Body work virgin

[DjEep]

Do I have to strip to bare metal to bondo? What is the best way to strip the dents of rust and old paint? Is it hard to remove or replace the deluxe chrome trim. Mine is nice except for one dented, scraped piece on the sliding door. Should I just go buy a book before I tackle this?

[Sluggo]

Definitely buy a book. I am absolutely not a body expert. But I do know that you need to strip it to bare metal to Bondo. Sand paper is the best way to remove rust & paint. Maybe a sanding wheel.

The trim is pretty easy to remove.

Place a very thin screwdriver underneath the trim at either end (being very careful not to scratch the paint) and gently pry it off the clip.

You can then pull it back enough to get a look at where the next clip is.

Pry up, in the same careful way, just under or next to each clip.

Don't pry the clip. Just the trim.

Once the trim is off, most of the clips will come of with a phillips head.

If someone knows a better way, please tell me. This is how I did it and it worked out fine.

[Amskeptic]

Place a very thin screwdriver underneath the trim at either end (being very careful not to scratch the paint) and gently pry it off the clip.

If someone knows a better way, please tell me. This is how I did it and it worked out fine.

A lubricant helps the clips to release the trim without trauma. I use a bondo trowel to pry right at the clip if your trim is being stubborn.
Colin

[DjEep]

Thanks!

[vdubyah73]

If using bondo to repair dents and dings hit the area with a grinder to give the bondo some tooth to hold on to. a couple thin layers to build it up is better than one thick one. If repairing rust grind away the rust and try to repair with metal. 3M makes a steel tape about 2" wide, don't cheap out and use aluminum tape from a hardware store. The 3M stuff should be available at a flaps that stocks body work supplies. I used the tape to repair the windshield area on my Bus. Grind the rust away, use a rust converter, scuff with a Scotch brite pad, rattle can self etching primer, scuff again, apply tape, ( follow directions) scuff again,self etching prime, smooth with bondo. Wherever there was a hole, even pin holes I dinged it with a ballpeen hammer before applying the tape. Did this last winter I'll let you know how it holds up. My Bus has rust belt cancer I'm sure I'll be touching it up every spring cause she's rusting from the inside out. I think the windshield repair is gonna be good for several years though. It's some other areas that I'm concerned about.

Bill

Edit, spelling.

[DjEep]

Thanks Bill! No real holes in Navin but there is a lot of surface rust. Mainly in the dents. So I can Bondo to primer? I was thinking about just grinding out the rust and rattle can priming the whole bus. Then dealing with the bondo one dent at a time. This is mainly because the rains are coming and I can't afford to do all the bodywork at once.
Here is what I am working with... (pic taken when I first got him so he's been scrubbed since then, he was sitting in a parking lot in point reyes for 10 years)

[albumimg]207[/albumimg]

Mainly worried about the rear corners, dent in the sliding door, another one like it just opposite on the drivers side, and the nose where the spare tire used to be.

[vdubyah73]

Go to bare metal with as coarse a sand paper as you can find, 36 or 40 grit. You should really use a self etching primer under the bondo, not cheap hardware store stuff. After bondo is done you can use rustoleum or krylon just remember to paint over the primer with a top coat of the same brand and do a couple of coats to seal it good. If it's gonna be painted with car paint later all the rustoleum or krylon will have to come off. I painted my bus with boat paint and it came out all right. Definitely an amateur job but it looks great from 5 or 10 feet. There's a few pics on Thesamba in my gallery.

Bill

[Amskeptic]

The cheep-cheep way that worked for me was to sand to bare metal, pull dents with little zip screws and vise-grips. sand coarse to smooth off zip screw holes after you remove them. Wash with dishwashing detergent and water. Rinse with hot clear water. When your clean terrycloth rag remains clean when you wipe it, you're ready for bondo. Mix precisely and thoroughly. Couple of thin layers, like Bill mentioned, properly cured before sanding down. It is best to give it as much time as you can afford to let the bondo off-gas completely. Then sand the bondo with correct contour of body panel in your uppermost mind. Don't get lazy. It may take some additional applications to bring surface up. As it contracts over the next YEAR, it will remember exactly where you repaired it unless you successfully brought the surface up. Anyways, let it cure fully before you apply your local FLAPS primer. I used grey because it seemed appropriate under blue paint. Build this up with a couple of dry coats followed by a wet coat. (not too dry or it will look like a textured ceiling)
Sand when fully dry. Smooth smooth smooth is what you're after. I use wet sandpaper and slightly soapy water with lots o'rinsing. After final sand, wash with clear water, dry it and use a tack cloth just before your color coats. I applied four color coats, two dry undercoats followed by a mild wet and then a heavy wet, careful. . . . . . Color sand up the grades from 600>800>1000>1500 then 3M polishing compound and voila! wax 'n yer done.

[OB Bus]

I painted my bus with boat paint and it came out all right. Definitely an amatuer job but it looks great from 5 or 10 feet. There's a few pics on Thesamba in my gallery.

Bill

How did you spray that Interlux paint? That stuff is really thick. You must have had to reduce (thin) the paint...how far did you go? I used the polyurethane deck paint for the pop top and it came out great--but that was put on with a roller and smoothed with a brush.

[vdubyah73]

I painted my bus with boat paint and it came out all right. Definitely an amatuer job but it looks great from 5 or 10 feet. There's a few pics on Thesamba in my gallery.

Bill

How did you spray that Interlux paint? That stuff is really thick. You must have had to reduce (thin) the paint...how far did you go? I used the polyurethane deck paint for the pop top and it came out great--but that was put on with a roller and smoothed with a brush.

Funny that you should ask. There was definitely a learning curve on that one. There is a spraying thinner made for it by Interlux, but not any info that I could find so it was hit or miss. My mistake was I eyballed it so I can't tell you how much. First coat was awful orange peel, hand sand with 300 grit, second coat was runs, hand sand with 300 grit, third coat was some orange peel and a couple of small runs. I left it at that knowing that with a cancer survivor I was gonna be doing touch ups every spring anyway. Thats one reason I chose boat paint over car paint, easy touch ups. I'm giving my '95 Merc to my daughter when she gets her lisence this winter. I'm not a rich man so I'll be driving the bus as a daily driver year round. I think its cheaper to find an old car and bring the drive line as close to brand new as possible. Then you can do all repairs and maintainence yourself. When the New England rust gets to be to much you go find another Bus and start over. You don't sell the rusty Bus, that becomes your parts Bus. Thats my plan and I'm sticking with it. So far this Bus has only cost about $700. I'm lucky theres a guy on the Cape with a shop, only does ac VW's. He only has a few regular customers any more, he won't work on rust buckets. Slowly but surely he's cleaning out his loft and teaching dedicated VW people how to do their own work. Thats how he got me! I've owned a few Bugs and Busses over the years and could do the regular maintainance my self. The buggy in my samba avatar was a Bug when I bought it in, '99. That first winter the rear main seal shattered on a bitter cold morning. I fulled it with oil went to his shop to drop it off to be fixed. He says I'm not gonna do it and walks away from me. I'm standing there in his office flabbegasted and speechless thinking what an ass he is. Then he returns with a seal and says you're gonna do it. It was my turn to learn all the ins and outs of ac VW's, thats where I built my Buggy out of that Bug. It was to rotten behind the half moon vents to keep going with rust repair, so he says build a buggy out of it here this winter. He picks a customer thats dedicated every winter to do a project in his shop.He's got a rebuilt type IV short block for me, for a couple hundred dollars, a set of p&c's all I gotta get is good heads. We're gonna go back to FI when it's built. He has everything I need for short money!


Bill

[gmag69]

Do I have to strip to bare metal to bondo? What is the best way to strip the dents of rust and old paint? Is it hard to remove or replace the deluxe crome trim. Mine is nice except for one dented, scraped piece on the sliding door. Should I just go buy a book before I tackle this?

I'd strip the spot you want to bare metal then bondo. You only want a small amount of bondo no inch thick stuff. The best way to get rid of rust is to sand/media blast the rust. Sandpaper doesn't get into the pits and it'll rust again. If you go the sandpaper route at least get a rust converter or something like that and put it on there after you sand. Then put your bondo on next. I wouldn't use a grinder. It will just cause you more work in the long run and you run the risk of warping the metal. Just my $.02

Geno

[Amskeptic]

You only want a small amount of bondo no inch thick stuff.

I am embarrassed at the amount of bondo I slathered on to the right rear quarter panel at the tail light. There were enough holes on the metal that the bondo got locked in pretty good. Then I bondo the inside wall of the quarter panel cuz now I am hot on bondo as a rust preventative.
I built up layers like sedimentary rock formations. The car is now 6 years hence and it is all looking fine even after bone-jarring driving up rock slopes otherwise known as "the road up th'cem'tary" in WVA. Locking it in to the panels through little holes seems helpful.
Colin

[gmag69]

You only want a small amount of bondo no inch thick stuff.

I am embarrassed at the amount of bondo I slathered on to the right rear quarter panel at the tail light. There were enough holes on the metal that the bondo got locked in pretty good. Then I bondo the inside wall of the quarter panel cuz now I am hot on bondo as a rust preventative.
I built up layers like sedimentary rock formations. The car is now 6 years hence and it is all looking fine even after bone-jarring driving up rock slopes otherwise known as "the road up th'cem'tary" in WVA. Locking it in to the panels through little holes seems helpful.
Colin

I like to lay down tiger hair fiberglass first then put fine putty over it. I had a big hole in my passenger dogleg and it had a part that was rotted and broken in half. I used some aluminum screen for backing then put fiberglass over it. You can't even tell there was a hole there. The doglegs will be replaced anyway so this was a temp fix. Fiberglass is a better base as it doesn't soak up the water like bondo does and the metal won't rust. I'm going to be stripping my Champagne Edition down to the original paint and see what I got. Then I'll be replacing body panels and body work. It should be a fun time.
Geno