Once I had the VW bug lower rails filled with foam and cleaned up, I welded the new rail plates to the lower rails. The bolts sticking out of the plates are to mark hole locations in the plywood template.

I cut the excess foam off flush with the bottom of the VW rails and cleaned the edges with my hand grinder and a belt sander. Preppin for welding.

I am spraying foam into the VW lower rails to dampen any vibrations and try and prevent moisture buildup.

The lower rails of the VW body are quite rusted out. I am cutting the rusted metal out and painting Rust Bullet on the internal rust. Then I will recap the rails with new steel plates.

The VW Bug’s rusted out rails also have some rust spots on the sides as well. I cut out the rust and constructed small plates to weld in place over the holes.

This video shows the construction of the replacement rail plate bottoms. I built them from 16 gauge steel. I incorporated weld nuts to allow for the body to be bolted to the chassis when completed.

My project starts off with a trip to various salvage yards to get the MR2 3SGTE motor and other parts for the build. I have also started to repair the rust on the 59 VW Bug lower rails.