Bug Update: Let's Get it On

Now that the weather's warmer, it's so nice to be able to open the garage door at night and get back to work on the Bug. I was able get a few projects done over the winter, but metal doesn't seem very cooperative when the driveway is covered with snow.

Two weeks ago I was able to wrestle the rusty door off the car.

Char loves to play in "Dad's Bug Car", and she was excited about the new open door policy.

Last week work on the car ground to a halt as I fought with a 103 temperature and the worst sore throat I have experienced as an adult. The pain was so severe that one swallow of water could take my breath away. By the time I felt better, Charlotte got sick. She didn't have my throat troubles (thankfully), but it took four days for Char to shake her fever. Getting sick is a so much harder when you're a parent. It doesn't matter how bad you feel; you have to parent anyway. Then your child gets your cold, and your parenting job gets ever harder. 

Staying home with a sick little girl can be pretty stressful, and I really needed my garage time to help me unwind. Char's bedtime is still around 8:00 PM, and within a half-hour I was out there plugging away. 

I spent two evenings trying to get the door to align with the car's body lines. To the naked eye, the door hinges looked like they were in great shape, but the door would always swing too high or too low. I enlisted Daphne's help, but her ideas met with the same results. It was pretty frustrating. To solve the problem, I cut a square of aluminum out of a SpaghettiOs can, and made a simple door shim that would slightly push the bottom hinge out. That might sound crude, but you can't see the shim, and the door now correctly fill the gaps.

After the door was hung, I swapped door locks so my key would work. I then buffed out the paint with some rubbing compound and finished it off with basic car wax. I think the color match is pretty good, but I'm colorblind.

Back in December I was disappointed that the "new" door's chrome strip had been damaged during transit.

I removed the trim from my old door and used that. It's a cheap fix, and I like that there's still a little piece of the old door on the car.

Once the door's outside was looking better, it was time to move to the inside. The previous owner had punched a hole in the door panel for a junky speaker, the backing board was warped, and the vinyl was torn and loose.

After removing the door handles, I popped off the panel and vacuumed out about a pound of Californian road grit.  Since Beetle doors are basically metal shells with primitive mechanics, I lined the inside of the door with sound deadening material (the silver stuff). Instead of a tinny "click", the door now closes with a satisfying "thunk". I think I'll go ahead and line the passenger door, too.

For now I'm using the original door panel. It isn't perfect, but this panel looks far better than the other one.

Whew. After two decades I finally I get to say "Goodbye" to these rust holes.

And that feels pretty good.