I did it again: this time a 1971 Volkswagen 411 Combi

[Nicolas Aristodemou]

Thanks Nicolas!  By the way, did your convertible Beetle from Holland make it over? Any photos you can share?

Yes Cees it did arrive...... maybe you missed my post “my latest toy”  in this section : Off Topic > other cars....

A lot of fun to drive......

[Cees Klumper]

I did miss that! Nice car, and I can imagine it's 'quite at home' in Cyprus. I've never visited but just like Malta I would like to one day. Best of luck with your Beetle!

[Nicolas Aristodemou]

I did miss that! Nice car, and I can imagine it's 'quite at home' in Cyprus. I've never visited but just like Malta I would like to one day. Best of luck with your Beetle!

Thanks Cees you are welcomed to Cyprus..... any time.....

Nicolas

[Cees Klumper]

Today my better half helped me take photos and video of the VW 411 for its no-reserve BAT listing. All uploaded and waiting for BAT to approve and activate the listing. A link to the intended promotional video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys-gDIeqaHI&t=27s

As soon as I have the BAT listing link I will post it here for those who might want to see how that goes ...

[ja17]

Looking good Cees!

[mdsalemi]

Those VW Type 4, 411 and 412 Sedans, Coupe and Wagons, seemed to by reasonably common when I was a kid in NY in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It's one of those cars that virtually disappeared. Good thing that you found one worth giving a new life to. Always liked the "estate" versions. Won't you miss it?

If you weren't just a guy named Cees, but instead "Cees Auto Restoration", OSHA and CARB may have "just a few more requirements for you" on the paint booth...

Back in June, 1977, I decided to paint my 1968 Austin America. (Austin 1300 for you international types; BMC ADO16) I realized that the actual "spraying" was insignificant in time compared to all the preparation. Time I had; money, not so much.  So I went to a local body shop, told him I had the paint, some cans of an off-white Lesonal paint we found at an antique auction. Told him I'd do ALL the prep. Just wanted him to spray. He said sure. He'd do his best but no guarantees. Spent many weeks that summer removing as much as I could, masking what I could not. Sanded the body by hand. In mid August, I drove it the 2 miles to the place, added the last of the windshield masking. He sprayed it for $50. NO post-spray blocking, sanding or polish. Was a gorgeous wet-look he achieved, very happy with the result. Spent the last two weeks of August putting it all back together before driving off to school in September...

I think those days of a $50 spray are long past...

[WRe]

Hi,
a friend's mother had a VW 411 automatic with 80 hp, called the Coati. In my memory it wasn't much fun to drive because the car was sluggish and consumed a lot of fuel. It took a lot of trust to turn onto a main road because the response was like a donkey cart.
Today, however, one sees all this with a transfigured gaze.
Sorry for my assessment!
...WRe

[mdsalemi]

...the car was sluggish...It took a lot of trust to turn onto a main road because the response was like a donkey cart.

Most of the cars I owned "of the era", including the 1968 Austin 1300, 1972 Toyota Corolla, 1978 VW Rabbit (Golf) were not exactly winning any races. The only one I had even reasonably adept at acceleration was the 1973 Datsun 510...

All were underpowered, except perhaps the Datsun.

We've come a long way. The 1978 VW Golf had 78 HP. Hard to tell for me what's available today in the USA, but I'd imagine about 2x that power.

[WRe]

Hi, I think the sluggishness came primarily from the automatic transmission. ...WRe

[Cees Klumper]

If you watch the video you will see this 411 is not at all sluggish. I did have to fix the broken kick-down switch but for example the clip where we get onto the highway you can hear the engine rev up through first, second and then merging in at 55 MPH on the CA 405, all the way up to 75 MPH without a hitch. After all, to my understanding this 1,679 cc engine with electronic fuel injection does have some 80 HP and was also used, apparently, in the Porsche 914 of the day.

[Cees Klumper]

If you weren't just a guy named Cees, but instead "Cees Auto Restoration", OSHA and CARB may have "just a few more requirements for you" on the paint booth...

Hey Michael - I am using professional exhaust / overspray filters and CA compliant paints. Not sure what else is possible.
And I think if you would adjust for inflation, the $180 I spent on paint for the Datsun 240Z two weeks ago could well-equate to your $50 job of old ...
Actually, according to the interwebs $50 in 1977 would be about $230 today.

[Cees Klumper]

Looking good Cees!

Thanks Joe! Having a great time with my newfound skills.
Wetsanding the hood of my Fulvia right now. 2000 grit, then onto 3000, 8000 and finally 3M perfect-it 1-step polish on their application pad.

[mdsalemi]

...Not sure what else is possible...

Hint: Don't ask. To ask permission is to seek denial.     Don't ask, don't tell.

The $50 was just for the labor to spray, and whatever reducers/thinners/solvents and or shop materials were needed.  There was probably more to it than just a spray, but not much.  I delivered to him a car with about everything removed or masked. Thankfully not stopped by the police for a car with absolutely no lights of any kind while driving to and from.

I gave him the paint. We bought a box of oddities at an auction for a few bucks. Had, amongst a lot of silly stuff and old tools, 5 quarts of Lesonal in an off-white mix. Probably from grandpa's garage.

What kind of paint materials are you using? Water based? That $175 you spent on your 240Z would barely buy a can of Glasurit reducer. Paint materials alone on my Pagoda, 20 years ago, were many hundreds of dollars.

Looking forward to see the Fulvia on the road!

[Cees Klumper]

Yeah Michael, I'm sure the authorities would come up with some requirements no doubt.

The paint I have been using, and am very pleased with (but what do I know, as a total novice) comes from TCP Global (based in San Diego) and is 2K urethane (so not water but solvent based if I am not mistaken). Here's a link to what I used for the Lancia:

https://tcpglobal.com/collections/acrylic-urethane-paint-tractor-red/products/rsp-au1705-kit-m

[ja17]

Remembering back about 60 years ago. "Earl Scheib" a national automobile painting chain would paint your car for $19.95 including materials. In later years they raised their prices  from time to time. Body work was an up-charge. Masking, priming and painting was included. Nothing was removed, just masked. Painting the wheels was also included. I noticed that the painter would paint the wheels with the tires on unmasked!? I asked him one day "what about the overspray getting on the tires?" He replied " no problem, we just paint the tires black when were done".  We would buy derelict Mercedes at the local impound lot, cheap, remove the chrome ourselves, do a little bodywork and send them down to Earl Schieb for paint. Before the painter would begin painting I would tip him $20.00. Made his day and we made a lot of nice cheap and shiny daily drivers, not show cars by any stretch. The paint was a single stage enamel "acrylic diamond gloss" and held up amazingly well. I heard that when they finished painting a car, they dumped what was left in the spray gun into a 55 gal. drum. At the end of the month they would mix the left over paint in the drum and have a special on that color whatever it happened to be. Good luck matching it in the future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Scheib

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=zwube8YZ&id=7AE7046A4248EA88CCF4C0177C5B857CF3005E51&thid=OIP.zwube8YZrk_O5JpMEPre6wAAAA&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.cf0b9b7bc619ae4fcee49a4c10fadeeb%3frik%3dUV4A83yFW3wXwA%26riu%3dhttp%253a%252f%252fmedia-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%252f736x%252fc3%252f8c%252f0c%252fc38c0c085dc2eabb1da78b14a004c3f5.jpg%26ehk%3dupn5q8mHn3GlLd6QHNeFsy78C5UOvhiLY8tC41Sq2oQ%253d%26risl%3d%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=416&expw=245&q=Earl+Scheib+Paint+Job&simid=608003305864628400&FORM=IRPRST&ck=95FCCC25FEB563BF078B7036CAFB6028&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

[mdsalemi]

That TCP paint in a 1 gallon kit (not including optional reducer) is priced at a mere fraction of Glasurit products…even at Glasurit prices of 1999-2000. 

I remember Earl Schieb! Yeah their business model unfortunately didn’t work. They went bankrupt. You expected a profit on a $20 paint job? 

Today’s inexpensive alternative for those that abhor Glasurit or BASF materials costs, and shops that want to spend ( and thus charge for) extensive prep work and post-paint finishing is Maaco. Probably $300-$700 for a basic paint job.

Not for me, or my cars…but go for it if so inclined.

[Cees Klumper]

The Bring a Trailer auction just went live. Already a $1,000 bid in the first 10 minutes. If that's all I get for it, I would be happy just the same:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-volkswagen-411/

[Jonny B]

Just took a look, at $3500.

GLWTA!

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks Jonny! 6 more days to go, the auction is an adventure onto itself ...

[Cees Klumper]

The car sold today to someone in California, which is nice. Winning bid at $10,500 was more than I was expecting - also nice. I earned a fair amount on it and who doesn't like to have a hobby that yields net positive cash flow.
One down, two more to go!

[DaveB]

Very impressive! The Lancia should do well.