Body Work & Paint Prep
BODY WORK: Chemo worked the final bodywork for two & a half years in Oxnard, spending time on the doors, sunroof, and rear tray areas when he had time. The rear shelf was rusty and had been badly hacked to fit speakers, so a rust-free piece was sent by Larry Edson and Chemo removed the spot-welds and installed the new shelf. He restored the chassis with black epoxy. The sunroof drain hole metal had been abused by a previous owner and Chemo had to reform the openings to look original again. He filled several small holes that had been drilled into the body (unknown reasons). He replaced the front hood that wasn't fitting well, replaced the right door that was too bondo'd from a broken door check-strap. Chemo invested a lot of hours to get this rusty M346 back into original condition.
PAINT READY! in early March 2009 Chemo called me to say "your M346 is ready to be painted"! I got so excited and after seeing the photos of the finished bodywork, the T34 looked fantastic! Amazing to see a smooth body free of rust and to know that this M346 would soon have a fresh new paint job! Since I wanted the original-style single-stage enamel paint (like Karmann did in 1962), Chemo sourced a Dupont Nason paint that matched my specs in L554 Cherry Red & L41 Black. I sent Chemo an NOS set of door hinges to be painted on the body. And I spent the past couple weeks cleaning out the garage to make space for the body & chassis. I plan to have a rolling storage rack built to house the painted body above the chassis, so I can roll-out the chassis to assemble the components without moving the body. It will also allow me to install parts onto the body to reduce the mass of parts stored on the garage shelves. On March 20th Tom Reay dropped by to take a new set of photos of the prepped body. Paint this weekend!