Front Valence

Wk 29  24/02/13

This week made good progress on the front of the car. Tried the new wing on and it fits really well.

Next was taking off the front valence. Drilled out the spot welds to take if off. The two side piece were rotten at the front too so they were to be replaced.

Front valence off nice and cleanly

Front wing part off

The parts came of really well. It is definitely easier and quicker to use replacement panels as it is quick off and on.

The new valance and front arch pieces went in well. They are welded in but the side arch pieces are just tacked until next week.

New front arch part

Front valence on

That is one side of the car welding done now :-)

Front arch

Wk 28 17/02/13

This week was continuing the front inner arch. First was cutting out the rusty parts for the arch nuts and welding in two new pieces.

Next was the inner arch part. This has obviously rusted from being one of those places where water gathers from the inside. The piece for this went in really well. Then the usual rust treatment and coat of paint.

I had hoped to get the front wing this weekend, even rang and checked they had it in but when i got there they were moving stock and it was in one of the places they couldn't get into. Oh well it is being delivered in the week and can get on with the front part of the inner wing next weekend.

I moved on to cleaning up inside the bonnet area. This is pretty good, a few spots of rust and a lot of dirt and grease but nothing to much to do under here.

engine bay before cleaning

Few spots of rust under the petrol tank were the spot welds were

Cleaned the rust spots up with the wire brush on the drill. Then rust treatment and a coat of paint

Cleaned up and rust treated

Painted up nice and clean.

Been a good days work this weekend and hopefully next weekend we will move around to the front of the car.

Starting front arch

Wk 27 10/02/13

Moved onto the passenger front inner arch this week.  We started on the strut support. Thought this was going to be really complex but it turned out to be quite quick and turned out really well. We cut out the old metal of the strut and behind the strut.

Rusty strut part to replace

 First we replaced the metal behind the strut, welded it in and cleaned the welds back. Next we made up a replacement part for the strut and welded it in. Cleaned back the weld a bit but not to much as it will have seam sealer over it.

Next was a small whole at the top of the strut.

 Cut out a small square and welded in a replacement part, luckily the rust here hadn't really gone far. A coat of rust treatment and ready for a coat of paint next week.

Got to get a new front wing before next week so that I can start work on wing mounts and the front valence.

Finishing rear arch

WK 26 2/2/13

This week I got my new power tool for grinding back welds as recommended on the Volkszone forum. It was great. Really helped to take back the welds in awkward places and where you have to get upside down.

New power file

Welds taken back, Seam sealer to go over remaining welds so not worried to much about taking these right back

Underneath the car.

With that done I finished cleaning up the last bit in the rear arch and sprayed it up to keep it good for now. I think it looks really good, one quarter of the bodywork done, probably not the quarter with the most work and still got underneath and the body pan to think about !!!

Before

After

 

Then i moved on to preping the front passenger arch. I cleaned back all the rusty parts so we can see what's what and will be able to get on to cutting it out and making up new parts next week. There were a couple of bits of rust that weren't obvious at first.
Here are the bits of rust that will need repairing on the inner front passenger arch