'73 Love Bug frame up restoration

[the-one1]

More pictures of the small door window after cleaning it up and side & front windows installed.

[the-one1]

Rear window with middle pane cut and installed using 1/4" plexiglass.

[the-one1]

Made a wooden spacer for the roof vent so it doesn't protrude inside taking away head room. Glued it in place with Gorilla glue and fiber glassed over it.
Once the fan was screwed in with stainless screws, I covered it in enterna bond tape. Looks ugly but should never leak.

[the-one1]

Bolted, gorilla glued and then fiberglassed the upper cabinet in place. I'll remove the bolts and fill in the holes in the shell from the outside.
I'll do the same for the kitchenette and closet, but before I can do that, I have to put in the floor, but before the floor, I have to go over the frame and replace the 53 year old axle.

[the-one1]

Lifted the shell off the frame, removed the wheels and pull out the frame.
The wheels aren't original and has an offset to them causing the rim to rub on the axle, hence the spacer.
Added a brace bar on the rear, replaced the non-functional jack and added some tabs to bolt the floor onto. Also welded some scissor jacks as stabilizers.

[the-one1]

Now for the axle. It's pointing up when it should be down. I looked at the cost of an axle from Dexter and scamp. Dextor would have costed more and taken longer to get. Scamp had them in stock, so I ordered the one they have for '71 - '02 without brakes.
Took a few days from order to delivery. I won't be using the bolt on bracket as it interferes with the drop floor. Also had to trim a piece of the door side mount to fit.

Measure thrice (or ten), weld once. Ran out of welding wire on the last weld. Will have to get some more to finish it.
Cleaned off the surface rust with a wire wheel and sprayed some Rustoleum Rust reformer. I'll go over it with a couple coats of Rustoleum flat black.

[the-one1]

More pictures of the frame before paint. The tub sheet metal has the most rust. Theres two holes in the rear bumper which I think was for a spare wheel holder that broke off. I'll cover them with an angle iron.

[the-one1]

A coat of Rustoleum Rust reformer.
I should have taken a shot of the before and after height. I think it's about 4" higher now.

[the-one1]

Frame is back under the shell. Rides so much higher now.

[the-one1]

Taped up the windows and threw on one coat of primer and two coats of Rustoleum red and white. Red needs another coat. White needs some wet sanding and another coat. I'll do the sanding and other coats either later this year or wait til spring. Paint runs better than the camper right now.
Also installed the belly band. Lovebugs came with the flexible rubber belly band. Decide to change it up to an aluminum band by using 1/2" C channel from Home Depot. I just bent it by bracing it against my knee and bending a little at a time so as not to kink it.