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Sat Mar 30, 2013 1:48 pm

oldmanmark wrote: if you dont know what your gonna do about the well arches i suggest you solve the problem 1st. because its much easier to work that before you tack in the parcel tray and under the rear window etc. i had some pin holes in the arches after i welded the new metal in. just took my time and tacked them closed. make an outline of where the parcel tray tacks to the wheel arches now. get it all lined up,tray as if it were fine and outline all pieces fitting for future reference. take few measurements too. i did in this order
1. marked parcel tray egde on inside wheel arches n inside of body at all connection areas,drill out spot welds of tray and remove.
2. hacked off top of parcel tray under window leaving metal to weld to. i cut before the drip tray like you show in pic. need that to still use or for reference if cut/weld in new metal.
3. cut out welded in new wheel arches includeing outer arch with body mount bracket. must block up body to keep bracket alingned with bolt hole in frame frame for alignment.(body off on my car at time,but braced and body mount holes bolted to jig))
4. once satisfiend with wheel arches set parcel tray in place and aligned. then made descscions with drip tray metal,use or replace. same with all other connecting metal whelded to parcel tray. its easier to work below the window and drip rail and lower tin crosspiece with tray out. thats why need to make outlines of correct fit of pieces when ready to weld back. hope this helps to b esier. long winded,forgive me.
inotherwords,do as much work with pacel tray removed. you can move around easily to solve the other problems. you made your reference points for alignment so it goges in last...or what works for you.

Cool. I didn't do an outline of the old tray...reason why is because new tray's lips are thicker than the old tray so the outline wouldn't make any sense. But what I did do was measure from bottom corner of tray to bottom window. But I'm not sure that'll matter either since I kept the rear tin that holds engine gasket from the original tray and cut out the new one. So my worries making sure the new meets the old and getting that nice and tight.

Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:44 pm

sorry didnt take any pics. as long as you have your measureing/alignment methods to line up the parcel tray at the correct horizontal to tack to the wheel arches aand correctly to what metal is remaining under the rear window b fine. then theres the small tin pieces that get tacked under and in back of shelf remaining,you know that by now. dont be afraid to cut out bad metal on the arches and bend and weld in a new patch. it not that hard. the bending is easy,just use the piece u cut out as the template. i found this part easier than replaceing the tray. i buy arches for both sides with the body mounts,only needed one side but i had to have them both same cause im nuts and picky. mid america sells sheets of 20 gauge. not the best way to get metal but its there. mark off what needs to be cut out with marker. get a beer and sit and look at that area a while,then let it jell upstairs for a day or two. its no big thing.

Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:54 pm

check out '[email protected]' in the classifieds.he might have something for you. his name is mike, good to do buisness with. ships grayhound. i orderd a dash,got lost in mail. told him havent recieved it wonder why. talked on phone,he knew right away was lost in mail . sent me another dash,no charge! i sent him back couple of bucks for good faith and buy some parts. has alot of 60's cars,still wheel arches can easily made to fit. let me know how it goes.

Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:31 am

oldmanmark wrote: check out '[email protected]' in the classifieds.he might have something for you. his name is mike, good to do buisness with. ships grayhound. i orderd a dash,got lost in mail. told him havent recieved it wonder why. talked on phone,he knew right away was lost in mail . sent me another dash,no charge! i sent him back couple of bucks for good faith and buy some parts. has alot of 60's cars,still wheel arches can easily made to fit. let me know how it goes.

I bought my front clip from him. The service was good, and the shipping was crazy cheap.

Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:07 am

I'm still plugging away at the rear package tray/under the rear window rust.
I took the vented tray/deck lid mounts off to get better access to the rotted area under the window.

Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:46 am

I think this is the first time I've seen that louvered panel removed. Good job. What's next?

Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:16 am

Not sure lol. Well the metal under the window isn't strong enough to weld to. It's pitted and rusty so I might have to go further up closer to the window in order to repair the section that the package tray/louvered tray welds too

Mon May 27, 2013 5:21 pm

I got it welded up...not the greatest job but oh well. I wanna drive this beetle not trailer it. The metal rot under the window was really bad. I had to get a donor piece just to fix it. I'm not the greatest welder so don't pay attention to that. It's solid and i'm proud of it. The beetle is one step closer to being on the road. It's a heck of a lot better than what it looked like lol

Mon May 27, 2013 8:12 pm

Good job.

Tue May 28, 2013 5:45 am

Smurf wrote: I'm not the greatest welder...

You don't have to be... you just have to be real good at grinding. :wink:

Tue May 28, 2013 6:01 am

Joey wrote: Smurf wrote: I'm not the greatest welder...

You don't have to be... you just have to be real good at grinding. :wink:

Got that right lol

Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:19 am

Smurf wrote: I'm still plugging away at the rear package tray/under the rear window rust.
I took the vented tray/deck lid mounts off to get better access to the rotted area under the window.

You got any more photos of that area? +1 on jumping in and doing it right.

Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:11 pm

scrivyscriv wrote: Smurf wrote: I'm still plugging away at the rear package tray/under the rear window rust.
I took the vented tray/deck lid mounts off to get better access to the rotted area under the window.

You got any more photos of that area? +1 on jumping in and doing it right.

Sorry for the late reply...I don't have anymore photos. This job wasn't that tough as I thought it would be but it wasn't fun! There are so many different curves back there it'll drive you insane.

Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:27 am

how was the fit of the replacement piece? you bought yours new for a 68 Bug... I have a 69 Bug - would a new replacement piece be better than a tray from a donor 63 Bug? Are all years generally the same size / same louver sizes?