Rear body mounting panel replacement - drivers side

Both rear support panel had to be modified. The bracket that attaches the body to the chasis was in the wrong place, so it was moved up an inch or so.







Annoyingly, but typical of beetles the corners of the boot floor had rotted away. It is possible to get a boot floor section and a rear cross member which would make up most of this but there would still be gaps to fill in. I can't remember which but one of these was also out of stock. So we made these sections from scratch.



The passenger side had a similar problem.


The view from below.

Rear body mounting panel replacement - passenger side

The passenger side rear mounting point needed replacing. The replacement panel from VW Heritage was pretty rubbish. The mounting point was the wrong height and it took alot of adapting to fit.


The mounting point was cut off and welded in place after the panel was fitted.


Some inner bits needed replacing. None of the panels available covered the corners so patches where made.





The panel didn't quite cover all the bad metal. The patch was added towards the rear.

Fixing the retaining plate on the door post

Front inner wing/ apron - New panels welded

Front inner wing/ apron - New panels fitted

In order to make sure the new panels fit correctly, the bonnet and wings where fitted.








Beginning to look like a car finally!

Front inner wing/ apron - Removal

The front apron needed replacement as does the passenger side front wing.




These were cut off and the new parts held up for modification.


We fitted the bonnet to help with alignment.

Cleaning up a hinge

Taking the doors off was a bit of a challenge. I had to drive the pin out of one hinge.


After cleaning I put it back together with a new pin.