Finished product

RAT065

Rat no more, resto-mod in all its glory

IMG_9979

During stripping

Parts car

We knew it was a rusty car, parts vehicle supplied.

Blast off

Ready to get the sins revealed

Sin city

Roof already manually stripped

After media blasting

Rusty front

LH FRT SKIRT Before

LH FRT SKIRT AFTER

Common rust on the exterior of the front skirt/ heater channels.

Rusty front

Front valance welded onto a replacement front clip, lots of test fitting

Rear rust

Rear valance and skirts replaced, bumper brackets and quarters also rusty

Chopped out

Just a small pile of left over rust sections replaced

Plenum

Front plenum panel being replaced

Rear rust

Common areas to go on these beetles, we have done countless repairs like this... rust proofed internally also

Epoxy

All panels are stripped by various methods to metal, here the panels are ready for PPG epoxy coating

Smoothing

Getting some modification and smoothing on the guards... shaved indicators too

Engine bay

A hot engine requires a clean engine bay- the rear fire wall was stripped smooth and inner shelves welded in

Clean and sealed

Inner engine bay seam sealed for longevity

Paint prep

Polyester primer stage, blocking back the curve in this sleek bug to-be

Paint stage

Inside painted, outside prepared and ready for the booth

Exterior painted

Body masked up, exterior painted in Nardo Grau

Sunshine

Out in the sun for the first time... lots of work into this bug so it was nice to see it like this!