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Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:02 am

Ragman,

Its very nice to see someone doing this. I am interested in doing this to my existing baja myself, so I am following the project as close as I can.

So far I only have a couple of questions? How do you measure for the correct placement of the front and rear aprons when u get ready to weld them on to the body? When you weld the aprons on are you spot-welding or welding a full seam all the way around the replacement piece?

Thanks for the help man,
Gene

Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:00 am

biggene wrote: Ragman,

Its very nice to see someone doing this. I am interested in doing this to my existing baja myself, so I am following the project as close as I can.

So far I only have a couple of questions? How do you measure for the correct placement of the front and rear aprons when u get ready to weld them on to the body? When you weld the aprons on are you spot-welding or welding a full seam all the way around the replacement piece?

Thanks for the help man,
Gene

Gene the easiest way I have seen this done is to bolt on a full set of fenders so you can allign where the new clips will sit correctly then tack everything in place. after that it all depends on your welding skills and always leave more than you need when cutting the donor clips that way you can trim little by little until you get it right.

Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:02 am

Ragman wrote: rusty57 wrote: Looks like a lot of fun. Nice to see someone turning something back to stock. You doing the welding or farming it out?

My friend Steve and I are doing all the work including the welding. He's the Colorado Clip King, and I'm the aspiring apprentice.

We put in some more hours tonight. We got the rear clip installed, test fit the decklid and fenders.

Thats what Im saying.

Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:25 am

biggene,

Like skim said, before you weld it, you'll need to test fit it with fenders. The key to making the clips fit is to find a set of factory welds to use as guidelines. Then, drill out those factory welds, and line up the replacement aprons. Set them with self tapping sheet metal screws, install the fenders, decklid/hood, etc. Now, you verify it's fit.

You can go back and weld up the clips in the factory weld locations (spot welds). I'll also lay welds down the seams in the wheel wells. Using the factory welds as guidelines kicks ass. When its all said and done, it will looks very much like stock panels.

In the front apron, if you look at that close up, you can see that we used the big hole as a guideline too. We cut the apron 1/2 thru the hole on each side. That way, we knew it was in the right place or close to it.

I took some detailed pictures showing this process that I'll post for you tonight.

Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:51 am

At the rate you're going, it should be finished before next Tuesday.

Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:16 am

Hey Ragman!

Awesome project!

I have a question for you as I'm getting ready to undertake the same project as you on a '63.

Do you have to cut the aprons off of a donor and weld them onto the former baja or can you just buy aftermarket aprons? If aftermarket - are they all weld on or are there different options?

Just wanna know what I'm getting myself into...

Thanks!

Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:41 pm

BadMojo wrote: Hey Ragman!

Awesome project!

I have a question for you as I'm getting ready to undertake the same project as you on a '63.

Do you have to cut the aprons off of a donor and weld them onto the former baja or can you just buy aftermarket aprons? If aftermarket - are they all weld on or are there different options?

Just wanna know what I'm getting myself into...

Thanks!

BadMojo-

Using a donor car is the best way for a couple reasons.
1) your baja is probably pretty hacked, and a new clip might not completely fill the cut hole. if you have the entire car to cut from, you can cut the aprons to match what yours is missing.
2) aftermarket panels never fit as good as og german metal
3) og panels will have the same factory welds, so it's easy to line up the panels when your welding it back together

I'm not sure what you're asking about welding them back together. But, yes welding is necessary. Good luck!

Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:10 pm

Looks good, I'm glad to see a Baja brought back from the Darkside. :lol:

Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:07 pm

Cool project I have been following along. You sure do work quickly.

Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:02 pm

Any current pics?

Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:20 am

Well, as of now my whole plan has changed directions. I picked this up yesterday off the samba http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=206934
and will be making arrangements to store it at a friends house (thanks Gary) until I can get out there this summer to pick it up.

I am just going to swap the bodies out since mine is rusted to crap at the bottom of both "A" pillars and the luggage tray in my current body is shot also. So, I will also have some OG sheetmetal for sale later on this summer when I get the swap done.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and good luck with finishing up your project Ragman.

Gene

Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:34 am

rusty57 wrote: Any current pics?

Lately, the weather in Denver turned back to winter, so the project has slowed down. Over the weekend, I did the body work on the two front fenders, and they are now ready for primer. I also Por15'ed the underside of the fenders. One of the fenders was rusty, and one of the headlight buckets had some rust starting. Por15 kicks ass.

Biggene- nice score, that will make your project alot easier!

Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:16 pm

Primered the front fenders tonight...

Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:25 pm

Looks good....looking forward to seeing it finished!

Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:58 pm

What are you going to do with it when your done Ragman?

Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:36 pm

I'm not sure, but I'll probably drive it for awhile. I keep telling my wife that this one is for her 8)

We started shooting some paint over the weekend. I'm glad to see some painted parts...

Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:00 pm

that color is slick, man!

Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:26 pm

Ragman wrote:

Thats dead sexy, what is the color?

Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:39 pm

Thanks, the color is Java Green.

Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:00 am

Ok Ragman,

Now dammit, why you gotta steal a brothers color too :lol: . just kidding man

Nice paint I am actually planning on the same color for my car once I finish it up.

Looking good man. Keep us updated.

Gene