VW body part restoration and respray

Upon initial inspection for quotation a number of areas where identified as needing work before the respray could be started.

Once the van was with us we sanded suspicious areas of the body to find areas of deep filler and even wheel arches sculpted out of body filler. The rear was disassembled which revealed further rot of the inner valance and upright posts.

Sample of body condition prior to repair work

After sanding out the filler we welded in 13 new panels including battery tray, rear quarters and valance, wheel arch, sill panels and outer front bulge and window ‘A’ post. To help reduce costs inner panels such as the inner rear valance, inner front top panel, and door undersides where fabricated in house and welded in to position.

Some of the body repair work

The entire exterior of the van was then sanded to flatten the bodywork and prepare the surface for priming. 6.5ltrs of high build primmer where used in total and then flattened down to provide a smooth flat surface for the base coat.

The faux patina pattern below is the result of the flattening sanding. The circular swirls where all high points in the body work.

The client choose to paint the van in Lamborghini arancio borialis (orange pearl). Orange is a very low covering colour so the entire van was painted VW L90d (pastel white) to provide a uniform base colour and prevent the orange looking patchy. The Van was then masked from the waste line upwards to preserve the pastel white whilst the orange was applied followed by four dust coats of pearl.

First primer coat

Second primer session ware remedial work has been carried to correct areas that required heavy flatting that consequently broke through the first primer layer.