A bucket load of welding completed on the bug over the weekend, and a ton of strength put back into the shell.
N/S door gaps checked and heater channel welded in:
Front bulkhead and rear cross members completely welded in too.
I’ve a bit of weld tidy up to do around the B pillars then I’ll be onto to fully welding in both floorpans.
Full set of door cards for the Baja finished! (Barnaby helping out as usual).
There’s something just a little bit special about this fabric.
I’ll be starting to tear down the rear seat this week to make a start on reupholstering it soon.
The weather over the last few weeks has finally dried out the track down to the workshop,so I got an evening in on the Baja and took the bus so I could bring the rear seat home to reupholster.
I’ve done a final mockup of the lower framework now with everything pinned in place and tacked together.
I removed the lower framework to weld it all together and have started welding in the heater channels. I ended up cutting out my O/S A pillar repair which I’d previously tacked in as it sat too low for the B pillar to sit nicely on the heater channel. Happy with the fitment of the drivers door, so just need to repeat this on the other side and then get everything welded in properly. This should give some much needed strength back into the baja.
A little preview of the door cards for the baja. Absolutely love how this looks! Went for a bold white top stitch to compliment the colours of the fabric.
Both heater channels cut out, these were completely rotten through:
Heater channels, front bulkhead and rear cross members all bolted to the chassis ready for me to lower the shell back down and align it all before welding it in:
Back on the bug!
I decided to separate the closing panels from the heater channels to get some paint in there. It’s a bit more work but worth doing I think. The joins already had some rust starting to creep in:
Bare metalled and epoxied the lot:
And the front bulkhead while I had the paint gear out:
And all welded back up:
The fabrics for Myrtle the Baja bug arrived this week! Excited to get the upholstery started while I’m still confined to the house.
It’ll be a fair while until the baja is ready to fit these but it’ll be another item checked off the list.
Barnaby the spanner dog stripping a bug door in the garden for me. 2 more to go.
The O/S A pillar bottom wasn’t in a good state either so needed chopping out.
And another autocraft A pillar repair tacked into place for now.
Baja bug O/S A pillar in need of some attention! Looking very crusty once I peeled the surrounding metalwork away.
Bottom 10cm chopped out and a quality autocraft repair panel tacked into place for now.
Door fitment and gaps checked to make sure A pillar repair is in the right place. Looking good.
