I got a surprise phone call this week from Chemo ...
"your M346 is ready for paint"! What fantastic news after almost 5 long years of body restoration work with two different bodyshops, "Jeffrey" will soon have a new suit of clothes. Chemo said the sunroof drain "weep holes" were restored (which had been rusted & hacked by a previous owner), the front hood hinges & hood was replaced with better donor parts, the NOS door hinges were fitted, the final bodywork is completed, and he's ready to buy the paint.
As this is a legacy car (one that I'm keeping forever), I want it to be as close to original/stock as possible. Since VW originally painted in a single-stage enamel (7 coats I've heard) in 1962, that's what we've ordered for this M346. Chemo found a paint shop that was able to order the Dupont Nason single-stage paint in Cherry Red (L554) & Black (L41) for only $150/gallon (about one-sixth of PPG two-stage cost)! I've ordered two gallons (plenty on reserve if anything ever happens to it) of the red, and five paint touch-up sticks. That was a stroke of luck!
Chemo sent updated photos of the finished bodywork as of March 1st. What an amazing transformation Chemo has done with this rusty T34! The fresh-air vents are perfect (previously were filled-in with bondo), the rockers from Lars are smooth, the spare tire area is clean, the rear shelf is renewed, and the holes in the roof are gone.
I hope my next post will share the fresh Cherry Red & Black painted body!
I've got little extra space in the garage for the reassembly process, so I decided the best way to store & work on the body & chassis would be to design a wood body dolly. Over the weekend my son & I built a 72"x65" rolling platform that will allow the painted body to be stored above the chassis. Total cost was $175 and it took several hours to complete. The wheels have locks when the dolly is rolled out of the garage into the driveway with a ratcheting strap to secure the body to the dolly.
As this is a legacy car (one that I'm keeping forever), I want it to be as close to original/stock as possible. Since VW originally painted in a single-stage enamel (7 coats I've heard) in 1962, that's what we've ordered for this M346. Chemo found a paint shop that was able to order the Dupont Nason single-stage paint in Cherry Red (L554) & Black (L41) for only $150/gallon (about one-sixth of PPG two-stage cost)! I've ordered two gallons (plenty on reserve if anything ever happens to it) of the red, and five paint touch-up sticks. That was a stroke of luck!
