During my recovery period I got lucky on a front passenger side quarter panel. It was listed on eBay, but the title was brief and the description somewhat vague. The listing made no mention of the manufacturer, but my intuition told me that it was likely a genuine VW Mexi panel. After several attempts to establish contact I finally managed to speak with the seller literally minutes before the end of the auction. He couldn't tell me if it was a genuine or not as it had been collecting dust in his garage for years and he couldn't recall much about it. He lived too far for me to collect in person, but was happy for me to arrange my own courier. The price was low with just one other bidder, so I took a punt on it and hoped it was what I suspected it to be. Got the panel for a mere £72 and found a courier who transported it across the country for under £10 (super bargain!). The following week I took delivery of the bulky parcel and eagerly unwrapped the panel:
Got a little tingle when I saw the manufactures label:
It was indeed a genuine VW panel 'Assembled in Mexico'. An excellent result considering that these are rapidly becoming scarce and now command a high price tag from the usual parts vendors (£250 currently).
Delighted that I now have matching Mexi panels for the front end:
I've been reading your Blog over the past week or so, and it's fantastic! The detail you've included with the pictures will be extremely helpful once I start the body-off restoration of my '71 bug.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work!
-Fimble
Hi Fimble! Sincerely appreciate the comment. It lights me up to know that this has become a valuable resource to my fellow dub restorers. Best of luck with your '71 project!
DeleteIve been coming here for inspiration for my restoration job in progress, keep it up. One question though. is it only me or is the bracket for the petrol tank welded onto the panels at a different angle? Or is that normal? cheers, Lukas.
ReplyDeleteHi Lukas! You are indeed correct. I have read on several different build threads that the petrol support rail is spot welded in the wrong position on these Mexi panels. It is normal complaint and will require drilling the spot welds reposition the support rail and plug welding it back into the correct location. Good luck with it - let me know how you get on as I will be tackling that in the future...
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