Popping your bubble

Well guys I got to vent a little. I had my neighbor come over last night to look at the 70 beetle that I am working on. He is a quote auto body guy. Well he looked over the body and informed me that the beetle was in a wreck on the back left corner and it was repaired badly. The rear driver’s side tail is pushed in and down about an inch. This didn't bother me I asked if it could be fixed he said yep and he had the tool to do it. I said cool and we scheduled a time to give it a try. Now well here is what pissed me off. We began talking about what was involved in fixing the rust damage on the car. Well every time I stated that I would be doing the repairs he shot me down with how much work it will take or listed a tone of high dollar equipment I will need to buy nothing under $500. Then when I told him that I was going to repaint the fenders he told me that Painting a fender or any part of a car required years of experience and that I needed to take baby steps. Well the reason I bought this car was to learn... What am I suppose to learn on MODEL CARS. F That!!! I am not a VW green horn. And I have been welding for years, Hell its part of my job. All I was looking for with him coming up was a little direction on what type seam sealer I need to get. What is the best way to remove the surface rust, and an overall look-over on the car to spot things I didn't with his trained eye. Not to tell me I do not have the talent or skill to fix a little rust hole. Why do some people get off popping your bubbles? Our bubbles are the excitement we get when starting new projects. It is what keeps us going when things get hard. Because without it all project will seem too big to undertake. My plan at this time is to let him help me fix the back corner frame and then do the rest myself or with the help of more positive instruction.

Thanks For Your Time

I feel better now. Ready to jump back into it.

I'm a beginner at body work too, built chevy and ford engines before but no bodywork. We have a '65 Mustang that needs some body work and I too got the dub not only because I love em, but because they don't have to be perfect. I can learn on it before I screw up the mustang that my wife wants to drive.

You are correct, they do not have to be perfect. VWs are one of the few cars that actually look good with some rust. I think they are the perfect vehicle to learn on. What other car can you just unbolt the fender, beat it into submission, shoot it with primer, and slap it back on. VWs are the perfect do-it-yourselfer car.

Start....


Middle...




Finish...


I went to the Paint Supplier and asked more questions than you can imagine, their customers(painters) even made suggestions. Not once did any of them discourage me from painting my Bug. If anything they wanted to see it after and help answer any other questions I might have.

Brush him off and find someone else to do the repairs, sounds like a real "EGO" guy to me. When I played a lot of softball we had guys like that on the team and they were usually the weakest players on the team! The "EGO" didn't make up for their lack of talent!

Ask the dumb question to skip the damn mistake!. As Gary says "Do or Do Not, There is no try!"

Just my .02

Testify my Brothers!
Dump the negative guy- I learned on my current car, and there are areas that were pure rust. Now (14 yrs. later) my 'amateur' rust repair/paint (which is black by the way) STILL looks good! I recently got a nice compliment on that very area of the car, from a friend who has damn good eyeballs
If you ever need a HELPFUL opinion, or have a question, just call me!

My bet is that he only does production work, or insurance work on newer cars. These old VW's don't always live by the those same rules, we have to be creative and thrifty because we're not working on a '69 Camaro or a '57 Chevy or a '63 Corvette. By the time you get the engine, transaxle, brakes, electrical system, and interior sorted out you've got too much wrapped up in the car for an $8k trip to the paint and body shop. I personally like the plans you have to build a daily driver with the Bug, good luck!

Build it and drive by his house every night at 3am with the muffler off!

I have found it is hit and miss with "trade professionals" electricians, plumbers, welders, etc. Some of them want to help you with advice and tricks of the trade, and others think that they are the only people in the universe that can do the job.

You just had one of them, dont loose hope there are plenty of others that want to help.

Thanks Guys. Your info and experience have lifted my spirits. Thanks Again onward and upward I go

Just gut him as he sleeps.

We can find the leakyest VW at our tech day, drive it to his place and leak all over his driveway while he quotes a "professional" paint job on it

VW's don't leak oil, they mark their spot!

Sounds like yours needs training.