Squareback engine deck

[leoasman]

A couple questions for the knowledge base. I am wire wheeling down the rust around the engine deck and came across a couple issues. First, I have the engine cover on, but is there any danger from the sparks being thrown off the wheel? I have the windows protected but I've never used an angle grinder with a wire wheel so I didn't know if I was playing with fire...literally! Second, in the picture, the red marks indicate a popped up area. Probable from a small accident. What is the best way to get that banged back down and flat? Im getting it ready for some POR15 or other suitable protectant. Thanks, Leo

[bomberbob]

Hammer and dolly that bump back down. Engine cover will have to come off. There should not be that many sparks coming off the wire wheel. If you were running a flap disc there would be more sparks, and more metal removed.
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1968 Beetle (storage)
1990 Jetta GLI megasquirted, burning E85 (currently in heavy maintenance)
2004 Jetta turbo GLI
Marion, Iowa

[leoasman]

[ibldrc]

[leoasman]

[evanfrucht]

Based on what is described it looks like it could use a well placed pull on an automotive frame machine. No way to really get it right without reversing whatever inertia caused the damage to happen. You probabaly got hit on you rear left fender by a truck or other "tall" car and it pushed down the whole area which caused it to buckle in that spot.

The other less likely cause would be some previous owner letting the car drop on a jack stand or maybe if the car ran over some stuff like a bunch of furniture or large rocks.... idk !

Does the decklid fit a little funky? Any other evidence of previous collision repairs in the that corner of the car?
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1967 Bug ( the daily rod )
1964 Fury Wagon ( the pavement shredder )

[leoasman]

I’m pretty sure it got hit at some point, but either a PO took care of any major issues or it was otherwise lightly damaged. Drip rails are straight. No bowing on the panels that I see. The bumper mounts were redone at some point... I was able to get the panel mostly flat with a hammer and dolly set.

I have a donor piece to replace the rusted section. Would you guys just patch in a piece like this

Or would you do a larger section? I figure that I could drill out the spot welds on the little overlap piece from the backseat area and weld it in underneath. That way it becomes unseen. But this area will always be covered with padding/carpet so maybe not worry about it and weld in the smaller patch.

[Tvättbjörn]

I would go from the backseat area to the lid seal. That way you only have longer welds on the left and right side. Front and back will be only spot welds than. Make the panel as large as needed. You will need good metal to weld . Just cut the rust out until you have solid material.

[leoasman]

[evanfrucht]

Yes I agree. Do as large of a panel as you feel comfortable with. It's really no big deal to weld in new metal, you'll be glad you did it. I'd even go all the way to/past that "buckled" or wrinkled area you pictured.

Make sure you dont leave any rust, especially trapped behind anywhere. Clean everything very well before welding with flap discs, wire wheels, rolocs, sander, etc. Final clean with acetone.

I would use some 18 gauge mild sheet steel or equivelant scrap metal. Make sure you grind/sand the new panel clean. ( 20 gauge is a bit too thin)

You can use cardboard to make a trial test panel to dial in fitment.
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1967 Bug ( the daily rod )
1964 Fury Wagon ( the pavement shredder )

[Mike Fisher]

[evanfrucht]

Sand down/wire brush all the rust off the whole area and see what you are left will. DO NOT decide how big the patch will be BEFORE you remove the rust. You need to see what and how much good metal is under the rust. It's hard to tell how bad it is just looking at it now with all the scale on it.

It's a tough one. How big is your donor panel? Most proper way to to fix this is to replace the whole panel. Or atleast all the damaged parts. Don't settle for a smaller shape just to make the work more convienient... that is a bad tradeoff.

You could patch it, it would work, If I was going to do a patch I'd butt weld it in with NO overlap. Harder to do but the only proper way to do a patch IMO.

To replace the whole panel is pretty involved so idk if you are up for that. Having the pan off makes it easier also. Maybe just patch it for now and then you or someone else can do a full pan off restoration in the future.
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1967 Bug ( the daily rod )
1964 Fury Wagon ( the pavement shredder )

[leoasman]

[evanfrucht]

I said that replacing the whole panel is the most "proper" way... well that is true, but only to an extent with a vintage car.

Sometimes if the damage is localized to only one area then a patch can be a good permanent solution, the problem is that many times it is not. It might look ok but then after closer inspection you notice the spot welded seam over to the side is starting to rust out too (just a 'for example' scenario, not saying you have that problem.)

Lets say you have a floor pan from a car that has been stored in a perfectly dry building, but an old battery sat inside and rotted out the section just below it... that might be the perfect time to patch since the floor pan is solid everywhere else. Replacing it fully would actually be more invasive IMO since 95% of the floor pan is perfect and original.

But in many other cases the rust spreads more evenly everywhere and at the seams, even if there is only one spot that seems really bad at first...

So it really depends... sometimes its helpful to try and figure out how the rust occured. Where did moisture come it from? Where are the low spots, etc?

My main advice it to simply sand off all the paint and bring it down to bare metal at least 6 inches past where you think damage ends and then wire wheel it until you see shiny metal everywhere. The deep rust
and damage will become very clear at that point...

You will be fine either way it's a pretty straight forward repair in either instance.
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1967 Bug ( the daily rod )
1964 Fury Wagon ( the pavement shredder )