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Body work

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• READ THE BENTLEY or HAYNES MANUAL FIRST!

• READ ALL OF  THIS PROCEDURE SEVERAL TIMES SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND IT.  DO NOT PERFORM THE PROCEDURE OUT OF ORDER.  THIS WILL RESULT IN DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY.

• Read our Safety page too.

Body work can be a pain but also a lot of fun to do.

First, you must determine what must be done and what you can afford.  Body work done by a body shop can get very expensive.  Some types of body work can be done by almost anyone given the tools, the time, and a little reading. 

The Tools, you ask?  A body hammer, sandpaper, an orbital sander (a real time saver), a sanding block, body shaping tools.  This is a very short list. 

There some things like a body or frame straightener (cost is from $5000 to $35,000), Equipment to do "leading"  (only about 20 people in the entire USA can do this very well), and Welding equipment.  All of which you should contact an auto body shop to have done, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE any of those tools without having the experience in using them or the training.  These tools can seriously injure or kill if used improperly.

Time.  It takes a tremendous amount of time to do good body work and to get the right shape on the body.  I could train a monkey to do body work, but it would not be shaped or done right, and would look like the vehicle had been in a tornado or a tidal wave.

Knowledge.  This can be gained by reading the Bentley manuals, an auto body repair manual by Haynes, or from a of a number of sources.  You can also ask someone that does body work for tips on what to do.  Usually they will tell you.

Something else you should ask yourself, do I want to restore or to customize.  That is really up to you. BUT Our feeling is restoration is the better route with limited customizing.  If your VW has been wrecked from the front or rear, then one option is to Baja it.  We go into Baja Bugs on our Baja Page.  But if your VW is just has dings and dents from the urban battlefield called life, then restoring is the best thing to do.

For information on Customizing go to our Customizing page.

VW's are meant to be inexpensive to drive and own.  Why would you then want to make it more expensive to drive than a Ferrari? I guess you can.  But what's the point.  If you want a status symbol, buy a Lexus or a Mercedes Benz.  If you want economy, leave your VW the way it left the factory.

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