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Sat May 30, 2015 8:57 am

so I wanna change the front clip on my 67 sunroof beetle. it looks like bacon along where the fenders bolt up to the point that they drilled holes and put shiny bolts and nuts all the way through to hold it together. I know that jbugs and a lot of the local vw shops I have gone to sell the front clip for $150 and they charge me about 400 to 500 dollars in labor to install that new front clip. I want advice on if I should tackle it my self or should I leave it to the pros. I have a friend who says if I remove the front fenders and gas tank and get it ready for him he would do it for a lot cheaper but has never done a beetle front clip but has done other car and truck front clips. what do you guy think I should do. im in los angeles and if you guys have a shop that you guys personally recommend let me know please.

Sat May 30, 2015 12:08 pm

That's a measure 3x and cut once type of job. I will inform you that the Brazilian clip is made of metal that is inferior to the original German sheet metal. It can be done by the average do-it-yourselfer with a Sawzall, MIG welder and grinder.

Sat May 30, 2015 12:32 pm

Buy a used clip from samba classifieds and get the right guage metal with all the correct bends
Read through some build threads there are several that show you how to do this yourself
I especially like the guy who rough cut his pieces then bolted everything together WITH the fenders ON ......then he made his final cut through both layers .
Spend the money on a used mig welder ; it,s not rocket science .

Sat May 30, 2015 1:51 pm

Hi Vic. Can I call you Vic? WELCOME.
Good advice from Pete on the poor quality of parts out there. To be completely honest with you, I don't see much for sale at jbugs that is of much interest to me. Trying to be somewhat polite. I am also in LA, and think I know most places out there to source parts. Much may depend on what you, as the owner, wants as the end result. This may be as far as originality, get it running mentality, flip it, etc. A 67 is kinda unique with its body parts, and being a sunroof model is nice.
Body work wise, think of this and do the research. Car Craft magazine, which is in LA, had their blue, 1967 American Motors Project car body work and paint done at L.A. Trade Tech, by the students there. Google this and look at the work! It may suit your needs/budget.
I believe there are a few places around SoCal where you may be able to pick up the clip you need.
Let me know here or PM me. I hope this helps, Bill.

Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:48 pm

Hi guys, I'll bump this post rather than starting a new one since its close to what I wana know...I get that new clips fit wierd,thinner metal and all that.but Is there more that one manufacturer and if so, which one is better..?who's stamp is closest

Fri Jun 26, 2015 3:00 pm

Its an extremely small number of companies in the world who are stamping out repop VW Beetle sheet metal. To recoup the huge investment involved with stamping dies and machinery on fairly low demand VW sheet metal would take YEARS to amortize. I believe all of the front clips that you see being sold by various air cooled VW retailers are made by the exact same manufacturer. I was informed that all of the fenders and front hood repops come from one manufacturer in Italy and the front clips are all Brazilian made by one company.

Fri Jun 26, 2015 3:59 pm

Be careful about buying a repop clip that fits MANY years . You end up with extra holes and bends that aren't in your year original metal .
I will tell you what I told the original thread poster ; get a used clip of the correct year .

Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:48 pm

Thanks guys...I know og is best but I'm in a wet climate and good clips are hard to come bye...the ones I do find are hours and tons of gas away..I know there's alot of work to make the new clips rite like the washer bottle cut out...I just figured modifying a clip would be easier than building a clip from panels mixing in my 58 clip parts to get as close to original without buying original.ofcourse I'm allways looking for a clip but I'm having no luck in my area and I'm ready to move forward..I'm not looking for concourse on this build..just a nice solid runner.. so if the sheetmetal isn't an exact stamp,curves,shape, replica as the original 58 metal I'm ok with it....thanks again

Sat Jun 27, 2015 6:19 am

I recently did a front clip. My 2cents: source an original clip. Have one shipped if none in your area. I would recommend dutchboymike here on the samba. But whatever route you choose I would also recommend, as others have stated, measuring multiple times. Also fitting fenders and hood before completely welding in. It's a bit tricky but take your time and it'll come out fine.

Sat Jun 27, 2015 2:14 pm

X2 on dutchboymike. I bought a 76ish std bug front end clip for my DD 74, for a dad/son project. Clip still sitting in storage, sigh! E-mail Mike. He always sources stuff, kinda like the tale "pulling a rabbit outa the hat trick".

Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:57 pm

When it rains it pours...I just found a 65 she'll never hit with no rust...I know they split yrs up like 58 to 64, 65-67 and so on..I know there's window differences in the 65...but shouldn't a 63 and a 65 front clip be basically the same...fenders bolt, hood lays..thanks for the help guys..I haven't built a bug in awhile and I'm having to re-familiarize myself with some stuff

Wed Nov 19, 2025 2:45 pm

That sounds correct.

Thu Nov 20, 2025 9:41 am

bipolaroller wrote: When it rains it pours...I just found a 65 she'll never hit with no rust...I know they split yrs up like 58 to 64, 65-67 and so on..I know there's window differences in the 65...but shouldn't a 63 and a 65 front clip be basically the same...fenders bolt, hood lays..thanks for the help guys..I haven't built a bug in awhile and I'm having to re-familiarize myself with some stuff

very minor differences between 61-67, but there are several. None of them prevent you from swapping clips between those years, they're all the same shape and dimensions and teh details are small and superficial most people wouldn't even notice.
If you're doing a FULL RESTO spend the $ on green parts from the UK, if not get a clean cut from a car that wasn't hit.

Fri Nov 21, 2025 7:10 am

Head up the highway to Avery’s and get a front clip. Original steel is always better than aftermarket. Avery’s prices are very fair. On a front clip you are fortunate enough to have several places to bolt it together to get your cuts and alignment right before welding. Both fenders and the body to beam mounts. You could also make a jig using the gas tank mounting bolt holes for alignment.