Volkswagen Bus Body Restoration

The grinder gouging was horrendous when I received the project. So not only did I have to deal with old collision "repairs" but grinder gouging and warpage as well. 

I accepted this project as a body restoration and preparation for paint.

The bus was to be painted with single stage paint but after the preparation and deliver to the painter who sent the project to me, the plan changed to base/clear which requires finer sanding prep.

I later learned about the change when I picked up the bus for final assembly.

Much to my disappointment, I realized that someone had gone over our prep work with a power sander, which caused some serious surface imperfections.

To top that off, literally, the clear coat was a disaster. I won't elaborate on that subject but I will say that the surface preparation on the Volkswagen was super flat and super straight when it left my hands.

You can see the body is likely the straightest Volkswagen you've seen with the exception of the gouging from the DA sander and the sags in the clear coat.

The time and the expertise involved in getting the fit and surface on the Volkswagen to this level was extremely challenging and to have that completely compromised in couple days was very disappointing.

The VW had quite a lot of damage to it from both wrecks and amateur paint stripping. Every panel had major damage and warpage.

I did have new panels for the front but the rest were just not available.