Body Repair Panels? FAQ

[Desertbusman]

I have a early bay Klokkerholm L.H. rear wheel arch with side panel that is totally junk. If it had been free, it wouldn't have been worth the shipping cost. The shape of the arch is far far from stock. The contour of the flair is way off. The overall length is too short at the rear end.
So what brand is a good one?
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[Jeff Geisen]

... exactly my dilemma, bro.

I really am looking for a donor bus now, I have discovered so much uncertainty, and a seeming large margin for error dealing with copies of panels.
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I Corinthians 4: 1 thru 5

‘63 ragtop - ‘68 single cab

[mattcuddy]

The dilema on the other hand, is that any donor bus you find with non-rusted metal in the commonly needed areas (doglegs, rockers, batt tray, wheel arch), probably isn't really worth cutting up for parts.

I also have some rear wheel arches from Klokkerholm (late bay though). I haven't compared it to stock yet, now I'm wondering how well it matches.

[steponmebbbboom]

awesome thread.

[Basilbomb]

Quality really is a big issue, even aside from the fit problem. It appears that the doglegs on my 68 SC have been replaced once already (with the wrong ones) and they are shot. Of course poor prep can contribute, but the quality of the repair is so good there is no evidence of it except for the incorrect style. Someone paid big bucks to have this done. It gets a bit ridiculous when you go through three sets of fenders in the life of a truck.

[Campy]

For anyone who lives in northern California, there is a nice 1970 VW bus body (no transmission or engine) at the self-service autowrecker by East Park Avenue in Chico, CA. It should not have been junked. If you want to cut off any panels, you would have to bring a sawzal and a generator. You would have to call to see if the body is still there but it was there eight days ago.

[VWsArent4Hippies]

[Jeff Geisen]

... I agree that finding an early Bay with the metal you mentioned intact for a donor price may not be easy, but it is possible, may require cuttin' off of several.

I am paying top dollar for the body shop's time. I really want this rust repair to be as permanent as possible. In my case, the previous owner had the typical areas repaired, and the windshield and rear side window sills were done right. I am having the left rear wheel opening (inner and outer) replaced, as well as both front complete wheel arches.

I have time on my side, and several local prospects to look over for donations.

The whole deal about buying re-popped metal seems like such a shot in the dark!!! I worked hard for cash I will hand over to the body shop, and like any of you, I want to do it the best possible way, and that is why I posted this thread. I believe we are getting some great dialouge going too.
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I Corinthians 4: 1 thru 5

‘63 ragtop - ‘68 single cab

[gmag69]

Tha bad thing with buying used sheetmetal is unless the bus is an OG paint bus you run the risk of there being rust or accident damage on the panel after you get it stripped down. Dents are not really a problem as they can be taken out but rust is a different story. If you can go and look at the metal first then I'd do that before buying sight unseen. JMHO. It would be nice if we could get full quarters from Brazil for our busses or had someone repop them. Also the middle panel on the driver's side. I'd rather replace it all the piece it in. MMMM full quarter panels

Geno
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Check out my Westy resto. thread.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=230285

[Basilbomb]

I had a little lesson in economics yesterday. I saw this very nice parts bus in northern California, and I started salivating. I quickly worked out the cost of hauling that sucker to Vancouver (BC), the cost of the bus itself (a bit inflated) and now we are at twice the price of what I paid for my project, before anything is done. And what that adds up to is why these things are so expensive here. It's almost impossible to find one that isn't half-dissolved, and that includes a good parts bus. So at very best you break even restoring a rig, and that's if time is free.

[VWBUS998]

I'm nearing the ready for paint on my bus and like my previos post have replaced alot of metal all repop stuff. In Ohio and the areas surrounding the so called donor buses did not exist All bays are prone for rust in the same areas IMO if you can find one bus with all the metal needed to repair your bus then you should put money in the donor body and add your drivetrain and other items to complete the new bus much cheaper in the end unless you do your own bodywork and paint and alot of TIME. If you can get a rust free bus the rest is aminor issue.

[Basilbomb]

I'm gonna have to give that a hard look. Maybe if I borrowed a truck instead of paying Uhaul. Meanwhile these door aftermarket panels -do they provide the wrap around edge, the part that forms the channel for the rubber? Or do they just have the very front skin? cause these channels are toast and it would be a pain to fabricate.

[mattcuddy]

Got to snaping some pics for comparison this weekend.

Battery Trays:
VW driver side replacement on the left, Klokkerholm Passenger side on the right.

They seem to have nearly identical stampings and metal thickness (I didn't actually measure). My only issue with the VW one was the lack of battery mounts (as mentioned in a previous post. it actually got me thinking, did all westys come with the tab/bolt, or just those with a 2nd battery?) I'll probably just order a 2nd passenger side to use as a donor. The tab on top would be easy, but the housing/nut on the bottom might be a little time consuming to fab. The biggest issue I have with the Klokkerholm piece is that the bent edges of the curve are sloppy. It'll require a little work to get it "flat" for the plug welds I plan to do.

Klokkerholm - close up of curve

Vw Piece - close up of curve, cleaner lines

Rear Wheel Arches
I only have Klokkerholm pieces here, but I compared it to a bus in the garage for reference.

The metal is pretty sturdy, again I didn't actually measure thickness, but its not "cheap". I'll probably be using these on my own bus, eventually. The arch itself seems to mimic the original curves pretty well. There was one issue. The inner lip. So the panel comes down from the windows, curves out, goes flat (perpindicular to the ground) and then cuts back in undeneath. This "cut back underneath" part is what I'm referring to. The length of it on the Klokkerholm piece is about twice the size of original VW (as from a 79 anyway) Not a huge difference, as this part of the panel is more or less out of sight, but its a subtle difference none the less.
VW panel (on a 79):

The dusty area is the side itself, the somewhat shiny black part is the flat edge, and the rusty stuff is what cuts back underneath.

Klokkerholm replacement.

Notice the underneatc part is almost 2x the sixe of the flat part. I'll planning to trim it back, but we'll see what I actually do when push comes to shove

Front doglegs and rear corners comming up when I get some more time to dig out the panels and snap some more pics.

[Jeff Geisen]

... alright, to bring this back around;

I am interested in hearing from those that have actually bought and installed or had installed aftermarket body repair panels...

If you could do it all over again, whose repair metal would you buy???
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I Corinthians 4: 1 thru 5

‘63 ragtop - ‘68 single cab

[jeromeaircooled]

Those considering fabbing bay parts should look at doing an early bay nose skin. Seems like everybody is looking for one. I bought a whole bus for one only to find a ton of bondo on it. Of course it was cheap enough and I stole enough other parts to still make it worth while.

Plus I feel a bit bad killing these busses for parts. The value of them is going up enough that what was once a dead bus is going to eventually be viewed as a viable project. Look at some of the crap sold in the split classifieds. Some can hardly be recognized as a vehicle.
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Getting back in the game

[Alan Brase]

Is this the best conversation on this subject, or is there a more recent one that someone can direct me to?
Gerson was talking about making some bay stuff, did this ever come to pass?
My 71 Dormie needs pretty much a bottom clip and I'm wondering if anyone now has good parts. I especially need the track for the sliding door, outriggers and jack sockets. This car originally had belly pans. Later VW Westys sorta forgot about those, so I think perhaps VW decided the belly pans are overkill.
Parts of this car are rustier than any other bay I have seen, yet the upper part is quite good, so, I think the belly pans trapped the moisture. (This was a Minneapolis car for a long part of its life, so, it was likely a good candidate for rust!)
Al
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Al Brase
Projects: 67 sunroof bug, 67 Porsche 912 Targa, 70 Westy
Dec 1955 Single Cab pickup WANT 15" BUS RIMS dated 8/55, thru 12/55
To New owners: 1969 doublecab, 1971 Dormobile
Vanagons:
80 P27 Westy JUL 1979, 3rd oldest known US
83 1.6TD Vanagon, 87 Wolfie Westy daily driver, swap meet home

[gmag69]

[White99z]

[theizzardking]

[greggearhead]

At www.oeveedub.com we try very hard to get the absolute best quality available. Yes, OE or OEM are almost always the best and that's what we specialize in.

As an example, our front dogleg sections for Bay Windows are Genuine VW from Brazil. They are much better than the Klokkerholm units (which we also carry as a lower priced alternative, but always inform the customer of the quality difference). Here's a link to our ad where we have a small picture.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=773012

More and more people are coming to the realization of the difference in quality, and the greatly increased value at a modestly increased cost.
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1972 Porsche 911E
1973 VW 412
1984 VW Doka
1991 Vanagon Syncro Westy


Period Lights, VW & Porsche wheels and Recaro/Scheel Seats for sale

https://www.facebook.com/greggearhead

http://greggearhead.com/soco-swap---september-vw-swap-meet.html