Patrick Anthony

Case study 03 of 04

1964 Volkswagen Beetle

My own car, which I am restoring myself from a full strip. That includes patch panels I make from scratch and a rebuild of the engine and transaxle.

Role
Owner; all of the restoration work
Timeline
Started around 2020
Hours
About 300 so far, about 700 more estimated
Key processes
Full strip, sandblasting, patch panel fabrication, welding, engine and transaxle rebuild
Paint (planned)
Cream and red two-tone
Status
In progress
Side profile of the white 1964 Beetle with red wheels, parked on gravel in front of a green industrial building
FIG. 01The Beetle in its old white paint, August 2022

01

Starting point

The car had rust and pitting in the body. The worst damage was at the bottom of a fender, where rust had left the end of the panel mangled (FIG. 04). I decided on a full restoration: strip the car, take the metal back to bare steel, repair it properly and rebuild the mechanical parts.

Front three-quarter view of the white Beetle with round headlights and red wheels on a gravel lot
FIG. 02Front three-quarter view before the strip-down

02

Constraints

  • Parts availability. Some engine and body parts for a 1964 Beetle are hard to find, so I have made a few parts from scratch.
  • One person. I am doing all of the work myself, alongside school. About 300 hours are in, with about 700 more estimated.

03

Process

  1. Step 1

    Strip and sandblast

    I am stripping the car completely and sandblasting the panels to bare metal, so that every bit of rust and old repair is visible. There is no single matched before and after photo of the whole car yet, so the two photos below show the same stage on the fenders.

    Two Beetle front fenders standing on gravel, the left one in old white paint and the right one stripped to bare metal
    FIG. 03Front fenders: old paint (left) and stripped (right), April 2023
    Close view of the bottom of a stripped fender, the end torn and pitted through by rust
    FIG. 04Bottom of a fender after stripping, mangled by rust and pitting

  2. Step 2

    Patch panels made from scratch

    For the fender in FIG. 04, I cut out the damaged steel, made a patch panel from scratch and welded it in. Shaping a patch by hand means matching the curve of the original panel closely enough that the repair disappears under paint.

    A bare-metal body panel on the workbench surrounded by grinders, hammers and cutting discs
    FIG. 05Panel on the bench in bare metal, with the tools used for the repair

  3. Step 3

    Engine and transaxle

    I am rebuilding the engine and the transaxle myself. On a Beetle the engine and transaxle sit together at the rear of the car. Some engine parts are hard to find, so a few of the parts I have made from scratch are for the engine.

  4. Step 4

    Paint

    The car will be painted in a cream and red two-tone.

04

Two cars, two platforms

The Camaro and the Beetle are built in different ways, and that changes how each one is restored.

Comparison of the 1970 Camaro and 1964 Beetle restorations
Aspect 1970 Camaro 1964 Beetle
Structure Unibody with a bolt-on front subframe Separate body bolted to a floor pan with a central backbone tunnel
Layout Front engine, rear-wheel drive Rear engine with a transaxle, rear-wheel drive
Effect on rust repair The body shell carries the load, so floor repairs are structural. The body was braced on a frame bench while the floors were out. The body can come off the pan, so body and pan can be repaired separately.
Parts Every original part rebuilt, down to the bolts Some parts hard to find, so I made a few from scratch
Where My family's shop in Florida, in sessions At home in Newfoundland

05

Result

The restoration is in progress: about 300 hours so far, with about 700 more estimated to finish.

06

What I would do differently

I would start one master parts list at the beginning of the project. Right now I keep several lists in different places, which gets confusing, and parts get lost between them. A single list of every part the car needs would make it easier to track what I have, what I still need to find and what I have to make myself.