Re: daily driver resto...

[Steve Bradley <scscomp@mindspring.com>]

king-of-battle@worldnet.att.net wrote:

> To restore or not to restore, that is NOT the question but rather when
> to restore and in what order?!?!?!?!?  I'm having a delema.  I just
> bought my newest edition to my VW collection this time a '69 fastback.
> This one is definately my favorite(you seem to say that each time, huh).
>
> Being a daily driver, resto is a slow process doing one item at a time.
> I'm reaching the point where I'm not sure what to do next.  Obviously
> everything needs to be resto'd but how involved can you get when its
> your means of transportation?
>
> For instance...you've got a good ding in the body you need to fix, do
> you leave it, fix just it, or fix the entire body?  Another
> example...your door panels are falling apart, do you get new ones, buy
> used ones at the junk yard, or just put up with them?  One more...you
> need some new window rubber, do you just replace them, replace them all,
> or paint the entire car because the window channels need a little
> cleaning and repainting anyway???
>
> I'm sure you get the point.  You can see how one thing always leads to
> another.  In the past I was resto'ing from top to bottom so I just
> jumped in.  Now its a working project.  I just need a little insight
> from others in my situation on how you're handleing it.
>
> charles
> '69 fastbac

I agree that you should first get the car in good mechanical condition if
you are going to be driving it. Second order of business is arresting all
rust. To do this, you need to grind down to clean metal all around the
rusted areas and prime with a good quality 2 part epoxy primer (I use PPG
DP90). This will give you some extra working time before you paint. Epoxy
primer is so tough, it can stay on the car for up to a year or more without
needing to be covered by a top coat.

If you have rusted window channels, remove the glass, do the above, and
replace with a new seal. If the window channels are not rusted and the seals
are OK, leave them as they are.

Once these things are done, the order you perform the rest of the reapirs is
as you like it.

Steve B.