Deck Lid Repair Idea

[NWGhiaGuy]

So I've been wondering what to do with all these deck lids I have. I've sold off most of the good ones, now I have these rusty ones that I can't get myself to throw away. They've got to be good for something, right? My though was to maybe cut the top lip above the vents and use that along the bottom edge, essentially making one good deck lid out of two. If it works, I can offer these sections for sale to somebody that need to repair their deck lid. I'm opening myself up for criticism (hopefully constructive).

I am not a body man, so this is pretty crude work. I didin't try to clean it up for welding or anything. I know the inner structure would need to be repaired on this deck lid also. After I was done, I realized that the top corners are not the exact same contour, so this might not work if the original corners are bad. The width of the top is wider than the bottom, so I had to take about an inch from the middle.

Here is my theory in practice......

[dubulup]

Looks like a fun way to learn body work. Seems to be coming out with the right look; keep us posted.

[Basketcase]

looks good to me. well worth a shot. what's the worst than can happen? a cut up rusty lid?
_________________
'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[FRNKNSTNGHIA]

You just gave me a great idea to fix mine. I was originally going to cut decklid along the line where the license plate light goes. That way the engine could be seen from the back, since my decklid is rusted like yours. But your idea gives me hope I can just restore mine since I have another decklid.

[meloyelo]

I was thinking I would use my spare for replacement sheet metal. The original stuff is hard to come by. Figure it will make good patch panels.

[NWGhiaGuy]

I never intended to actually "finish" this deck lid. I just wanted to see if these pieces would make good repair patches. Since the corners aren't exactly right, I think I'll now cut the top of the orange deck lid I was working on and see how the straight edge works on another lid between the corners. I'll post more pictures once I give that a try. Another thought I had was to cut the license plate opening out of a completely different kind of car to use as a repair piece. I can't drive down the road without checking out the truck lid on cars to see if they have the right size/shape to do this.

By the way, I have several ghia deck lid pieces available if someone wants to repair theirs and don't already have a spare. I'm just trying to find some value in these rusty old VW parts, which is why I can't throw them away!

[foamermetal]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/archive/index.php/o-t--t-493129--.html