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Since the inside of the Baja had a thick red coat of crazed lacquer paint and a rusty cage, I was just going to paint the doors the color of the car and rattle can the interior and trunk in semi gloss black. Today I decided to sandblast the red lacquer. Since the blaster was out I decided to to also clean up the inner fenders. I've used 300lbs of sand so far.

I ran out of sand today. I have used 600 lbs so far and it seems another 300-400 will finish the job. I decided to cut open the right inner body to see the extent of the rust damage from someone filling the body cavity below the hood hinge full to the top of expanding foam. Its not pretty. Now I have access to sandblast the inside of the fender and heat the frozen lower door hinge screws.



Note the rust all the way up to where the foam was. The four white spots are holes. NEVER use foam on your VW!

i doubt i'll ever get the chance to sandblast, but it would be pretty useful anyway. i probably have some rust like that due to the foam in my car...but i'm skillfully pretending its not there.

I needed to see how ruined the lower door hinge support was. I already removed the VW factory installed foam. I had to patch one side.

Nice work.

For your blasting.. get a large trash can.. a large and new tarp and an old screen window..

You can sift and reuse it.

Tim

I have a twenty year old sifting screen. Unfortunately the tarp was over the Baja. We had a little rain yesterday. North of Flagstaff they got 11" of snow. Some Minnesota weather must have gone south for the spring. I still was able to recycle quite a bit of the sand.

Ok to fund my future projects I am offer the members of STF these hidden treasures that were only rediscovered when I cut out the inner fender. These priceless collectables rescued from the VWs bowels, not seen in many years these artifacts are now availiable to the public. Bid now the auction ends soon.

Photobucket error - do you need help with a hosting spot - can help as I own a server.

T.

MN
Thank you for the kind offer but Photobucket appears to be functioning. Anyways more or the rain that escaped from Minnesota rained on my Baja as I took a break yesterday afternoon. I will gladly give you the "treasures" if you could keep your rain on a leash.

MN
I thought you were refering to the "treasures" being the error. But after my last post the photo that was just there as I wrote a reply dissapeared. I did take three pictures and deleted two on Photobucket maybe that was the problem. If that is not it I will take you up on the offer. Anyways the treasures go in the scrap pile. Scrap steel is $250 a ton this week.

Wow.. gas is also $250 this week.. wondering if they'd trade

I started filling holes in the dash last week. These are the patterns for the patches. Spend time making the metal patches fit as its a lot easier to weld and metal finish. I trace onto the steel and cut on the outside of the pencil line and finish with a file to fit. If you grind the welds under the hood it almost looks virgin. I can not stand square patches welded behind the dash and filled with bondo. This may help someone's first attempt to smooth thier dash.



Note there is no light passing through. I filed the edges of the patch to hightlight the fit.

I leave the hole to the right of the ash tray to mount a stock headlight switch to run the off road lights.


If I had used .023 instead of .030 wire there would be a lot less grinding. I like the 80 grit flap disc to dress the welds the metal does not get as hot and the finish is much nicer. I did not have any left so out came the 4" grinder with a solid grinding wheel. Its kind of ugly but the rest of the Baja has hit everything but the lottery.


Weld a little at a time. Keep a damp rag handy to cool the metal. Just cool enough to much cooling will warp the metal the other way.

Note the file marks showing the high and low spots. The lows are a 1/32" or less deep. After the welds get sandblasted it will be ready for a skim coat of bondo. I have had a friend tig weld patches before. Much less metal finishing is needed and bondo is not needed.


Some one went crazy with a drill mounting stuff. There is even a hole in the defroster drain cavity.


I am punting untill Tuesday to finish the last 5 holes.

Thanks for the post.

Some nut ball went all gonzo with the self-tapping screws on my upcoming baja.

Man I forgot how many hoes can be in a car.

I found a little more ambition today and filled in the defroster vents and made my a pillar patch. I used this section of wooden beam and a few hand tools to make the patch. The patch is donated from a 77 Chevy truck hood. Since its under the carpet it will get plug welded into place. The cavity is fully sand blasted and will get a coat of weld through primer
and Por 15. It should be good for a few more years.






The welds got a little smaller when I switched to .023 wire today.

When doing body work .. it's always smart to start wiht .023 wire .. then change your setting to mate..

Structural steel I always start the other end (.035)

Nice work and thanks for the update.