Made another thrifty eBay purchase, which came up for sale right when I needed it (what timing!). It's a genuine VW front firewall / bulkhead / cross panel;
Despite being for a '68 and later car I figured I could use generic sections of it to repair my original. Before cutting it up I couldn't resist a quick layout of my Mexi steel collection:
I must confess that I do get a mild thrill when I acquire these Mexi panels. Although they are not as crisp as original German stamped parts, they are still vastly superior to the usual repro options. Talking about repro alternatives, I did actually purchase a Klokkershite panel a while back as I thought I could rework it with some effort into something half decent. My enthusiasm was quashed when I received the panel and I promptly sent it back for a refund! It was riddled with defects with the spot welds literally coming away at one of the seams. The two sections of the panel were clearly misaligned. Additionally, it was apparent that it had been returned before by someone else as there were pencil marks on it as well as a lot of scuff marks & scratches to the transit paint. I was glad to see the back of it;
Back to the Mexi panel and I carefully drilled out a bunch of spot welds and separated the inner section from the main panel. They were pretty beefy spot welds and I had to drill out to 6mm to get them loose:
Note the small patches of rust already getting a foothold in between the seams - it goes to show that just because the panel is NOS doesn't mean it is corrosion free! I figured I would start with the inner footwell section first as it is thicker steel than the main panel (which is a mere 0.7mm) and therefore easier to weld. I think subconsciously I was after an quick win to boost my confidence before embarking upon something I knew would be tricky. Anyway, I blasted my original so I could make an assessment of its true condition:
Believe me, it was even worse than it looks in those pics. Quite a lot of pin holes and thinned areas of steel along the bottom flange where water had got inside and worked its corrosive magic. I marked up some cut lines and trimmed off the bad sections:
It was then a case of marking up the corresponding sections of the Mexi panel and chopping those out accordingly. I cut them a little bit oversize so that I could finely trim and file to the perfect fit:
Once trimmed up I blasted the donor sections. Here is a comparison between the old and the new. This illustrates just how much of my original had rotted away on the bottom corners:
After a lot of trail fitting, more trimming and rechecking I had the repair sections prepped and ready to weld:
welded, linished and finished (note that I also welded up those unneeded holes):
I did not smooth the welds on the rear side as this wont be visible and will add a little extra strength to the repaired areas. So, that's it for the front panel and I am fairly pleased with how it turned out.
Still debating the best approach for the main panel, but have a few ideas that are percolating in the back of my mind and work will commence shortly...
Although I had previously acquired a pair of genuine VW rear crossmembers I have since decided to take another route. Those Mexi ones could be made to work but have a different overall profile to the mid-sixties ones and are more square/angular looking. They also lack the mounting stud that locates the bottom hole of the rear wing as they are designed for later cars. One other annoyance is that they don't fit up to the Klassic Fab heater channels without trimming down the mating flange (located at the and of the channel) considerably. Those channels were expensive because they are high quality and accurate; I really don't fancy chopping them about!
Fortuitously a new reproduction crossmember has recently appeared on the market from out of nowhere and is supposedly 'German' quality (always a bit sceptical about that term) and made from factory gauge steel. I have seen them being used in a couple of other restorations, but have been unable to find out a lot of information about them. So, I contacted VW Heritage (one of the only UK stockists) to see if they had more about the manufacturer and swiftly received the following reply; "We don't have the manufacturers name, but we source them from a German supplier". Oh well, despite being no clearer about their origins I took the plunge and ordered a pair. I knew that they would still need modifying as they are made for cars up to '63, but in general they are a lot closer to mid-sixties OG ones and therefore a more logical basis to start from. I was quite impressed when they arrived, thick steel and super crisp pressings. Here is how they visually compare against the genuine Mexi (grey) ones, you can clearly see how much they differ:
I salvaged a few things from my old crossmembers that will be transferred over to the new ones. Firstly, I needed to remove the heater pipe. I shot blast the area so that I could reveal where the factory welds were:
I then carefully worked my way around the pipe (on the front and backside) with the Dremel tool equipped with a small cutting disc until it came free:
Next task was to separate these little reinforcement pieces from the top of the bolt holes using the spot weld cutter:
After a quick clean up they are ready to be reused:
Utilising the remains of the old crossmembers as reference I am able to study what I need to do in order to make the new panels close to OG and devise a plan of action. In the next post I will go into detail about how to adapt the new cross members to make them correct for a '64 - '66 Beetle...
My eye is now back to normal and garage sessions have resumed!
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:
Fortune was on my side last week as I was able to get my grubby mitts on some genuine VW panels (made in Mexico) from a chap who lives less than a couple of miles from me:
They are in 'as new' condition, but have been in storage for some time as you can tell from the slight discolouration of the crossmembers. In fact, he mentioned he had been slowly collecting various Beetle panels for years for his own project, but these were now surplus to requirements. The front right quarter panel and left rear cross member are now discontinued, so they rarely pop up for resale. For once I was in the right place at the right time!
The rear crossmembers do not share exactly the same profile as the original mid-sixties type, but the steel is a lot thicker and pressings crisper compared to current reproductions on the market. I confident that they are going to fit without too much faffing around;
Authentic VW factory sticker still just about hanging in there:
I am really impressed with the front quarter. It is designed for '68 and later vehicles, but can be made to fit my '65 with a few adaptions to the bumper mounts, petrol tank support rail and of course the deletion of the fuel filler recess. Just got to source the other Mexi side now (thankfully still available from the usual stockists);
Feels good to have some virgin VW steel to use in this resto. The resulting finish wont be a 100% year accurate build, but as I am more concerned with strength and functionality I can live with a solid car that hits the 95% mark. Christmas has come early!
