I have recently been very busy restoring my 21 window deluxe microbus over the past month. I decided to write a technical article on some ways to save you some time while restoring your vintage volkswagen.
When I do a restoration, I do it right. Ground up. Many people say that doing a ground up restoration just takes too much time. I agree that a ground up restoration takes time, but the look and value of the car is
greatly increased when someone gets under the car and it is nearly spotless. It does take some time to get all of that grit and grime out of the inner fenderwells, and all of the caked up grease between your brake drums and spindles.
I have found so me tricks to making this project go at a much faster rate. The first thing that I have found is to use a grinder. I know what you are thinking, a grinder? Grind the metal away? That is not what I am talking about. You can use a grinder but you want t o use a special little accessory. I use a wire brush end on the edge of my grinder. You can find these at your local parts store, or even at harbor freight tools. In a matter of 5 minutes, I can totally clean a whole inner fenderwell of my bus. Many of you think that grinders are expensive, well I have news for you, right now at harbor fright, grinders are on sale for 17.99.
THE GRINDER ( CHICAGO ELECTRIC ) 17.99
www.harborfreight.com
Using the grinder and a wire brush wheel, the 5 minute job of cleaning an inner fenderwell is great. In an hour you can have all of the inner fenderwells clean, and ready for undercoating.
SAFETY
Make sure you wear protective goggles when using this. If you dont you will have chunks flying in your eyes. You should also wear a long sleeved shirt and some jeans.
Next, I will go into what kind of undercoating I used, and what kind of undercoating not to use. Also I will tell you some prep tips before you use the undercoating.
Undercoating
Before you attempt to spray the underneath of your inner fenderwells with undercoating, you should prepare the surface as good as possible. This is no mystery to anyone who has painted before. Get LACQUER THINNER. Get a rag and wipe the whole inner fenderwell with this. Make sure the inner fenderwell is as clean as possible. Any Dirt or grease left behind will cause your undercoating to last 1/20th of the time it should.
I recommend one undercoating only, the undercoating made by PERMATEX® it seems to be the best when it comes to not wasting it. The price is very reasonable, about 3.50 per can. I did 3 inner fenderwells with one can. It sure looked great when it was done. You can find this stuff at your local paintmarts, grand auto, or kragen. |  PERMATEX |
SPRAYING THE UNDERCOATING
Make sure you shake the can extremely well before applying this stuff. If you dont it will come out in chunks. Yes i am serious. Just spray it the best you can. Come out there the next day once its dry and hit all of the little spots you missed. Doing these little steps really makes your vw look good. Not only that but you can brag to your buddies..."crawl under there and check this out!"
OTHER USES FOR THE GRINDER & BRUSH WHEEL
You will not believe how well this will also clean your frame. On my type2, I cleaned the frame rails in a matter of 10 minutes. It brought back the orignal paint and luster. You can do this to the whole frame as well, and it is sure a lot faster than sanding it down. Just be careful though, the grinder is powerful and if you are messing around the grinder might come back and bite you in the face. This could really tear you up.
REMEMBER
Once you clean your fenderwells this way once, you will do it this way every time. You will be telling me thank you for the countless hours of not having to use a wire brush and some sandpaper. GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!
Brock Eastman
brock@vwmagazine.com
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