So, it's mighty quiet on the ol' Build thread right now... and it's been especially quiet on my end for quite some time.  So, here's a little narrative to start us out:

Finally got space to start cranking on the bus at home, and this little guy wandered across my path...

The story behind the pan is it's my old '67 Beetle.  The red one, some of you may remember me cruising around in that old pile many years ago... then, due to the rot, I had Baja'd it, and rolled it that way for a year or so... then fixed the structural rot, and sold it to a buddy.  Then while it was waiting to be sold after he had decided he had too many projects, vandals struck, and decided to go bowling down the steep hill behind my work... with large tires and wheels.  The end result was a car that still needed a lot of repair to the rot, only now with what amounted to a battered passenger side... I honestly didn't know what to do, so it sat "For sale" for some time.  I was so disgusted over the whole deal, I just stared at it nearly everyday as the mildew grew darker on the shell...

Then this little guy comes along.  

Ever since my first Manx (yes, it did appear to be an honest to goodness Manx 2), which I sold in a moment of insanity as I had 12,000 other projects at the time, and couldn't devote the time, or space, I have had a strange desire to have another.

I saw the ad on the Samba, and called, but it had already changed hands the night before... I was 12 hours too late.  Then, I am talking with Nick, and he says, "you know who bought that thing, don't you??"... I did... no  sooner had Nick left my house, I was on the phone, and by the next morning, a price had been hammered out, and arrangements had been made to have this guy brought up from Atlanta.

All I know is that it is a very good Manx-type body clone.  It has the battery hole, and the spare tire well behind the driver's side seat.  It still wore it's original factory gorgeous RED gel coat, and sported some rather nicely hand done pin striping courtesy of "The Mad Striper" in Atlanta, who signed it "1969" under his name.  It is bumped, scuffed, scratches here and there, but mostly just oxidized...  No cracks, damage to the structure of the body, and  it has never been drilled for headlights, wipers, or to be put on a pan.  Evidently, it was bought, striped in 1969, and stored in a carport for the last 46 years... waiting on me.  The schedule I keep, I'd say it couldn't have been more perfect timing. Unfortunately, the pan was scrapped by the time the body was rescued, but, remember the beat up, rusted out shell I told you about???  Now you get the picture...

This will be a straight up retro build.  White stock steering wheel, red body, steel wheels.  No piles of chrome, no thumping sound system, no 22" Rims... Just old school cool.  

Being a lover of the patina, I have no desire to paint the shell.. simply buff out the gel coat, and wax it... leavving the scuffs and scratches as they are... And the parts are already coming for it.  I have waited nearly 15 years for the right replacement, and I think I have found it.  Just a little teaser pic:

Compared to the rather sizable pile of steel I have waiting on my Westy, this seemed kinda anti-climatic when I unpacked it...

Apparently, Travis...  The awesomeness of my new whip has rendered you speechless.... lol.

9:15 a.m. on a Sunday... time to make some noise.  Hope everybody around here is already awake. 

Well, that escalated quickly. 

After about 5 hours of work, this is what I was left with...

Still  have a little cleaning up to do around the front frame tunnel so I can weld the new frame head on.  Once that and the front cross-member are on and level / square / correct, then I can shorten the spine prior to shortening and installing the floor pans.  In between time at work, I have started to tear down the rear axles and transaxle assembly.  I can't remember every little quirk, but I do remember a grinding in the 1st to 2nd shift, so now would be the time to deal with the little bronze gear that keeps them from doing that.  Fun times!

No worries, Nick.  Sorry, I didn't wait on ya. 

I've been coming in a bit early every morning and opening up the shop, and working a half hour or so after hours this week to get this part over and done with so I can take it back home. 

For today's update, I have the front frame tunnel area repaired, the frame head and front crossmember on and straight, and she's rolling around...  Sorta...

Next step, the shortening of the chassis spine.  Then, the floor pans once the rest is welded up and aligned.

Told you guys I wasn't gonna waste any time on this mess. 

Cool! I like the idea of spraying a contrasting guide. I like it!

You make that look easy ! It does look good, too !

And , now the rest of the afternoon... had to cut it short once again, this time because you can't weld with a wire feed welder if you don't have any wire... :/

But, still managed to get a good bit done.  The previously mentioned base plate weld up, and reinforced, the seam ground flat, and the reinforcement made and welded up for the upper tunnel area.  Also, closed up the heater control openings, and cut/ground down the mounting posts.  I was in the process of seam welding the frame head when I ran out of wire.  Kinda overkill, as they were originally only spot welded, but, like I said, I like to be thorough with my structural  soundness.  Now I just need to buy an extra spool of wire so I can avoid this happening again... 

On the up-side, I did make a return on my investment...  A couple dimes fell out of the tunnel today when I was flipping it over.  So, that's something.