how do I sand & paint through the engine vents/slots?

[Bigvwhead]

Here's the problem all of the boby work is done on my Ghia's body except the rear deck lid
fin area or more specific under the fins.

here's another pic from my other Ghia

I read on another forum about cutting the piece under the fins out (on a bug)then preping and painting
it and body glueing back in.However it encompasses the entire bottom of the deck lid, and when it's done i don't want it to look hacked up and peiced back together.
here's a pic of the under side of my deck lid

I know it's not awesome now but thats restoration is all about.


Thanks Bigvwhead

[doc]

Very limited choices here. The most common answer is to clean the underneath areas as well as you can (be creative) and then spray through the vents. Spraying needs to be slow and careful to avoid drips and runs in the underneath area. Just mist the paint in there with a lot of very light coats. If you get too much build up on the outer area, you can resand and clean before respraying. When the car is finished, the exterior paint is so bright and shiny, no one will really notice the underneath. You're looking for full coverage rather than bright and polished. As you know from painting other things, spraying gets paint everywhere. This is the one time that this dynamic is your friend.

I have never known anyone to remove the underneath panel but, of course, it is possible. I just don't think it would be worth it. And the glue it back element seems shaky.

Good luck,

doc

[sideshow]

The trick I was told was to take a rattle can black spray and use the straw head (like found on aerosol rattle can oil) to paint that underside...that works sort of and looks great for a couple years but despite careful preparing, sanding, cleaning and degreasing it looks terrible and ages poorly.

I also found it best to take the decklid off so you can use a paint stick and sand through the lower forward openings to that drain tray.

[Kafer_Mike]

Soda blast the inner area through the vents. Once cleaned, tape over the vent ribs and surrounding outer surface. Prime and paint the inner area through the vents using multiple light coats -- almost "dusting" the paint in there. Remove the tape and paint the remainder of the decklid as normal...

[turbobaja]

Soda blast the inner area through the vents. Once cleaned, tape over the vent ribs and surrounding outer surface. Prime and paint the inner area through the vents using multiple light coats -- almost "dusting" the paint in there. Remove the tape and paint the remainder of the decklid as normal...

I like the idea of masking the ribs off before spraying the tray inside. It would be easier to concentrate on getting a good coat on the lower surface vs. too heavy on the ribs. If the deck lid was held vertical while you paint it, any paint that builds up and runs down the ribs won't drip on the surface of the tray below it....you won't be able to see the drips.

That being said, I'd be tempted to take a look at the spot welds that hold the drain structure to the deck lid and start thinking of a way to remove it. This would be a pretty sizeable job on your Ghia deck lid, but it was pretty easy on my bug/baja body. And well worth being able to get those surfaces really clean and painted. You might be able to just remove the area under the vent and leave the rest of the structure on the lid. Only drill out the spot welds around the area you want to remove and make one straight cut across the duct on either side with a cut-off wheel. With that area removed you can easily clean behind the vents on the deck lid to keep rust from creeping under the paint along the ribs where you can't paint from the outside. Having that panel removed would make cleaning the rest of the drain channel out a lot easier too. It depends on how much work you want to put into it.

[Bigvwhead]

turbobaja said

I'd be tempted to take a look at the spot welds that hold the drain structure to the deck lid and start thinking of a way to remove it.

That's exactly what I was thinking and having two other deck lids, the one in the earlier pic &
one in my "VW shed of parts" to play with in case i screw up.My thougth was to remove the
inner shroud completely, repiant it so it looks as good as the twin turbo motor I built years ago(but that's another post) then body pannel epoxy it back on. However since it encompasses the deck lid hinges I think I need to spot weld it back on then paint the rest of the deck lid. Only I think when I paint it I'm going to try to put somthing between the skin and the inner shroud (inflatable??) so as not to "fog" the inner paint then deflate it and remove it (from the inside) when I'm finished. what do you think?

Bigvwhead

[turbobaja]

I think you're willing to spend quite a bit of time working on that deck lid. Which means you probably want it to look as good as the rest of the car and this twin turbo motor you speak of as well. So, we're gonna need to see some pics of this car before too long here, if you don't mind . Sounds like an interesting project to say the least .

If you're willing to take the whole structure off, I say go for it. Body pannel epoxy would probably work for remounting it and would be less troublesome than plug welding all the drilled out spot welds. You'd have to leave the mating surfaces clean and scuffed for the epoxy to stick, but paint every other surface while you're in there. You might try just tapeing a sheet over the surface that's below the grills before you remount the structure. This way the surface is masked from overspray . Just a small piece of tape at each corner with a string or something you can fish out of a hole to pull the paper free and remove once the paint's dry. If you were to inflate something under those grills it would most likely contact the backside of the grills and create problems with the paint finish on the exterior coat. Pre-masking the lower surface might be easier....just a thought.


Have you counted the spot welds you'd have to remove yet? Are your sure this is worth the kind of time you're investing. I'm definately not one to talk about investing too much time in a project, but you could probably achieve really good final results with some cleaning/blasting and carefull masking/painting without removing anything. Unless you're pretty sure you've got some rust starting inside or you just want to do it for the sake of doing it, which I totally understand.

[sideshow]

Decklids are not spot welded together, the outer skin is folded over the inner. 100% non trivial to remove.

[hpw]

Just throwing this out there as I have thought of doing this to mine. Cut out the vents and making a removable

aluminum/stainless grill......from the Porsche speedster



Its not stock but it might not be a bad look And no I haven't seen this on any other ghia

[perrib]

While not on Ghias on T-1s I sand blast the area, use Dupont self etching primer, As this area does not often need metal work I'll leave it masked for most of the work. When the paper is off I used door jamb bonding agent for sandpaper.

[Bigvwhead]

I found this DIY Mini soda blaster here in Tools/Tricks/Techniques/Shop Theory
that I'm going to give A try then do the paint. although I might have to put it off as I just shattered my foot at work and can't walk on it for 6to8 weeks,the doc says (ya right!!!) . but I have to wait at least till I can get around alittle better agian.

thanks for all the imput

Bigvwhead

[CalLookVWs]

The way that I'm going to do my bug air vents is:

Step 1: sand blast inside the air vents to the "lower panel" as well as the outer vents and surrounding area

Step 2: prime everything

Step 3: tape off the air vents and paint the inner/lower panel

Step 4: wait a couple days, then blast the heck out of the inside with a spray wax such as Meguire's Quick Detailer, but NOT wipe any of it off. Make sure everything inside is SOAKED with spray wax. Spray grease is also an option. "Gunk" brand makes a spray white lithium grease and you can buy it at any Home Depot

Step 5: remove the tape on the air vents and paint car as normal. After a few more days, spray the inside of the vents with a good grease and wax remover (safe for automotive finishes).

This is just the way that I'm going to do mine. It's pretty simple, although everyone has their own ways of doing things

[Bigvwhead]

CalLookVWs

I like it it makes since though I will soda blast it not sand blast it

[CalLookVWs]

I had to sand blast...My car turned into a can of worms when I opened it. Hit in the front, hit in the back, hit in the left rear 1/4 and the right door.....Rust holes, LOTS of bondo and 7-8 paint jobs all by my most hated person in the classic car world....Mr. Earl Shibe! I had paint up to 1/4" thick, not including the bondo. Almost wish I didn't have my heart set on a black paint job...I've been sanding for months. Good luck with your vents

[raygreenwood]

Again...remove the flaky stuff....and look at the rust proofing sticky above. Acid will remove all of the crusty rust with no metal damage. Soda blast the rest. Ray