Lately I have been working myself to death, over 12 hours or more at the shop everyday, working on several projects all at once, it is nutty.
Ok, this is what I have in store for you this week;
1. 1954 Build-A-BuG project final poses!
2. We are having a MOOOOVING sale!
3. Powder Coat or not to Powder Coat? My 2 Cents
1954 Ragtop Build-A-BuG project final poses!
Well two years later and she is finally done, well just about, still have to drive her and break her in some more before we let her go. This car was a true labor of love, many many hours of body work, aligning, realigning, you name it. She was a tough one, but in the end we are so very proud of her. This will be going to an awesome guy Mike H. from NV. Mike gave me a shout a little over two years ago wanting this very car.
I shot a bunch of final pose photos and video. Video should be out next week, but you can catch the pics now RIGHT HERE. This lil bad boy will be getting the trophies very soon.
We are having a MOOOOVING sale!
A few months ago I told you we are moving, moving into a building right next to us in the same complex. This building will be a much better setup for us. So…we do not want to take everything with us to that shop, we want to have a moving sale. I have made the decision that I do not want to be storing parts, if I need that part I will find it. I am even trying to unload three beetle projects, we are so busy to start off with this year that we will not be getting to these cars anytime soon.
We have hoods, decklids, trannys, motors, and many other parts that we need to sell before the move.
We have the two bugs, a ’63, and a ’54 oval window. The the 63 bug we are looking for 1k and the ’54 5k. Please call me if anyone is interested 845.290.9900.
Many people ask me if I ever powdercoat my chassies to my beetles. I have never done it, I have seen the work on many bugs, but I still have not plunked the money down to do it. No customer of mine has asked for it either. We are powder coating engine tins right now for a 36hp motor, and it is about 500 bucks, (which includes sand blasting) not cheap. A can of high heat engine paint gloss black will cost ya 5 bucks, practically the same results in appearance.
Powder coating is pretty much scratch and chip resistant and lasts a real long time, there are many benefits to it. But when it comes to my chassis, I like to paint the pans with a good “Rust Preventative” paint like POR-15. You can probably get away with a pint of paint to do your pans in and out. A quart is about 50 bucks or so, a pint is 31.50. You can check it out on www.POR15.com
Once you paint the pans with this stuff, the car will out last you most likely. When you have a smooth clean metal surface (which is the best to paint on) it looks awesome. In order to get a smooth clean surface, you would either have to sand it down, wire brush it, or have it sand blasted. The product comes in various colors, black gloss, semi gloss, gray, clear, and silver. I love the gloss black although originally the VW pans would have been semi gloss from the factory.
This latest ’64 project we have had the front end beams, axles and such sand blasted clean. To make your front end show worthy, this is the way to go, just make sure all the sand is then blown off clean, you do not want any reminance anywhere. Later, we just paint the surface of the beams with a Rustoleum rust proof paint. Again, powder coating has been popular recently on these areas as well.
You can google “the benefits of powder coating” and there will be a list of things you will find.
Take a peek at the 1964 project we are working on now, we painted the pans with POR-15 and spray painted the beams and axles, it looks fantastic. I will make note that it is prime time to do this when the body is off the chassis and you have access to everything.
So my 2 cents, I think it is a lil overrated to powder coat the chassis, small stuff is ok. Sand blasting would be recommended prior to powder coating to get the best results, even when it comes to painting. Keep in mind, it is not cheap to do unless you do it yourself, Eastwood sells kits to do it if you like, but I would leave it to a pro.
Until then!
Chris Vallone
Last Updated: March 18th, 2012
