Restoring GPW 14518

In this section you will Have access to the restoration progress of each component of GPW 14518.

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Simply click on the Index Group to the right that corresponds to the part you wish to review, such as Transmission or Frame. If you are not redirected to another page, I have not started work on that goup of the vehicle. GREEN BUTTONS are active, BLUE BUTTONS are Active and work is complete.

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As I begin each part of the restoration, I will update its respective page with details, discussion and images of the progress, or lack of progress.

tm front page
finished

 At first glance, when I purchased this GPW,  it looked like a nice, but older restoration of a 42 GPW. I had always intended to execute a complete frame-off restoration of it, but despite the urgings of friends to hook up a battery and "take her for a ride." I am glad I did not heed that advice. Beginning with the tear down, I began to find significant things wrong and discovered the body was a mass of cobbled together sheet metal, welding and bondo. That alone is going to be a huge challenge for me. Mechanically I found many significant problems; gear boxes with metal shards in the oil, broken gear teeth, an unuseable transmission case, sheared off axle shaft...the list goes on. My initial insticts to not accept the work of another was spot on. Within the pages that are linked by the GREEN section tabs above, you will see what I encountered and how I am dealing with it. Once a section is turned blue, the work is pretty much finished.

final paint
bar 1