Nut and Bolt Restoration - Threads, Taps and Dies

The Objective

Many of the fasteners on the car are dirty, rusted, and corroded; for good reason, being nearly 56 years old. However, they are otherwise still in good shape, so restoring them as best I can is what I've set out to do.

To do it right, I knew I would have to clean out all of the threads on the car and wanted to be able to get everything that I would need in one set, or get as close as possible, without spending a ton of money. Having to purchase separate taps/dies/chasers in the future is not something that I wanted to do.

The Research

Worried about damaging threads, some said a thread chaser was the best thing to get, while many said that chasers were a waste of money. The chaser sets that I found did not have the sizes that I needed, and I felt like I was a lot less likely to use a chaser set again in the future over a tap and die set. Many on The Samba suggested a range of sets from the most expensive Snap-On sets to cheaper Harbor Freight quality sets. I could not find one consensus on what set was the best for what I was doing.

The Result

After a few days of research and a lot of frustration, I finally decided to spend the money and order a tap and die set that included the sizes that I needed and would fit my needs. Already having a small set with M4-M7, I decided on a set with the larger sizes that I did not have:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I42FXI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.harborfreight.com/45-pc-titanium-nitride-coated-alloy-steel-metric-tap-die-set-61410.html

Useful Information/References

Socket size - Head width in mm.
M size - diameter of threads in mm

Reference for Metric socket sizes to M sizes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread

AG-111 - Painting and Touch-Ups

Over the weekend I coated the pan with AG-111. Recommended application was with a brush, but  decided to use my HVLP gun instead, and it worked great. The finish turned out a lot more glossy than I thought it would be, but I'm good with it. Applied a fog coat first (which I had to look up how to do), "spraying at a farther distance making quick paths to slowly cover to full color saturation". I let that tack up and then applied a second "double wet pass" coat. I let that dry for a day and then came back to fill in the seams, and hard-to-get-to areas with a brush afterward. Overall, the process was a lot easier than I thought. I'm pretty happy with the Master Series so far. We'll see how it performs once it's completely cured.

Mastercoat Sealer

Last weekend I sealed the pan with Mastercoat permanent rust sealer. I went this route after much consideration. I wanted to preserve the original soundproofing on the tunnel. Its in great condition and there is no reason to remove it. I considered powder coating to be the best option until I read about the possibilities of cracking and chipping over time, with no great options for repair. Secondly, the entire pan would need to be baked at 300-400 F, which would destroy the original soundproofing that I was trying to save. So I decided to go with Master Series Mastercoat. It's worked well so far. I applied the first coat with foam brushes, recommended by the manufacturer. It took me around two hours to coat the entire thing, so I decided to spray the second coat. The sealer seams to "expand" as it dries, filling in all areas around where I brushed.

Ready for paint, I decided to use AG111, more on that in the next post. Now I am debating whether or not to wait to paint it until I'm ready to paint the front end and axle tubes so that I can paint them all at once. Maybe I'm thinking too much into it.

More Sandblasting, Rust-Proofing and Final Cleanup

On the final leg of sandblasting, I removed the torsion bars and spring plates to get a thorough sandblast and rust-proof in-between. In order to do this, I made the pan level, knocked the spring plates out just enough to pop off of their stops and measured the angle with an angle finder so that I could reinstall them correctly. 16 degrees on both sides!

With these removed, I finished sandblasting the pan. I underestimated how much of a hassle sandblasting this pan myself would be. It took me around two months doing it myself in my free time.  If I were to do it again, I would just drop it off somewhere. Anyway, I ended up doing it in sections, making the realization that I couldn't do the whole thing at one time with the small sandblaster that I had. I carefully rust-proofed it as I went with phosphoric acid.

It's finally completed and rust free. there were several areas where some stubborn undercoating had to be removed by hand, but it wasn't too bad.

Final Cleanup Before Paint

Chassis Disassembly, Sandblasting and More Welding

Removed the front end beam and transmission from the rear end so that the pan could be sandblasted. It was pretty simple for the most part. Removing the transmission was the most challenging: disconnecting the emergency brake cables, spring plates and shift rod.

Slid it out and started blasting. 

Worse than expected.

The Undercoating...The sandblaster cannot penetrate the undercoating on the bottom of the pan, so I am worked on removing it with Gunk, various other degreasers and a needle scaler. It came off slowly, taking too much time. Paint stripper worked pretty well, enabling me to sandblast the rest. This process has also revealed some rust holes in the rear drivers side pan. Right now there are only a few small holes and hopefully not many more will show up. I will patched in a new floor section.

I ordered a new floor section for this area from CIP1, stripped the paint and traced out where it would go, cut it and clamped it into place.

Stitch welded in the new floor section, these butt welding clamps made it really easy.

ZERTIFIKAT!!!

I finally received my Genuine Volkswagen Zertifikat and data sheet for my VW Beetle today. I sent away for it in February, so it took about two to three months. So many details, I was amazed that all of this information about this VW was kept over all these years.

I am so excited that it originally came with white walls from the factory, I love that look. From what I can find, they looked like these:

Welding in the New Pan

I didn't have a welder, I knew I would need one. I decided on a 115v Hobart Handler and it's worked pretty well so far, and luckily, I took a welding class, so I wasn't completely inept. Plug welding looked like the way to go for this. To make sure that I put the plugs in the correct place, I marked where the lip of the tunnel was with marker on the bottom of the pan while it was in place on the rest of the chassis. I drilled holes every 1 inch to 2 inches around the edge of the pan with a step drill bit, making them about 3/16" at the biggest.

The heater vent under the rear seat was attached to the floor on the drivers side and missing on the other side. After some research, I found out that my beetle was one of few that had these. VW had these for a year and a half. Being built in September of '62, it was just three months before they would discontinue this type of vent for the round type, very cool. I was lucky enough to find a replacement vent for the passenger side on the Samba classifieds. I'm starting to realize how rare that find was, as I have not seen any others anywhere since.

I cleaned up the the heater vent on the drivers side removed all the rust and added a sheet metal bracket that I made to the back of it for reinforcement. I did this to the other side too, once I got it in the mail.

I removed the seat belt bracket from the old pan, marked, cut and welded it onto the new pan. I also did this with the battery bolt. I also welded a new battery strap bracket and jack bracket on to the new pan. I was ready to weld it onto the chassis.

Ready to weld it in.

The welds were messy at first, but I got the hang of it eventually, cleaned them off with the grinder and was ready for disassembly and sandblasting.

Old Pan Removal and New Pan Fitting

I removed the old pan on the passenger side with some help of this video by Duckman Cycles and VW Garage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMkahP6TE0A&t=1286s and a sawzall. With the sawzall, it literally only took about 5 minutes...amazing! In the video, the chassis is lifted onto it's side. I was able to hoist the chassis on its side to do this with the bucket of a tractor, a lot easier than trying to lift it. But, unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of it - DAMN IT!

I removed the remains of the pan from the tunnel with an air chisel, just like the video above. I can't believe how easy this turned out to be. Thanks Duckman!

After I got rid of the tar board, it was apparent that the rust damage was worse than I had thought. It had eaten through much of the passenger side pan. Replacing the whole passenger side pan is needed.

I ordered a new passenger side pan from Wolfsburg West, the best available according to many on the Samba. The steel is as thick or thicker than the original. The only issue that I had - when I received it, the front was curled upward. I flattened it out without a problem, but it was kind of odd.

I really wish I would have took pictures of it without the pan, it was quite the accomplishment. But it all turned out well, so far.