TheSamba.com :: View topic - Fitting 65-66 Rear Apron on older car?

Sun Oct 31, 2004 8:44 am

Hi,
My 60 apron is trashed. Some jerkoff cut sections out of it, and the bottom of it is rusty. I just want to get the car together for now, so I bought one of the 65-66 plain rear aprons as they are all thats available new.
I can only see 2 differences. One is that it is plain instead of having the H pattern, and the latch area is different. Is that all?
Well, I can handle the plain vs. H pattern difference. Big question is about the latch. Do I just take the latch plate off my old apron and weld it to the new one? If so, is the location of where it welds to on the new one the same as the old one, or do I have to do bending or some other mod to get it located properly?

THANKS.

BTW, I know my 60 Euro doesnt exactly fit this forum but I figured there were more people in this forum with experiance in this.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 8:41 pm

Bro, take your time and find an H clip. Its a euro 60 which is a pretty special car for the big window guys having semaphores etc. Theyre out there, just be patient.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:52 pm

Skim wrote: Bro, take your time and find an H clip. Its a euro 60 which is a pretty special car for the big window guys having semaphores etc. Theyre out there, just be patient.

I think I am going to do that anyhow. I just fought with this peice of crap for 2 nights in a row, and still cant get it to fit the car, forget the issue of the latch. I hope I can find a clean rear clip, and just cut the whole rear off and start over.Im so fed up with this thing right now. Damn IGP junk.
I got my side panels welded in the quarter section, and the contour isnt right so it kinda flexes the apron in the wrong way. Try to fit the apron alone, and it wont even fit where it should interlock up at the top with the rest of the car. Remove the quarter sections and just tack the apron in place, once I get it to fit around the decklid it sits so far down the fender would never fit..

I guess I will call BFY tomorrow and see what they got tomorrow :(

Once I get this straightened out I get to replace the front one next.. Woo hoo!
Heres what I started with..

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Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:24 am

I see. Looks like when somebody shoves a turbo set up in and they cut out that little area. Also, it looks like you need more than just the apron because the sides are chewed off as well. This would be a good reason to find a nice H clip, although, that part they cut off the H apron doesnt look to hard to fix, its the sides that worry me.
Personally, since you need more than just the apron skin, I would find the clip but thats just me. Or check out this site. Wolfparts makes the sides and bumper brackets. This would be a good thing to consider and his prices are good. I have used some of his parts on my split and they are dead on exact specs.

http://www.wolfparts.com/shop/

Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:35 am

I had been looking for a H apron/clip for some time. I finally came across a very clean clip,cut to My measurements for $250. Take the time to do it right.

Wed Nov 03, 2004 11:43 am

Euro60, two things to consider if you do install that later apron. First, the shape of later apron does not come up as high as the H. This gives you more room front-to-rear in the engine compartment for removing the engine, etc. This leads directly to the next thing, namely that the original rear breastplate tin from the 36hp will be too "short"- it won't reach back far enough to sit in the rubber perimeter seal of the engine compartment (and yes, you do need this to drive the car!). So you can probably install a breastplate from a 40hp and later (even a 1600) engine, but need to close off the fresh air hose holes with some tin (or beercan base) to prevent the hot exhaust air from coming into the engine compartment.

Can you rivet the later apron in for the time being until you find an H clip?

Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:18 pm

Rome wrote: Euro60, two things to consider if you do install that later apron. First, the shape of later apron does not come up as high as the H. Can you rivet the later apron in for the time being until you find an H clip?

Hmmmmm!
Maybe thats why I am having such a difficult time! If anything, it seems like this one is too long, and at the top it doesnt want to fit over the lip in the quater panels though. If I place this one where the top is in the same place as the old one was, the apron sits too low.

Skim wrote: I see. Looks like when somebody shoves a turbo set up in and they cut out that little area. Also, it looks like you need more than just the apron because the sides are chewed off as well. This would be a good reason to find a nice H clip, although, that part they cut off the H apron doesnt look to hard to fix, its the sides that worry me.
Personally, since you need more than just the apron skin, I would find the clip but thats just me. Or check out this site. Wolfparts makes the sides and bumper brackets. This would be a good thing to consider and his prices are good. I have used some of his parts on my split and they are dead on exact specs.

Yeah, I have the apron and the side peices. I started out doing it just like the recent article in trends. Make a reference point somewhere in the quater panel, then measure from the point to the original bolt holes, place the new peice up there, make a line. Cut out the old peices, trimmed, trimmed, trimmed until the new peice fit with the same dimension from the reference point to the bolt holes.
Then I went to go pop the apron on and no deal. The POS quarter peices have a slightly different bend to them, and the apron has a different bend too, and the two slightly different parts ends up with a much different result than expected.
Starting yesterday I really started looking for a replacement clip. Harder than I thought. I have found one, same price as Mark but its already cut out and I am stuck with where they cut it. Its in fairly good shape, but nothing that age is absolutley perfect.
If I do go this route, is there any place to buy seal channel? Im talking about the strip that runs along the decklid and hood areas that you crimp down to hold the seal. Chances are my rear clip replacement will run right through the channel.

Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:21 pm

Skim wrote:
http://www.wolfparts.com/shop/

HEY.....
I see he lists this part as 52-60, while everyone else list it as the same to 67...What the heck is the difference? I wonder if the combination of this late apron and the late quarters is whats killin me here.

Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:35 am

There is a slight change in the curvature of the 61 and up. just think, as of 61 they dropped the H apron altogether and changed to the later front clip so there must be a change.

Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

The change from the mid 50s to the early 60s is the bumper bracket has a larger backplate on the later cars. If you look the part up on wolfsburg west's website you can see what the 60s bracket looks like. it is not correct for an oval.

WW also sells the seal channel. One length should be sufficient to replace both sides of the channel above the apron where I am guessing your car is clipped.

Sun Nov 07, 2004 8:19 pm

Welp, its official. Its getting clipped.
ratlookvw is getting me a H clip off a car in a week or two that is supposed to be cherry. Anyone wanna buy an aftermarket apron and the side plates? :)
Im sure if you done it before its not that bad to fit one of these things, but I never have and I don't know where I should beat on it and what I should leave. The rear section doesnt fit together as straight forward as some others. For me I think its just going to be easier to butt weld a clip to the back end.

Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:46 am

Yes and dont forget to test fit your rear fenders before you start welding to make sure they will line up at the end. Also you dont want the bottoms of the rear fenders hanging down way past the apron. I always see that mistake on clipped cars. Good luck 8)