At the stripper!

The Bug is now sitting in the blasting bay at American Stripping on Cary Street in Richmond. With my father-in-law's help we trailered her up there this evening and dropped her off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about her being away from home as this is only the second time in six years that she's been out of my garage. I doubt my stress level and blood pressure will return to normal until she's back home. But I'm also excited about getting this step of the project done. For now here's a photo from tonight of her sitting in the blasting bay on her cart.

Body and Paint Update

Time for an update. Last week I spoke with a local company that does glass bead stripping and tentatively scheduled the Bug to go in for stripping and a basic coat of primer at the end of January depending on their work load. I also spoke with the auto painter that did the welding work for me last spring. He's more booked up but hopefully be the end of February or early March he can get the Bug in for painting. He'll be doing a Cherry Red single stage polyurethane. I asked him about doing a clear coat as well but he said since I plan to keep the car in the garage except for when it's driven that he wouldn't spend the extra money on it.

The big unknown at this point is what will be found under three layers of paint. I don't believe there's any major body damage save for a hit years ago (before I got it in 1997 at least) to the driver side front fender well that appears to have been fixed correctly. I'm sure there will be some small dents and dings that will be uncovered that will need to be filled in but hopefully that's it.

I'm really excited about this. The body and paint work are the last major step that needs to be addressed on the Bug before reassembly can start. It's also the last major thing I can't do myself. Getting it done will mark a major turning point on this project and once it's done the end will finally be in sight.