OUR CARS – TORRENS
WITH AN EYE FOR A BARGAIN, GLENN TORRENS MAKES A WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE
MORE BEETLEMANIA FROM GT
THERE ARE two VW Beetle projects in my backyard: One has a rusty left sill, the other a rusty right. So, when my mate Deano offered me a free Bug body after he’d taken it from its chassis to build a 70s-style beach buggy, I jumped at the chance to grab a pair of good sills for my two projects.
An hour’s work with an electric reciprocating saw by my mate Dodty resulted in the two sills sitting on my driveway and the remainder of the 1970s Bug hacked down to bite-sized chunks ready for scrapping. There’s a queue of people I know who want cut-out body sections to help restore their Bugs but unfortunately, there was
nothing more than the sills that were useful from this old body.
These sills weren’t pristine, but they were much better than the swiss-cheese ones of my two project cars. Being factory-made VW, these chopped-from-a-real-car components will be betterfitting (and cheaper) than the sometimes-dodgy aftermarket replacements.
My next task was to give the sills a good clean. I pressurewashed them, inside and out, using truck-wash detergent. As with many cars, decades of dust and muck congealing within body cavities – and then soaking-up moisture after rain – is a major cause of rust.
Finally, I removed the remnant pieces of bodyshell using a grinder and a spotweld drill. This left the sills naked, as they were 45 years ago before a brand-new Bug body was built onto them. Both sills had some rust – one a little more than expected – but by welding-in patches they will be easily repaired.
With just a few hours’ effort, these VW sills have been hacked and stacked ready for installation into my cars. I’ve saved a wad of cash and being ex-factory, these ones are guaranteed to fit.
Win-win!