help! how do i get my rear apron off?

VWPhile · Post by **VWPhile** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 6:19 pm

I've got a 69 T1 that i managed to put into a guardrail (note....yokohama avs es100 are awesome, but they do not work miracles

). At any rate, my drivers side rear it toast, got the fender and decklid off, but i can't figure out how to get the rear apron off. I thought i could get in there and figure it out, but it doesn't seem that easy. How do i get this off...or do i? I dont have access to any sort of weldong or cutting facility, just my drill. Is it possible without some sort of cutter? Agh. Thanks a lot !

MondoMan · Post by **MondoMan** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 6:45 pm

Sawzall will work

Hank Winning · Post by **Hank Winning** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 7:06 pm

Drill out all the spot welds along the sides
hank

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 1:19 pm

They are between the fender (wing) and the body, one side had 11, the other had 20, so who knows, there are also a few in the engine compartment, on the piece that raps around, you'll see JR

Post by **Marc** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 1:46 pm

Sometimes it's easier to see the spotwelds if you scuff the area with a piece of sandpaper. Ideally you can drill through most of the outer layer (and little of the inner) and finish removal by coming in from the edge with a chisel, so the body won't end up looking like swiss cheese. There'll be some welds at the top where the apron joins the body along the hood opening - cut through just below the weld with snips or saw to leave a little excess in case you need it to reach the replacement part.

VWPhile · Post by **VWPhile** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:27 pm

thanks...i managed to get it off this weekend, there were about 10 spotwelds on each side by the fenders and 2 or 3 on each side where it joined the rest of the body inside the engine compartmant. Now i have to decide how to put the new one on. A spot welder is a bit out of my price (and skill) range right now, would riviting be too sloppy or do i need to break down and let someone other than me or my mechanic touch the car? Thanks as always

Stroker 40 horse · Post by **Stroker 40 horse** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:35 pm

VWPhile wrote:thanks...i managed to get it off this weekend, there were about 10 spotwelds on each side by the fenders and 2 or 3 on each side where it joined the rest of the body inside the engine compartmant. Now i have to decide how to put the new one on. A spot welder is a bit out of my price (and skill) range right now, would riviting be too sloppy or do i need to break down and let someone other than me or my mechanic touch the car? Thanks as always

Why not make a Baja Bug?

Post by **Marc** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:39 pm

Pop-riveting is better than nothing. Even without a spotwelding panel a wirefeed welder can be used to plug-weld holes you drill in the new part. When I was a youth I ran around for years with a rear apron that was only held in place by virtue of being pinched between the fenders and the body - it lacked the integrity of a welded-in piece and probably would've exploded on impact, but it never fell off by itself...

Hank Winning · Post by **Hank Winning** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 9:44 pm

You can also braze the spot welds back in.
have fun
hank

VWGirl · Post by **VWGirl** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 3:50 am

You can also bolt it back on and have a removeable rear decklid... do a google search on it and you can probably find the info... if not I will find it when I get home tonight. I think removeable is the best way to go.... sure makes dropping the engine a lot easier!

Eaallred · Post by **Eaallred** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 8:37 am

Here's how I did mine:
http://www.geocities.com/eaallred/project64Main.html

Page 4, 8, and 9 show the rear apron work.

VWPhile · Post by **VWPhile** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 11:36 am

removable apron....awesome idea! I bet that would make life a lot easier very often. I'm gonna go turbo one of hese days and that would probably be a good thing to have. I'll try it out. Paint job on the car looks very ince too, what brand/kind of paint did you use?

Eaallred · Post by **Eaallred** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 10:12 am

Been a couple years since I painted it. It was my first time doing a 'real' paint job all by myself. Always helped my dad out before.

I made one big mistake when painting it though. It was about 115 degrees outside when I painted it in a closed garage while living in Las Vegas. The garage was probably much hotter. It resulted in a lot of dry spots on the paintjob. I started color-sanding it, but that got old real quick, and I haven't finished it. I am thinking of sanding it down and repainting it. Same color, I have plenty of paint left.

Working on the motor right now.....