Looking great Dave. Thanks for sharing.


Jason

You are an inspiration.


WWDD


When I was considering buying my Super beetle I thought...…… What Would Dave Do...…….. try something new...….. yup!!


Ryan W31.

Thanks guys! Variety is the spice of life, Ryan! :headbang:

Glad you are all enjoying the progress. Can’t wait for next week to crawl over, drool on, and fondle up the real deal!:naughty:

I’ll probably need a a week to recover from sensory overload!:headbang:

Cheers
Dave

Incredible! Looks great!

Thank you! I appreciate the comments and encouragement! Starting on the cowl panel and left front fender. Getting better at forming. More to come...

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Dave, if the "primer" you are using is an epoxy, they are usually pliable for 3-4 days after application. You could still run a panel thru the wheel to smooth it out and not affect the paint adherence.
I use this product... https://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/epoxy-primer


This stuff is wonderful and could make Stevie Wonder look like a pro. I'm still at beginner level with painting and I can apply this to look good.

72-120 HOUR pot life in a sealed container. Can be reduced as a sealer only, although I don't do that.
Self leveling, as long as I don't apply to TOO thick.

7 DAY overcoat for seam sealer and color coats without sanding...

Yeah, the only product I use anymore for bare metal sealing/priming.


1 more thing about SPI, if you have ANY problems or questions about the products they sell, the owner, Barry, will answer his phone damn near 24/7 and walk you thru a solution... seriously. Where else would you get personal service like that ??

Thanks Mitch. Not worried about paint adhesion. You don't roll panels primed since it's the delicate wheels you're worried about, not the primer. I stick with DP. Been using it since I started painting in '05 and hasn't let me down yet!:biggthumpup:

Cheers
Dave

not sure if you saw this video, but kind of interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fDzNIBYkwU

..... But of course. I watch it daily and is playing on a continuos loop in the shop!:burnout:

Cheers
Dave

Fender follies are fortuitous! :hmmm: Driver's side is formed, and while neither fender is attached to the fascia yet, the look is there!:biggthumpup: The grilles coming back from the printer created a lot of extra work cutting and bending the metal to tighten up the gaps. No final body work done yet, but it's close right now that I can stop and move on to the rear section now.
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I spend hours looking at the photos I took of a 507 being restored in the Philly area last week and it's these small details that are just invaluable to getting this shape as close as I can to the real deal. But like with everything, you walk away, come back the next day and say, "Well that's not right, Jackson! What were you thinking? Move this to there and that'll do it!":grin::rolleyes2: But that's the fun part... And the frustrating part... And the "why am I into this hobby in the first place?" part. :biggthumpup:

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Trunk lock panel is back from the printer as well and the detail is amazing. Dash gauge pod is next.

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I'm halfway tempted to send these parts out to be sand casted so they are metal then get them chrome plated. We'll see. Have to find a caster that won't spin me around with months of wait time! Get it? Caster? Spin? I know.... Awful.:tongue:

Time to go beat more metal into submission on the back half now. Wish me luck!:flag:

Cheers
Dave

Whoops! Here's the fender pic!
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And one may be thinking, "How in the heck is this guy going to mount all these panels together?":hmmm: The plan is to build a small buck for the front end which will allow me to form the fender edges by the door, then I'll be able to weld up the front as one piece like the factory did. That of course can't really happen until I build the buck and get the inner structure fabricated up. Yes, none of this makes sense, but fear not! It doesn't to me either!:thumbsdown:

Cheers
Dave

That is impressive!

It's looking good Dave. I was replacing the fuel line on my aluminum 1958 Scarab replica yesterday and when you look underneath an aluminum car, you see it looks like a jigsaw puzzle. The top looks beautiful, but the bottom shows all the work that goes into putting the pieces together.

Thanks, Guys! It’s true, Tim. Many parts in some areas are just welded up cheese slices that are smoothed over on top. The 507 was no different. But since I have so much time on my hands and nothing else to do, I’m going to try and smooth out most everything on the underside just to be aesthetically pleasing where it might be seen somehow.

Cheers
Dave

Super cool! Looks great Dave!

What would happen if I dropped off a 1973 Super Beetle at your place?


I am definitely going to visit you one day and learn the Jedi methods of absolute motivation!!!!!


Ryan W31

You have nothing to learn other than what you already know, Ryan!:headbang: Motivation comes from this site, our group, and personal pride in showing one’s accomplishments for others to enjoy and help enhance learning for all.

Man…..that’s some deep thoughts right there. I might write a motivational book for us car restoration people.:cool2::no:

Come on down! I’ll learn ya!:3gears:

Cheers
Dave

Ha! I set myself up for that one, and I realized that after I typed it!:haha:

So moving onto the back end with fresh measurements from my visit. I was only about a half inch off on my initial tail panel layout with regards to taillight placement. I'd say that's pretty good seeing how all my measurements are based off a 1/18th scale model and a ruler. The thing is, these were all built by hand so no two are identical, but the placement of the tail lights is based off a buck so that distance is relatively similar among all the cars. Still, I wanted to make sure things up. The lights are tilted a little and follow a body relief line and also follow the contour of the panel. So lots of measurements before I start hammering panels.

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After an exhaustive 2yr casual search, I finally found the wheels I've been looking for! The factory wheels are 16x4.5 and the tires are 16x6.0. I found the correct Michelin X R185 tires, but the wheels always escaped me. There were there styles of wheels that I've seen on 507s other than the show car which had full caps but never offered: 10 hole steel, 4 slot steel, and Rudge knock off. I wanted the 10 hole style and these are just about as identical as I could get. They're Jeep wheels (M151 Mutt), 16x4.5, and 10 hole with a convex style center section. Woohoo!:headbang: I'll modify the holes a tad too mimic the gumdrop shape of the 507s a little better, but (enter Survivor's song) the search is over! Man, Google must think I'm nuts with my searches..."10 hole Steelie....Steel wheel 16".... Factory 16x4.5 steel... Big Boobed Brunette... Oh, wait, how did that get in there?!:scholar::hmmm:

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Anywho....BMW butt to follow!:headbang:

Cheers
Dave

I’m trying to figure out when you have time to go to the gym or go golfing? Ha!
Great work and very impressive… again!
Bary

Thanks Bary. Good news is I stink at golf, and it snowed here today but before that happened I got my side garage bay done on my mini-MCACN workshop! Yes, SuperDave's Vintage Coachworks, Restoration, Fabrication, Pet Rescue, Barn Builders and Home Remodeling, Inc., is almost ready for business!
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So last couple weeks I spent on the rear. More fun things on the front, but the rear isn't without it's charm!:biggthumpup: As you can see by the initial tape measurements, everything needed to be equal on both sides. I did this on the front but have to do it again once I connect the fenders to the fascia and cowl. Like my stock buying motto of buy high and sell low, I measure once and cut twice!:bs: I'm getting the hang of panel forming so I think the next body I make out of Aluminum will be way better. We'll see. I hope my buck stands up to the abuse. Oh and speaking of that, two crucial errors on my initial buck sculpture: trunk relief line and lower rear quarters/tail panel transition wasn't correct. But that's the advantage of visiting the real deal and getting measurements! Easy fixes and the buck is more accurate as a result.

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All the welds we're completed then ground smooth. I used USC's All Metal to seal up the welds. I use this mainly anywhere lead would have been originally used. Works great! Final body work to follow and one will note that the rear quarters aren't complete yet. No wheel lip or lower edge. If I did that I couldn't remove the entire section as it would be locked on the buck. That's why I didn't join the fenders to the fascia.

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So right now, the only panels left are the cowl (just need to make a new one... That one on there was made by a third grader!:eek2:), doors, hood and trunk. I want to wait until I mount the body on the frame before I start making those parts. The trunk and hood need frames and the door skins need an inner structure so I'll wait on those for now. Up next will be priming, then I'll start into the frame! Woohoo! Disaster is sure to entertain all!

Drivetrain:. Update to follow on this, but after several meetings with higher ends builders, I'm leaning on BMW V8 power to keep it all BMW.

More to come ...

Cheers
Dave

I printed a couple parts recently, one is posted in the previous post and that's the trunk bezel. The other is the dash gauge pod. The dash itself is a fiberglass replica molded of a real dash, now with the gauge pod, I've got the entire dash. The steering wheel is being printed as we speak!

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Really impressed with the technology. Amazing stuff! Now, if I could just print another me!!

Cheers
Dave

Wow, that's amazing. The welds almost disappear.

So in the future you could print out a 507?

I want one!!

Ryan W31

Very very cool Super Dave!:headbang:

Oh, I’m sure someone has already done that, Ryan. And truth be known, for movie sets, entire cars have been laser zapped out of foam for background props!:eek2:

But I can tell you based on what I’ve paid so far in parts printing, making a whole car would be beyond cost effective!:no::no::no:

Plus, my thread would only be two pages long and the car would be done. I mean…where’s the fun in that?!:hmmm:

Cheers
Dave

You can't be in Texas with all that snow, it's only warm and sunny here.

Some major steps forward! I built a frame to hold the front end off of the body buck. This allowed me to weld the fenders to the fascia. Now I can finish the gutters and fender edges.

Rear quarters are all primed along with some install bodywork on the front end. I spent an hour staring at the front not liking one turn signal. It was facing down along with being canted to the side a bit. So I hacked that out, recessed it, then rewelded it up. I'm very happy with the syma...symmetric...simetric.....same sidededness between left and right now.:grin:

The front and side grilles head to the chrome plate guy tomorrow in Massachusetts. Can't wait to get them back! I welded up a frame with studs for mounting, then sat that in epoxy followed by epoxy putty on top of that. It bolts right up and won't cause any issues once it's all fastened in place.

So what's next? Frame time!! I can't finished the edges of the rear until it's all mounted on the frame.

More to come...

Cheers:beers:
Dave

More of the grilles.

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One day!!:headbang:
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Cheers
Dave

Technical question Dave: was the body buck you made, the exact size of the original car or slightly undersized to accomodate the thickness of the metal panels you're overlaying on top of it? Just curious.

Hell, just your woodworking skills alone, amaze me.

I agree, this is fun to watch. Thank you for posting and keeping us up to date, Dave.

Thanks guys! I hope you’re enjoying the progress. If it ever gets boring I’ll stop.:frown:

Steve, the buck is true to size. I didn’t reduce anything and with the metal being 20ga, the thickness of that is probably pretty insignificant when compared to a real one side by side. All my measurements off the real thing are pretty close, so I think it’s going to be accurate enough.:scholar:

I have to redo the steering on my Father-in-Law’s 29 T-bucket next week, so between that and the 62 Vette I’m doing for that friend’s coworker’s widow, I’m short on time for running to the metal supply place to get the steel for the frame! Oh, and then there’s the job thing….:thumbsdown:

Cheers :beers:
Dave

Saw this come through the interweb and thought it was interesting, looking at the sales history I was surprised to see how many have sold.

https://www.goodingco.com/lot/1959-bmw-507-series-ii-1/

Your abilities never cease to amaze me. Happy birthday btw.

I know that car, Jake. The sister to it is the one I visited in Philly to get measurements. Same owner, sold at Hershey, now the new owner wants to flip it.

Thanks, Darrell! Good to see you here!

Cheers
Dave

Greetings my fellow Yenkonians!! Well, let’s see. It’s been a little while with updates so I figure I better check in before I get banned! The 62 Vette is back with the owner and now I’ve got my parent’s in-law suite being built in the unused RV space so they can reside with us yet keep their independence. But that’s sort of like the grandfather’s paradox. If they’re my parents then how can it be called an in-law suite?:confused2: It’s things like this that keep me up at night.

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I’ve made some progress on the 507 and will continue to do so with more parts comin’ in HOT over the next few weeks. I was thinking of calling a Zoom meeting to esplain’ all this but then I realized that nobody would attend and I really don’t know how to use that thing anyway. So here we are! :smirk:

Up next is the frame and how, who, when was this going to be made were questions that were keeping me awake in addition to the aforementione “my parent’s in-law suite” paradox. Anywho, I chatted with Shaun Price last year about building my own frame since he’s a pretty knowledgeable guy and wanted a professional opinion. The conversation went down something like this:

Shaun: [rrrring…rrrring…rrr} “Hello”
Me: “Hey Shaun, this is Dave, A12Pilot off Yenko.net, Phil Woj’s friend, Met you several times at MCACN, I unveiled a Super Bee a few years ago, We chatted about my 507 build, I’m building a 507 and…”
Shaun: “Yeah, I know Dave. You don’t have to explain who you are every time we chat. How are you?”
Me: “Great! Listen, I want to build my frame for the 507. Is this a good idea?”
Shaun: “Do you own a militudinal frame table, triangulated engineering calipers, laser levels, gravity compensator and refractericator along with indigimous protractors that measure in bajillionmeters? :scholar: Because that’s the precision you’ll need otherwise you’re going to go down the road looking like you were broadsided by a Freightliner. Actually fairly easy to do.”
Me: “I see. Nice talking with you Shaun!”
Shaun: “You too Dan. And by the way, please know there’s a time zone difference between Texas and Arizona. It’s 5:30 in the morning!!!!” [click}

So with that I contacted Art Morrison to discuss the frame. I’m not sure what happened during the chat since I woke up in the hospital after collapsing due to severe heart palpitations. :dunno: I’ve befriended several people due to this car and two of them are coachbuilders from way back. One has restored several and one has scanned every part to the 507. Both said it’s an easy frame and to just go for it. And Shaun was very supportive too. That whole dialog was just to poke fun at myself since it’s so easy to do. Well, there was some truth to that. The conversation with Art Morrison while very educational, was eye opening!

So what’s one to do when building a car from nothing? Why, build the frame too, that’s what! Why not? The biggest consideration with this was the fact that if something got goofed up on their end on my end with measurements, then I’m stuck with what I bought. Not so if I do it myself. I can modify as I go along and I figured this would be the best option.

My goal was to mimic the real 507’s frame with a few tweaks over original. The main rails on the side are 3”x6” followed by 2”x4” rails up front and in the rear. There are three 4” round crossmembers along with a 2”x4” frame that composes the door jambs and firewall/dash support. The frame will be very stout. I have almost 500 photos of a 507 in bare metal and after hours/day/months/years studying I can say I’m ultimately familiar with how the original is designed. Mine is eerily similar and will be just as rigid. It’s a pretty basic box frame from the factory with a bunch of straight pieces welded up. Crude but effective. Just like me!!!!

So here we are all laid out. Everything is cut to shape right now and nothing is welded yet. When I do start to weld it will be from the front backwards. The rear suspension is a Ford 9” sporting a triangulated 4-Bar with coil overs. The front will be a Mustang II with a modified steering set up since I really don’t like that steering rack and pinion look. But we’ll see how that all goes.

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That’s the long awaited update! See? You thought this thread was dead but it’s only getting a much awaited update instead!:headbang: Next up, we’ll discuss things like “How did you figure track width?”, and “What time is the recycle guy coming to haul this colossal mistake away?”

Cheers
Dave

Wow

----What Jake said!!!!!!......Bill S

Your shop is way to clean. Do you have a separate room where you cut steel, grind, buff, etc.?

LOL, I can hear Shaun saying all of that!! :biggthumpup: