412 Variant estate build.

[Ant B]

Well here she is, been sat under a sheet in the garden since sept 2020 as I was working on my Karmann Ghia build.
Rusty as usual and missing a few parts...as normal.

First job was to empty the rear out of al the spares and general rubbish.


Now nice and tidy, ready for the damage assesment to start.


Wish me luck.
Tony

[Ant B]

Changed the wheels and tyres for some that held air.


I think the first job will be tackle the sunroof...or the rust area that is supposed to be a sunroof.


Fortunately I managed to pick up a NOS one a few years ago.


The plodding on starts.

[Dave Summers]

I'm looking forward to seeing this one progress.

[Ant B]

Trying to work out how the sun roof comes apart at the moment.
Wil be another slow job to rebuild this one.

[Dave Summers]

Probably not as slow as mine!

[Ant B]

Well this afternoon I tackled the rotten and not working sunroof.


The roof lining had to go as the thing was rusted shut and I needed to get into the roof to be able to pry and bash bits about.
I got it to move enough to alow me to take it apart.








Now its all out I can sort the rust in the roof round the opening and rebuild the mechanism.
Then I can see about fitting my NOS panel.



Tony

[Ant B]

Still trying to get the cables out of the runners, they are stuck solid.
Got to be careful as I do not want to break the plastic section, as I don't think they will be easy to replace.

[vwfye]

I miss my 74

[Ant B]

Took the doors of this morning.


Some rust round the openings to sort.




want to remove the dash and windscreen next to give access to the blower box as that will be rusty.

We plod on.

[Ant B]

What are we doing for door seals ?
I very much doubt that you can buy new ones, so what else fits ???
Bottom of the passenger door is rusted out and the part that holds the glass to the runner is rotten as well, I will have to make a new one.

[Dave Summers]

Did the doors unbolt easily? I've had problems before undoing the big screws that hold them, although I haven't tried on my 412.
Might be worth trying Jane and Bryan Terry for the window part.
The blower box is a pain if it's rusty but with the dash out you'll see the state of it easily enough - or you'll get a good sense of it even without the dash out if you look underneath.
Your sills look worse than mine but hopefully not too bad. Volvo 740/940 ones are a close match apparently. My door bottoms are rusty too.
Anyway, it looks like you've made a good start on it. Did you get the sunroof cables sorted or are they marinating in rust remover?

[Ant B]

I bought myself an impact screwdriver and belted the living snot out of it to get them undone.
Had one captive nut on the door stop come loose, but i can weld a new one on easily enough.
Thanks for the heads up on who to ask about seals.
Got to get the dash out first...should be fun.
sills...hmm will have to see whats what after I have hit them with the rotary wire brush, I can make new ones or buy the volvo ones if they are too far gone.
The cables are still soaking in diesel and rust remover, one is free, just one left to sort.
I am going to have to make new sections for the bottoms of both doors, still if it was easy there would be more of these cars on the road.
I hope this one won't take me nearly 4 years to finish, like the Karmann ghia did.

[Dave Summers]

The dash is fairly easy to take out. When the time comes to put mine back in, I hope my labels on the wires are still legible!

[Dave Summers]

For stripping paint and rust, I like these https://www.abrasivesworld.co.uk/stripp ... plain.html better than wire brushes.

[Ant B]

Made some door skin repair panels this morning before it got to hot.



Then I cut to rotten section out to reveal the next bit to make repair sections for.



Still it is a start on the repairs.
We plod on.
Tony

[Ant B]

Started the welding today.


slow job, but it is a start.

[vwfye]

[kaddy]

First step is always the hardest, once you start seeing shiny new metal welded in after a days graft, its a great feeling.

[Ant B]

It's making the first cut thats the hardest.
My feeling is that I cant make it any worse than it already is... I hope.

It was the same with this one.

Making the first cut.

But thus i=one turned out ok, so i expect the 412 will as well.

[Ant B]

Dash out...rust
air blower out...more rust
started cleaning up the spare wheel well...guess what...more rust.
I think we have some rust to sort out.

[Ant B]

dash out.


Air blower out.

leaves and rust.


Brake pedal support frame out to be cleaned up or replaced.
Area round the back cleaned upand blown over with paint, ready to take the frame back later.


I need to see if I can find an auto box for her, or think about converting back to manual...will look and ponder.
Tony.

[Dave Summers]

That's typical blower box rust. How is it around where the water drains out? That's an awkward bit to repair, and it's very near the petrol tank. I've been working on mine from inside the space where the tank goes - a job best suited to small people (which I'm not).
Floors look good though.

[Ant B]

One area of rust in the floor, so not too bad...I think.

[Dave Summers]

Not too bad. I've seen a lot worse.

[Ant B]

As it is raining, I have been in the shed stripping down parts and painting.
So far I have stripped the brake pedal down and got that painted.
Cleaned up the outside of the master cylinder, need a rebuild kit for it.
Got the blower fan un stuck and working.
Wiper mechanism stripped and getting cleaned up.
Productive morning so far.