58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[JTR70]

Thanks Per! Very true, it won't see much bad weather but water always seems to find its way either from a hand wash or an unforeseen rainstorm so I just want to give any small amount that may find its way down here some place to go. Stay warm my friend!
Justin

[John Pierce]

Great idea, Justin. Hopefully I'll remember it when I get to that point on my rust bucket.

Thanks for posting the detailed images.

JP

[DG58INNM]

Justin,
Thanks for your call Sunday. Really a pleasure to speak with you. Next time I will give you more warning. I figured it was unlikely our schedules would mesh, but worth the try. Looking at your 356 projects would have been infinitely better than freezing my butt off at the daughter's soccer game, but sometimes a dad just has to do those things. Made it home safe and sound Monday.

I like your windshield drain. You are one clever sonofagun!

Take care,
DG

[Phil Planck]

Justin
I like your mod for draining water. Will do this on Foam Car, as it will get driven in the rain with my luck on long road trips. Also may try this on my 912, as there is rust popping up in that area on one side.





Phil

[JTR70]

Thanks John!

Give me a heads-up next time for sure David and thanks!

Thank you Phil, That is exactly what I don't want to see growing again on my car 10-15 years down the road. Purist's might not like it but this is strictly for practicality, water always finds a way and I just can't have it pooling and making its way back inside as in years past. If you plan on driving it in the rain at times it may well be a great precaution for you. Thanks again you guys! Justin
1/25/15
doorjamb fine finishing con't

Quick tracer coat and its getting oh-so close!

I'm down to scratches and nuggies like the ones in and to the side of this bead roll. Stuff most would never notice or give a second thought to but being so close I just can't bring myself to leave it.

As soon as this hardens up enough I'll block it all down with 400 but I think its ready...I think.
Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

2/8/15
Now officially in the final paint stages.
No more welding, no more hammering and no more filling.
After 28 years off and on (more off than on)I've chased this raggedy old body as far as I'm going to. Its still not as perfect as I'd like the reflections to be but its time to move on to the next stage of this build; reassembly! Spoke with my neighbor Rick last week about getting it shot and he suggested we start with the bumpers and other small parts to dial it all in first then tackle the body once we're happy with the silver finish.


My initial thought was to get the exterior in a solid guide coat of silver then apply the final finish. Rick highly recommended using a sealer over the bodywork instead. I told him of all my concerns over proper adhesion and the problems I'd had recently; he assured me that would not be a problem with the system he wants to use. Since he's in the business of automotive refinishing and is up on all the latest stuff I wasn't going to argue. We'd do it his way.. I began sanding back the bumpers as far as I could to both shape finish them and get the material thickness back down in prep for the sealer.

Made the extra effort to strip down the backsides as well to hold down the paint build-up.

Rear bumper hung and ready for the final sealer.

That's my buddy Rick here applying the sealer to the front bumper.

Both sealed and fogged with a guide coat here. Final sanding prep tomorrow before final paint!

Very carefully blocking down the guide coat as far as I can with 400 to make way for the sealer.

After the sealer is applied I'll get one more crack at it to get the reflections just a "little bit" better still before the final coat is applied.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[John Pierce]

Fantastic accomplishment! The light in that tunnel is SO close. Can't wait to see the paint.

JP

[gkw]

Good for you.
Gordon

[merbesfield]

Congrats. Looking toward to seeing more silver.

[Jack Staggs]

Joris, do you do repair on pre-A turn signal switch with the light on the end of the stalk?
My email is ifix356@Juno.com
Jack Staggs
Justin, sorry to hijack this thread.

[bbspdstr]

Hi, Jack!

(get it?)

Speaking of turn signal stalks, I have one of those early lit versions to fix as well. I also spoke with a man in the Chicago area yesterday who had polished B/C stalks made to replace the rusty chromed originals seen on so many 356s as they creep by 50 years of age......I'm going to buy one and see what it's like along with a paddle knob he also had reproduced.

-Bruce, wishing a "Joris" or "new repro parts and other 356 services" thread existed...I guess this posting needs an apology, too!

[Jack Staggs]

That's a really good idea Bruce, a new category for "Parts and Services". How about it Justin? What else do you have to do?
The barn door guys on thesamba have one that is well done.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256430
As "the welders" as I like to call them, get closer to finishing their projects, cottage industry sources would be very helpful.

X2 on BMW sunroof felt #s please.

Justin, Thank you once again for providing this no cost forum at your expense.

[JTR70]

Sure, I'm up for adding one in. The link you posted is to a thread that is a Sticky not a dedicated category like the 4-cam, restoration, open topic, etc. categories. What would you guys prefer a new dedicated category or just a "sticky thread"? Thank you Jack! Its really been my pleasure having you all here!!!!!
Justin

[JTR70]

3/20/15

At long last final paint begins!

Beginning with the bumpers.

After a few rounds of sealer and block sanding the bumpers are finally ready to go. Fabbed up this little stand during the process to make spraying these odd shaped parts much easier. The final application will have a much better chance of turning out blemish free versus just hanging from wire like they were when the sealer was applied.

They are wiped down with solvent here and will be shot tomorrow morning. Rick wants to finish the inside first, back tape it then flip them over and do the outer surface. Provided we don't have any "fisheyeing" or lifting problems the final coat of color goes on tomorrow.
A small step BUT hey it is finally beginning.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

3/23/15

Bumpers in final paint...almost.

Rick getting ready to shoot the final coat to the outside. He had painted up the inner surfaces a few days ago and they are back-taped here.

Painted and they turned out beautiful!! He laid the silver base down with a really nice sheen with no "tiger stripes" or pattern inconsistencies.

The clear went on just as well. My joy soon turned to sadness as I found a light spot at the very tip of both bumpers at the same end
We just didn't get enough silver base on those tips as they turn in slightly on this one side. Too late to chase it as the clear was already over the base so the easiest thing to do is to let them cure sand lightly and shoot them again. par for the course and have been down this road many a time but it just sickens me because the rest of it was/is so beautiful. Oh well, I at least found out this afternoon that I'm going to love the color and I have a guy who's competent at shooting metallic paint. Thanks for looking! Justin