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Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:54 pm

Everyone asks and I did before I started this how to remove your rear apron and install a new one that is removable, well I'll show you.

Everyone told me to drill out the spot welds and this and that. I just decided and I think it's the best way if your scrapping your old apron to cut it down the center and bend the metal until the spot welds pop off. It takes a little elbow grease but it's cleaner and a quick hit with the grinder will grind down the high points. (NOTE) I removed the fan shroud tin and fenders before I did any cutting to prevent slip ups.

The pictures are all the same
Red=fender bolts
Yellow=custom holes
Green=spot welds

The green are some of the spot welds that I had to pop the old apron away from. (NOTE) I did use a chisel and hammer to tap some of the weld loose, also some vise grips came in handy.

Next I decided where to drill my holes to hold on my apron, I decided to go with two holes on each side. I put both inbetween the bolt holes for the fenders.

I welded on some 8mm bolt fender inserts(Cip1.com) to screw the apron bolts into. When welding I used a C-clamp to hold on the insert. The insert is welded on the inside so the fender can bolt right up. NOTE(you will need to cut notches on your fenders to make room for the bolts holding on your new apron)

After your done fitting your rear apron on you can bolt it up.

Now stand back and look at the finished project with a smile on your face

I hope you enjoyed this. Tommorrow I hope to remove and replace my front apron.

Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:42 pm

...sweet write up can't wait to see the front :wink:

Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:32 am

Here are some pictures of the removable rear apron that supahaole constructed using a fiberglass rear apron from VW Inovations and Dzus fasteners:

Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:49 pm

Here is a link to what Eric eaallred did with his 1964 Beetle to make his rear apron removable: http://www.geocities.com/eaallred/project64Main.html.
Look at pages 8 & 9.

Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:43 pm

Bugs'n'Pugs wrote: Here are some pictures of the removable rear apron that supahaole constructed using a fiberglass rear apron from VW Inovations and Dzus fasteners:

Where can I get those fasteners ?

Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:09 pm

Good job VolkDubz!

Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:07 pm

j-pizzle wrote: Bugs'n'Pugs wrote: Here are some pictures of the removable rear apron that supahaole constructed using a fiberglass rear apron from VW Inovations and Dzus fasteners:

Where can I get those fasteners ?

any place that sells drag car supplies... aircooled.net, summitracing.com, jegs.com, and many others...try the vw specific suppliers first, please...most of them have a search function... search "dzus" you will only get hits if they carry them, the name is unique.

Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:49 pm

Here is a rather interesting idea. This link shows a 1967 Beetle that Jan Andersson of Finland modified to have removable rear apron and side access panels to the engine compartment:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/2691/apron.html

Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:55 am

Clue me in.

A removable rear apron does what for us?

Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:08 am

DMC-12 wrote: Clue me in.

A removable rear apron does what for us?

off the top of my head, it would make removing and installing the engine a snap.

Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:24 am

The VW busses have factory rear aprons and it is so much easier to remove and reinstall the engine than a bug. My bug has to be jacked high as hell to get the doghouse cooling shroud to clear. I intend to modify the bug the same way. I like those side panels Bugs & Pugs showed.

Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:00 pm

hi

does any one hava a page that still works, i'm rebuilding my bug and i would like to make that mod, but i have some questions like where is the bumper going to fit, and if it will be strong enaugh.

in my country people put bugs as stock cars and i like mods like thisone for my bug, can anybody help me?

Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:53 pm

VolkDubz wrote: I just decided and I think it's the best way if your scrapping your old apron to cut it down the center and bend the metal until the spot welds pop off.

Being a bit destructive isn't necessary.

I got mine off without a mark on the paint except where the spot welds were drilled out.

Fits back in place and the fender bolts clamp it in position and its nice and firm.

Unless you notice that the welds have been cut through next to the seal you can't pick that anythings been modified

Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:25 pm

I want one. VW should have done that at the factory level.

Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:39 pm

I assume that those doing this are cutting the weatherstripping at the seam, so it comes off with the apron?

Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:08 pm

Yep, works well.

Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:17 am

Spanky57 wrote: I assume that those doing this are cutting the weatherstripping at the seam, so it comes off with the apron?

Joel wrote: Yep, works well.

Way to go Spank and Joel!! =D>
When doing this, every build thread on samba seems to omit the fact that you have to do something with that INSIDE piece of the apron. It isn't just cut the spot welds on the outside and pull the apron off. #-o I ended up dremel-ing a fine line strait down from the top most point, down through the inner seal channel. I now have a 3-piece seal, too. No problems. I dszus-ed mine like the fiberglass apron pic a few posts above.

-dasdachshund

Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:46 am

so there's no need to remove the main frame from the chassis...

nice work man... so its just cut thru the weldings and that's it?

Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:55 am

Here is my version:
The rear apron was up to 1/4” thick in some areas with bondo and after removing that I found several holes where someone tried to pull out the dent with little success. Since I was going to replace the apron anyway I thought this would be an good time to make it removable. I drilled out the spot welds using a 3/8 bit in a slow drill, going slow allowed me to only drill through one layer of metal, in most cases. Then I fabricated up a crossbar to tie the fenders together, that unbolts with the rear apron. I added a couple more holes for bolting through the fenders and apron, but may only need to use the original fender bolts to secure it all together. I purchased a new rear apron from Cip1.ca without the cutouts and considering it is a fairly cheap repro I didn’t need to massage it much for fit and finish. Since then I found a new one on craigslist, cheap, with cutouts, so if I want to go back to stock I can just unbolt and switch aprons.

Streng Deutsch Die Völker Klub :vw:

Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:52 pm

Spanky57 wrote: I assume that those doing this are cutting the weatherstripping at the seam, so it comes off with the apron?

Or you can go with this style of seal http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=821434 :wink: