The boys have been on spring break this past week, and they came last Wednesday to stay with me. Josh, Wade, and I spent a couple of hours yesterday grinding down the hood, each taking a turn. Here's Wade going at it. Looks like I've got a smear on the camera lens that I need to clean.

Time to do a quick catch up on the project. I've continued to hunt down parts for the car over the past couple months and I have most of the big items now. In January, I found an OG '61 6-wire turn signal in The Netherlands in original Hydrate Green in amazing condition. I didn't really need the signal, but the color was so well preserved, I wanted it to match the other interior pieces to. Doesn't hurt having a spare signal lying around anyhow considering it's a 1 year only part. I've bead blasted the original and posted some pics of each.

I've also blasted and cleaned the door pillar sections which you can see. After the pillar sections were blasted, I found a rust hole near the bottom fender weld nut, so I bought a replacement panel from Wolfsburg West.






During February, I located some original '61 heater channels and an intact luggage tray in Southern California that I had shipped via Greyhound. They are in great original condition except that the vent flange has been cut off. I can use the channels currently attached to the pillar cuts to weld new ones on.

I've also picked up several NOS parts for the steering wheel including bushings, pins, and the horn cancel ring. Additionally, I bought a second steering wheel for a spare that also included one pin and spring. I think the only part left to buy for the steering wheel is a '61 horn ring. That may be a tricky one to find, so I'll keep hunting.

I've also picked up an NOS front apron as well.

The holidays are behind, and 2010 is here. My goal is to have the '61 ready for the summer show schedule, so it's time to get the project rolling again. Last week, I took some of my Christmas cash and bought a stud welder from Harbor Freight to start working out the big dent on the rear driver's side. The tool did great welding the studs onto the bare steel, but the slide hammer that came with it was absolute garbage. It was the roller-wheel type and it was worn out after banging 5 studs. I ended up taking it back and getting a refund. I'm now watching ebay to pick up a package that includes a top quality slide hammer. I'll have to spend double (probably $200) to get a decent one, but it will be worth it. I don't need it immediately so I can be patient. Here's a few pictures of the studs welded on.

Wade had the largest present under the tree on Christmas morning. So big, in fact, that Santa had to leave it NEAR the tree rather than under it. Wade was virtually licking his lips to open that one, and finally the moment came to unwrap the big box that was nearly as tall as him. The paper was ripped off, the box was opened, and what did he find inside??? A VW fender. What?? Is this for real? All that anticipation for a car part?? To add insult to the injury, as he was pulling the fender out of the box to inspect it and show everyone, the sharp metal edge cut his finger open, and began to bleed a little. Surprisingly, he didn't want to spend much time playing with that present. He began to hunt down another almost immediately :)

The boys must have been good this past year as Santa left a few presents for them on Christmas including a couple of parts for their VW. Josh was the first to open his present, and he was curious to find out what was wrapped inside the large box. I think it took a few moments for him to figure out that the big metal thing was an ugly, scraped, greasy used VW rear apron. For some reason, he didn't seem terribly excited. Luckily, the PS3 saved the day. Funny, the apron seemed a lot more interesting to me.

The inside dash has an unusual rust hole just above the glove box door. Not sure why it's only concentrated in this one spot, but it is. I found another guy parting out a '58 beetle that cut this patch piece off for me. Slowly but surely, I'm collecting all the 'bones' necessary to repair the rusted areas of the body. Next on the list - rear fenders, rear apron, front apron and spare tire well. I've almost concluded that I'm going to have to buy aftermarket fenders. I can't find any good originals for the driver's side. I'll continue to be patient and will keep searching, but haven't found any in many months of hunting. If I do buy aftermarket, I'll be buying 2 so they'll match.

I've also found all the parts for the sunroof mechanism. Unfortunately, the header piece I recently picked up is a little beat up and will require some work with the hammer and dolly. Luckily, the damage isn't significant, but will require some patience to duplicate the proper curvature of the roof assembly. All of the sunroof parts will need to be bead blasted and painted or powder coated.