Contact Us Home For Sale Services
Phone: (585) 889-8780
Customer Project
Matt W.'s 1973 Thing gets a full body restoration at the capable hands of the Vintage Auto crew!
5/16/2005
Temporary Storage
The Thing has been moved to dry storage, awaiting the go-ahead for phase 2 of restoration. We'll keep you posted!
5/10/2005
Assembly, Part 3
Assembly is complete, and the body restoration is now finished! All trim has been installed,
and the car has been undercoated for protection.
5/10/2005
Assembly, Part 2
Assembly is underway, and will be complete in the next series.
5/09/2005
Fresh Paint, Day 3 of 3; Assembly, Part 1
Black parts are painted, and assembly has begun!
5/06/2005
Fresh Paint, Day 2 of 3
The rest of the body and interior is sprayed.
5/05/2005
Fresh Paint, Day 1 of 3
Today, the insides of all lids and doors, as well as engine compartment and trunk, got a fresh coat of orange paint.
5/04/2005
Wet Sanding
All surfaces to be painted are carefully wet-sanded to ensure a smooth finish. The car is thoroughly cleaned,
inside and out, and the non-painted areas are masked off. We're now ready for paint!
4/29/2005
Fender Fit
The fenders are installed on the body to ensure proper fit after the Thing is painted.
Any modifications that need to be made are done at this time.
They will be painted seperately. Final bodywork is also done at this time.
4/14/2005
Fender Repair
The original fenders on this Thing had become like a popular breakfast food: Rusted Flakes.
Since we're going fully stock, a set of rust free steel fenders was obtained. After the dents are repaired, they will be primed and painted their original black.
4/04/2005
Matt's Thing is then given a coat of high-build primer to provide a smooth finish.
The vehicle will be ready for wet-sanding after the primer has fully cured. The longer, the better:
Sometimes we leave a body in this state for up to one month. It's an old fashioned process, but the result is
a deep, smooth paint job that doesn't change over time.
3/24/2005
Top quality over-metal primer is applied to all bare metal surfaces, starting with the interior.
(below left): Of course, we always wear proper respirators while painting, right Matt?
The Thing's bumpers are straightened and painted
3/17/2005
Floors, seat rails, a few more patches... and now we're off to the paint & body department.
3/11/2005
The body is now structurally sound again, and ready for floors!
Below: New left and right rocker sections, fabricated in-house from 20 gauge steel
Quality First: Because VW Things are prone to rust in this area,
we applied rust resistant, chip-proof coating to these rocker panels, inside and out!
Floor pans were also matched to rockers, and captive nuts for body bolts welded in.
Below: Left side rocker, BEFORE...
Below: Outer rocker panels are also in place, ready for detail metalwork
3/8/2005
More structural repairs - The floor pans are here!
2/25/05
Beginning metalwork - Structural and Cosmetic reconstruction / fabrication
2/23/05
The body gets chemically stripped
2/11/05
Before: Disassembly is now complete, and we're ready for metal repairs
