New Upholstery--Before, After

One down, one to go

Repurposed Mat

I kept the disgusting, dog-pee soaked carpet pad that I pulled up when I moved into Rosser.  I washed and dried the pad a couple of times and decided to save money on sound deadener and instead used the old carpet pad in Sunshine Volkswagen.  I measured out and cut two pieces for the passenger side.

Passenger Floor

I sanded, treated, sanded some more, cleaned, and painted the passenger floor with POR-15.

My kid is cute

I love Oliver Loret.

What a nightmare

I have had a very hard time working on the seat frames.  I first stripped the seat bottom and sanded the frame down to metal.  Then I primered it.  So far so good.  Then we went off the rails.  I painted the primered frame with POR-15 and these strange little bubbles appeared.  It looked just awful.  Instead of stopping, I kept going.  It was a disaster.  Then I decided to try to spray primer over the POR-15.  Wow, that just made the problem worse.  I finally let the whole thing dry and bought paint remover at Lowes.  I had to buy intense gloves to protect my skin.  I used the paint remover to take off the layers of paint I put on.

Spring is here! 2016

Since it's feeling like Spring, I've been struck by CARFEVER!

I've started a few projects.  I removed one seat, disassembled it, and started gathering the parts to recover the front seats.

I purchased TMI slip-on covers in Richmond.  They have velcro.  I don't know what I think of these covers, but we'll see.

I've also sanded down one seat frame so far and purchased and mounted antique 1972 plates.

Yesterday I started working on the floor which has developed some significant rust.

Time for School!

In the Pipes

This morning I went to Ken's and he lent me a pipe wrench to pull those damn rusty tailpipes off and replace them with my nice chrome ones.  Ms. Sunshine has a nice hum now.

What a mess!

What started as an attempt to improve on the duct tape in the luggage compartment turned into a minor surgery involving Ken welding a bar under the hood to hold one of the fresh air vents.  What a nightmare.  Pictured is the mess of my speedo.  Looks like the blue and yellow wire goes to the ATF light.

Gettin' some tail

I decided to replace the tail light seal on the passenger side.  The process was pretty straight forward.  I'm still not sure how to get to the nuts on the driver's side as there is a ton of auto-stick shit in the way.  Will see.

Badge of Honor

After finding two little holes for mounting on the passenger side, I did a little research and bought this little number on theSamba for $15 dollars.  Not bad.  It has a little chip, but it shined right up otherwise.

Down and Out in Waynesboro

Poor Ms. Sunshine Volkswagen.  She wouldn't start on that morning.  I had to get her towed to Ken's.  I still don't know what went wrong.  After 3 days of Ken not getting to her, I went to his garage and she started right up.  Women.  At least she looked good.

Down with Chrome

I found a set of cheap running boards in Roanoke for $30.  Much better.  Thanks Craigslist!

Before

After

Sunshine!

The fruits of rubbing compound and a little elbow grease.

First night at Ken's

Ms. Sunshine's first night at Ken's.  Poor old girl.

For Sale

Here are some pictures for ads placed on Craigslist and theSamba for Mrs. Sunshine Fired-up Volkswagen (aka Lilbugz). Boy did she look like shit.

Bringing Ms. Sunshine Home

Here's what Sunshine looked like when I first purchase her.  Boy, those wheels are ugly.  And why does the paint look so crummy?  Ugh, look at those chrome running boards.