As I now rebuild the doors, I must get all the windows ready for installation. I first had to re-rivet new lock latches into the vent window channels. The rubber made to re-seat the small vent window glass into the channels is impossible to install without some sort of special machine to do so. I cut small pieces of the rubber strip to get the glass to be centered in the frames. I then taped off and used black silicone to fill the gaps between the channels and the glass. With this done I am now ready to install the VW bug vent windows into the newly hung doors.

With my fuel problem fixed, I can now concentrate on the finish out. I have completed all the bug lighting using weather-pack connectors and bolted a bit of the bling back on. I then started on finishing the interior. I am starting the the rear of the car and working forward. I covered all of the rear interior panels with some nice poly carpeting. And I then refit the VW bug doors so I can work my way forward.

After installing the headliner, I went ahead and reinstalled the rear exterior parts to the VW bug. I now have finished the rear tail lights, license plate light and bumper. In order to refocus on the interior finish out, I must fix 1 more problem with the fuel tank. The fuel cell from summit racing is just a large tank with no built-in baffling so the fuel pump will run dry during hard cornering at low fuel levels. I have constructed a small aluminum box to encapsulate the fuel pump pickup so that fuel will remain in the small box while the rest of the fuel sloshes from side to side. I put it to some rigorous testing and all seems fine. Problem solved!

One of the first projects I want to tackle to finish out the bug, is the headliner. I am installing a foil covered jute mat above the headliner to insulate the car from above. I spent many hours lining up both the headliner and the bows that hold it up. Once I got the insulation in I was able to install the headliner itself. since I have painted the inside of the bug I covered the edges with tape and used the tape to mark out the bow locations. All in all an OK job.

The VW bug is finally back from the paint shop. The paint turned OK but not perfect. Flat black is a hard finish to achieve. Now that I have the bug back in my shop, I can start putting it back together. I am removing the spacers I used to hold the fender away from the body during the painting process and bolting them straight up to the body itself. I will begin installing the interior as soon as possible. I shall start with the headliner.

After hours and hours of sanding and prep, the VW bug is finally ready for the final paint job. I painted the vehicle in a couple of stages. I first primered the inside and the underside of all the removable panels and then painted the entire car with 2 coats of epoxy black primer. Hopefully the final flat black paint job will look much better.

I am now ready for the final layers of primer. I have prepped every panel and am reassembling the fenders with spacers to paint them in place. I will primer the inside and under the panel edges first. I am also painting the roll-bar sections.

With everything constructed on the inside of the bug, I am getting ready for the final paint job. I have removed all 4 fenders and am finishing them off on the underside. First I painted all the raw steel with Eastwood rust converter and then covered that with a heavy duty roll-on bed liner. I am now ready for final prep on both the bug body and fenders.

I have now completely disassembles he entire interior complete with the roll-bar. I need to start finishing off everything that will become the finished inside of the vehicle. I am installing the sound deadening and heat insulation mat. It is made from a thin sheet of butyl rubber covered with an aluminum backing. I needed to cut them into a couple of pieces in order to get them inside the panels.

I have one more interior structure to build. Because I am wrapping the rear deck lid around the seats There will be excess lid hanging over between them. I am building a box to fit between the seats as well as beneath the center portion of the deck lid. this will make everything look much better and bring symmetry to the rear of the interior compartment.