, engine lid, wheels, bumpers and the hood frame were all sent to the sandblasters, initially the items are placed in an oven and heated until the paint melts off, next they are sandblasted clean, once they are clean the parts have to be etch primed immediately to prevent rusting from moisture in the air, after this has dried we can check for panel damage and corrosion, holes and cracks in the panels are welded up and filler applied to damaged areas, (etch primer would need to be removed again before applying filler).

The GT Sport wheels first had the tyres removed, then the rims were straightened where required, after sandblasting they were sprayed with etch primer then the front face primed, next they were turned over and sprayed black, these were then dried at 80 degrees centigrade, after sanding the front faces and masking as necessary, the wheels were sprayed silver and lacquered.

New seal retaining strips were spot welded in place of the badly rusted originals, sealer was applied after priming to prevent any water from getting behind the strips and causing rust.

The last panel to receive attention on the bodyshell was the area around the petrol filler neck, the recessed panel was replaced with another one cut from a scrap 1300, because it had corrosion around the neck hole and the seam where it had been welded in place.

This car had been resprayed before, the paint was flaking and lifting from the original paint below, this was sanded off, and in most places the original was sanded off down to bare metal . Rust was sandblasted away, small dents were pulled out, filler was applied where necessary and the whole shell was prepared for the primer coats, these were sprayed on starting with two coats or etch primer followed by three coats of high build primer. Once this was dry the primer was dry-sanded flat, then further wet sanded smooth. Sealer was then applied to seams, joints and to the wheel arches to match the original sealer which was sprayed on at the Karmann factory. When this had dried a coat of stonechip was sprayed to the arches.

This was left to air dry overnight, then the bodyshell was moved back into the spray-booth, totally cleaned, masked up and given a further coat of etch primer over the stonechip and anywhere where the primer had been flatted through, three coats of L90B was then sprayed on, this was then dried at 80 degrees centigrade.

While the bodyshell was drying, the foam body to chassis seal was placed around the chassis edge, and after thoroughly drying the paint, the body was finally lifted on and bolted down. Rebuilding started with fitting the rear wiring looms and engine bay sound proofing pads after first cleaning off any old overspray and dirt. Next was the wiring at the front and the removal of the redundant wiring and switches under the dashboard from the old air conditioning unit. The original fan unit was checked out and the switch reconnected, and the new speakers in their new housings fitted and wired in.

The genuine Volkswagen wings were sanded down then etched and stonechipped underneath, after drying, primer was applied, this was then sanded smooth then topcoated. The last items to be painted was the engine tinware and the inside of the bumpers after being re-chromed.

The new engine was then built up and fitted, and a modified exhaust fitted so that the tailpipe exited through the original outlet.