TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:42 am

Decided not to do any sanding right now as the weather is cold and I wouldn't want to leave bare metal unprimed. So I am trying to remove the front and rear aprons. I got all the bolts out of the rear and it is like super glued or something. Is there a trick to removal on these things? I did have one bolt stripped and had to force it out with a screw driver behind it. One other bolt the holder just kept turning and got it out. Now what do I do? And if you have any input on if I should or shouldn't sand the car down in the winter in Colorado and leave it out in the weather let me know. I thought maybe it would rust even more if I did.

Oh this is a 70 regular bug.

Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:53 am

the aprons are not bolted on. they're welded on. you'll have to drill out the spot welds.

Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:24 pm

73BuzzBomb wrote: the aprons are not bolted on. they're welded on. you'll have to drill out the spot welds.

I guess I will have to just try and repair the aprons. I could not find any spot welds or welds at all on it. The back that is. I haven't even looked at the front yet.

Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:00 pm

The spot welds will be on the sides of the aprons where the fender bolts up.

Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:58 pm

Florida_Buggy wrote: The spot welds will be on the sides of the aprons where the fender bolts up.

Do you know how many there are? Are they obvious?

Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:00 pm

Do you have to remove the fenders to see them?

Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:11 pm

lefty2053 wrote: Do you have to remove the fenders to see them?

Yes. Once you remove a fender, look close to the edge of the apron, and you'll notice little round "spots' in the metal. They will be the spot welds.

I counted around 9 or so spotwelds on the left side rear-lower quarter panel (for rear apron) on my '74 project. There is also a little braze-weld at the top part of the rear apron to quarter panel.. (Hope this explanation is clear enough!).

Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:17 am

Thanks for the info a.wilson. I now have a clue where to look. My Rear Apron is in pretty bad shape and some one before me tried to pull out the dents and left a bunch of holes and the dent is still there. Would rather just replace it.

Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:25 am

lefty2053 wrote: Thanks for the info a.wilson. I now have a clue where to look. My Rear Apron is in pretty bad shape and some one before me tried to pull out the dents and left a bunch of holes and the dent is still there. Would rather just replace it.

Check out page 8 of my "gallery" images on this site. I have some pics or rear apron replacement.

Example... this is where the spot welds are drilled out

There are also many threads on this in the paint and body forum.

and here is a good webpage from another samba member on the front apron.

http://www.my65bug.com/front_apron.htm

Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:31 am

Thanks for the Pics keifernet . I think I'm on my way to fixing this thing now.

Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:30 am

Another tip is you can use inexpensive TEK screws to drill out the spotwelds...

They work really well...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21330&highlight=tek

http://www.selfdrillers.com/catalog/page%203.pdf

Sun Oct 28, 2007 12:27 pm

Here's a couple of pictures that you can use to help you find the spot welds:

John