The 'Ol 55

[tehillah1]

[tehillah1]

I'm on to getting the rear end of this project straightened up to some acceptable shape. My current dilemma is establishing the correct position for the bumper mounts.
Car is level, front to back, side to side. With the bumper flanges mounted the body in the lowest position possible the bumper mounts are a little over a 1/4" out of level (right high, left low) and are a about a 1/2" low at the bumper end of the mount.
Anyone have any kind of idea of the stock rear bumper mount specs on a early 1955?

[tehillah1]

[VW_Jimbo]

[tehillah1]

It is always worth the wait for experienced info...thanks for posting your knowledge, however time allows.

[Rome]

Rear apron: Since you want to save your original, here's a tip: Patch the exhaust cutout holes using sections from a Beetle front fender edge. You can find a later fender (best to get a used German one for closest metal thickness) and use the gently curved metal at the front of the fender. It will have nearly the same bottom lip curve shape as the apron. Just make some paper templates of your exhaust cutout, and cut out the fender metal. 1 fender should be sufficient for making the 2 patches on your apron. You can probably find a German fender (>68 is fine) that is still OK in front but can be crunched in back, for cheap. An expert Beetle restorer/welder in CT told me that tip over 30 yrs ago.

The apron section between, and outboard of the exhaust cutouts has been bent down and rearward. Those 6 small holes are water drain holes (kicked up by rear tires) and would be normally pointed straight down to the ground instead of facing rearward on yours. To keep that radius along the apron bottom channel, you might be able to cut a 10" piece of 1/2" diameter metal pipe (wiring conduit?), clamp it right where the drain holes are using 2 longer-jaw vise grips, then bend the apron metal upwards so that it bends around the pipe. You can use shorter section of pipe, bend the apron maybe halfway, unclamp the pipe and reposition to an unbent section, and bend again. Repeat until the bent-up lip is mostly uniform. Don't bend one section up all at once, as this could tear the metal. Would be easiest to do the bending before you weld in those cutout patches, though the fender section patches would be a good guide as to the bottom edge/channel shape.

Edit: I might be mistaken about the shape of the bottom edge contour of the apron- instead of it curving up like a "J" or "U" like the front fender lower edge is, the apron might just bend forward and slightly upward... like a leaning "L". I just saw a shot of 67 Florida Deluxe's mint '56 Beetle (shown below) and that raised my doubts of my original description. I realize his '56 has factory-original exhaust cutouts in the apron, but you could probably find some shots of an unmangled '55-ish apron that shows the bend of the bottom channel.

Then again- maybe my original description was close after all. Here's a shot from sunroof who's redoing a '54 that did not have the exhaust cutouts. He's patching the left rear corner of the apron. You can see the original "J" curvature of the apron bottom channel beyond the patch cut.

[jason]

How are the bumper brackets in the fender slots, left and right? I found that I need to use the 2 piece brackets. It sits over to much with the three piece.

[jason]

Look at the brace under the apron. It will tell you what was original or not. Earlier was shaped differently for strength.

[tehillah1]

Thanks for the info and pics of the aprons. I'll post up what I come up with on the repair to the cutouts and do some searching to try to get an idea on getting the apron squared away. I've tried to get an idea of the overall curve of the rear end with a stiff wire running from fender bottom to fender bottom for a start. I'll weld up the holes and then work to get the whole thing into shape.

Jason, the brackets I got are the 3 piece and they fit ok through the fender holes, a little tight on the outside but I've fit both sides with grommets and things line up ok.
I just got back from Omaha...moving my daughter to Phoenix. She just finished med school and is off to Mayo Clinic for residency. So next week will be the Colorado to Phoenix leg...I won't get back in the shop for a bit but I'll put up some pics of what I'll be working on.
Thanks for the feedback. Samba rocks.

[tehillah1]

[tehillah1]

One repair at a time and sooner or later I'll be moving on to another phase. Got one of the aftermarket cutouts filled in the Apron. Once I get the second one done I can shape up this rear end to something resembling stock...best as I can ascertain. These repairs have given me a whole new level of respect for some of the work I've seen here on the Samba...

[Dan22]

Those 6 holes in the apron should be in the bottom of the fold. Those are drain holes. Looks like a lot of shaping is necessary.
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[tehillah1]

Anyone out there have a stock early 55 that could shoot some pics of the apron to fender lines? Maybe some dimensions from the bottom of the hood latch to the bottom of the apron? Jimbo has some pics of the apron he is working on (copied one here with a line for the dimension I'm looking for).
I'm trying to figure out how to establish where the line of the apron should be before I start bending things into place.

[VW_Jimbo]

So sorry! I have no excuses, except for I forgot. Sorry.

Here you go!

Hope it helps! Let me know if you need anything else!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[tehillah1]

[Dan22]

Another tidbit for you tehillah1. The '55 and older apron does not have the brace like the 56 and later 2 cutout aprons. That brace is reinforcement due to the cutouts. The early aprons rely on the continuous shape and the wrap underneath for strength and rigidity. Take a look at Wolfparts panel to see what I mean.
_________________
1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[tehillah1]

[VW_Jimbo]

Looks more like a heat shield to me but maybe it serves as a reinforcement piece. Or maybe....both. Guess we need a VW engineer to let us know the full extent of the piece.

Without further delay. I give you “the piece”...

That is a crack across the piece. I will be welding it back together in the future.

_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[tehillah1]

[janerick3]

The inner reinforcement piece is not present on pre-1956 Beetles.
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Thanks,
Jan K.