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Thu Mar 20, 2003 7:59 am

looking for best places to buy new nose panel and any good tips on replacement of existing. Have Bentley as guide, but its not specific as to weld areas on sides and along bottom of skin. Can see spot welds under lower windshield area so no major problem there that I can see. How is new panel welded on to sides and along bottom where metal is crimped??? Any articles you've found would be helpful or advice.

Thu Mar 20, 2003 11:52 am

have you checked the type2 library yet? lots of nose replacement tips on there.
john
www.type2.com

Thu Mar 20, 2003 12:15 pm

drop kelly @ metwiz a note- he is very helpful.

Thu Mar 20, 2003 4:52 pm

thanks for info, checked and printed out materials from both sites.
anybody had any problems with panels sold by motorworks? they are another option of nose panels.

Thu Mar 20, 2003 5:53 pm

for the main nose panel original is the only way to go, all the current avail. aftermarket skins suck! the lower after market pieces are ok..what year is your bus?
the sides and bottom are spot welded and then folded over, the folded part is not welded, so just gently pry the edge outward and drill the spot welds(only welded every 6" or so) nose skin replacement is acctually pretty easy!

Thu Mar 20, 2003 9:36 pm

ALL, repeat ALL replacement aftermaket panels are junk! just to let you know ;O)
my opinion.
-jim

Fri Mar 21, 2003 1:13 am

thats not true..believe it or not, this week I made a profile gauge off of a clean rust free bus, just to check rocker profiles..and the "pink" wolfsburg west panels are very close! allan schofield was WAAAY off!

alot of panels out there do suck, but some are great! I find myself custom fabricating
lots of structural panels that just are not avail. anywhere aftermarket.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/71284.jpg

Fri Mar 21, 2003 7:51 am

Bus is a 63 15 window.... can you help narrow search for an orig skin??

the samba site is remarkable for wealth of info from all supporters... haven't had time to look through all samba area YET!
great folks across the country.....

Fri Mar 21, 2003 9:17 am

See Moe, Transporter Garden, Huntington Bch, Ca Big$$ though.

Sat Mar 22, 2003 9:14 pm

well just keep lookin busdad, ,but OG is the only way to go man. if it is a deluxe, i would highly suggest finding one with it's OG trim still on it also, it seems that is the only way to get a proper fit of those. My bus was missing the nose trim , so i yanked some off another bus, the alignment was way off, and i still don't have it back right, i think one of these days i'm gonna cut my nose off and weld on another one with it's Orginial trim still on it