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kludgekevin
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2022
Posts: 17
Location: SC
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 Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2022 7:26 pm Post subject: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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I'm having some trouble finding a front quarter panel/inner fender for our '63 Bug. It seems easy to find pre-1958 and post-1967, but those middle years are a little tricky!
Does anyone have any ideas on where to source these or what an appropriate replacement part would be? |
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7023
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2022 9:47 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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Could you be more specific about what you're looking for? There are currently two patch panels available that would fit your 63's front quarter: one at the front that extends to roughly the top of the spare wheel well, and one at the rear bottom that extends back to the A pillar.
https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wolfsburg_new/body_s...cfm?type=1
_________________
1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga" |
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kludgekevin
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2022
Posts: 17
Location: SC
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:16 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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| mukluk wrote: |
Could you be more specific about what you're looking for? There are currently two patch panels available that would fit your 63's front quarter: one at the front that extends to roughly the top of the spare wheel well, and one at the rear bottom that extends back to the A pillar.
https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wolfsburg_new/body_s...cfm?type=1 |
Great question and apologies if I was not clear.
I am looking for the body metal that makes up the wheel well that the outside fender bolts to. The parts you describe make up the part I am trying to replace, but would prefer to replace the entire thing rather than just patch what I have.
Basically this part, but for a ‘63 which is what’s proving to be the difficult piece.
https://www.appletreeauto.com/quarter-panel-left-front-for-beetle-67-77/ |
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Busstom
Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2014
Posts: 3844
Location: San Jose, CA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:13 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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You're right, nobody makes one specifically and exactly for our years (I need one for a '65). The one you linked is a cheap cheezy piece of junk and a lot of work to make right. The best thing that you could fairly easily make proper with a couple minor changes is this one, not cheap, but known for great quality:
https://wolfparts.com/product/front-quarter-panel-beetle-52-60-left/
You'd have to pony up some dough, but probably worth the savings in time, and definitely worth the heft in quality. |
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kludgekevin
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2022
Posts: 17
Location: SC
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| Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:46 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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| Busstom wrote: |
You're right, nobody makes one specifically and exactly for our years (I need one for a '65). The one you linked is a cheap cheezy piece of junk and a lot of work to make right. The best thing that you could fairly easily make proper with a couple minor changes is this one, not cheap, but known for great quality:
https://wolfparts.com/product/front-quarter-panel-beetle-52-60-left/
You'd have to pony up some dough, but probably worth the savings in time, and definitely worth the heft in quality. |
Thank you! I did come across this in my searches. What are the differences in this one versus the ‘63? Off the bat I can see the tabs for the speedometer and other look but besides that? |
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Busstom
Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2014
Posts: 3844
Location: San Jose, CA
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| Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:17 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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| kludgekevin wrote: |
| What are the differences in this one versus the ‘63? Off the bat I can see the tabs for the speedometer and other look but besides that? |
I'm going to have to back-pedal what I said earlier based on the following information I discovered...
In the pic below, I've circled in yellow the differences that I think would be easiest to rework (and arrows to show the crescent-shaped form being lower on later cars). However, when compared to the '63 quarter panel shown further below, and in checking my '65, I noticed a very big difference, look at the Wolf panel where I put the teal dashed rectangle, this represents a large horizontal bumpout that is missing when compared with the later panels. It seems that this feature serves to enlarge the width of usable trunk space on the later cars, and it's missing in this Wolf panel. That is probably a deal-breaker for most people. I apologize for the misleading optimism.
Photo below courtesy of ty151's gallery.
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kludgekevin
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2022
Posts: 17
Location: SC
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| Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:08 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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| Busstom wrote: |
| kludgekevin wrote: |
| What are the differences in this one versus the ‘63? Off the bat I can see the tabs for the speedometer and other look but besides that? |
I'm going to have to back-pedal what I said earlier based on the following information I discovered...
In the pic below, I've circled in yellow the differences that I think would be easiest to rework (and arrows to show the crescent-shaped form being lower on later cars). However, when compared to the '63 quarter panel shown further below, and in checking my '65, I noticed a very big difference, look at the Wolf panel where I put the teal dashed rectangle, this represents a large horizontal bumpout that is missing when compared with the later panels. It seems that this feature serves to enlarge the width of usable trunk space on the later cars, and it's missing in this Wolf panel. That is probably a deal-breaker for most people. I apologize for the misleading optimism.
Photo below courtesy of ty151's gallery.
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Thank you for such a detailed explanation of the differences here.
Unfortunately, this is going into a car that is undergoing an electric conversion and the front battery boxes will be going where the gas tank was so that horizontal bump out will be needed for mounting purposes.
I wonder why these years have been skipped for reproduction purposes? |
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Busstom
Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2014
Posts: 3844
Location: San Jose, CA
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| Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:30 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Front Quarter Panel/Innder Fender Part? |
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| kludgekevin wrote: |
| I wonder why these years have been skipped for reproduction purposes? |
Hey Kevin,
In Wolf's case, I presume it's because he's focusing on the rarest of the available parts on the market, and since there is (or at least was) still a fairly decent supply of donor parts for what I call the "middle" years of these cars, it may not provide the return on investment for him, at least not yet. In the case of the flimsy aftermarket stuff, I can't say why they haven't delved into them yet.
I e-mailed Wolf asking what possibilities were and he said he has no plans at this time to make this part. In either case (Wolf or flimsy junk), I can get by with his earlier offering since the only portions of the panel that I really need are the rear/exterior part, and more specifically, I could just get away with the arched section where the fender bolts up, that's where mine is totally deformed with all weld-nuts ripped out.
Good luck in your quest. |
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