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Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:52 am

(1970 Beetle Convert)

Has anyone ever removed rear crossmembers on their car? I have holes on each side next to where the heat exchangers come in at.

Any ideas?

Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:48 pm

I'm not sure what crossmember you are referring to. Is it part of the body, or the pan?

Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:55 pm

If you're referring to the rear one, yes.

They make a replacement piece for that area. Drill out the spot welds, put the new one in, weld up through the hole you previously drilled to remove the old one. Of course it always sounds easier than it ends up being.

Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:22 am

The above picture is what I HOPE mine looks like when I am done! It is on both sides though....

I have drilled out what you said (I did that before) now I just cut a straight line behid the tack welds? Another issue I see is that the crossmembers sent to me are a little long. I am sure I can cut them but I have to be careful. DId you have to cut into the side of the car to make yours fit?

Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:38 am

I use a 4.5" angle grinder with a 1/8" cutting wheel & my sawzall.

Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:20 pm

joemo5 wrote: The above picture is what I HOPE mine looks like when I am done! It is on both sides though....

I have drilled out what you said (I did that before) now I just cut a straight line behid the tack welds? Another issue I see is that the crossmembers sent to me are a little long. I am sure I can cut them but I have to be careful. DId you have to cut into the side of the car to make yours fit?

I hope you didn't cut the top piece of metal with the tack weld holes off. That's what you need to weld through to the replacement piece (a la spot weld) to reattach it.

I did not have to cut the replacement cross member. Just some trimming. It extends to the outside of the car over the top of the spring plate retainer and up against the inside quarter panel skin.

Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:27 pm

I have to tackle the same job on my 72 as soon as I get time away from work...

Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:31 am

dive in anxiety and all. ive used beetlenuts pics for reference myself. whenever possible leave as much original metal as u can, or its just plain obious to replace the whole crossmember. take good measurement,twice etc. clamp it up nice n tidy for a tight fit,as little slop and gaps as you can get it. did i say measure twice? twice? cut slow and careful for good fit. the pic of beetlenuts clamped crossmember....thats the fit you want.

Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:33 am

oldmanmark wrote: dive in anxiety and all. ive used beetlenuts pics for reference myself. whenever possible leave as much original metal as u can, or its just plain obious to replace the whole crossmember. take good measurement,twice etc. clamp it up nice n tidy for a tight fit,as little slop and gaps as you can get it. did i say measure twice? twice? cut slow and careful for good fit. the pic of beetlenuts clamped crossmember....thats the fit you want.

That piece was a bear to wrestle in there, though not as tough as the front firewall I'm currently doing battle with. I must have installed, trimmed, and removed that piece at least 5 times before I got that fit. I've gotten use to the whole iterative fitting process now. Just takes time to do it right!

Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:13 am

you mean theres another way? time,geez bodywork takes so much time. havent ever done anything before its been a huge learnering curve for me. i have gotten better with more consistant results. bodyworks got its on time schedule doesnt it.

Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:17 pm

oldmanmark wrote: you mean theres another way? time,geez bodywork takes so much time. havent ever done anything before its been a huge learnering curve for me. i have gotten better with more consistant results. bodyworks got its on time schedule doesnt it.

I hear ya! Everything I've done and am doing, I've done for the first time. Except the stuff I really screwed up and had to do over! Figuring out how a plie of rust goes back together is not as easy as it's cracked up to be!