| STEP
1. |
KEEP
THINGS WORKING |
The wiper blade has a nut to unscrew first.
After that, pull the wiper blade all the way
off. There is a nut after that. This should be
everything for the outside of the car. The VW
badge, (if you want it off), pry's off. Just
be careful not to scrape the paint!
After that, unscrew the rear tailgate panel on
the inside of the car. Unplug everything.
Then, basically unbolt every bolt you see.
Pull out the wiper assembly, and the lock
mechanism. To pull out the license plate
panel, unscrew the license plate light bulbs
from the front and pull those out. After that,
everything should just pull out. Leave the
lock vacuum unit in. |
Now, to keep the hatch-pop mechanism working
right, (because this is the only way, you are
getting into your rear), bend the metal rod
back 90 degrees as seen in the above photo.
(The silver rod). Next, and this part will
make you cry, take a rough grit sanding wheel
and grind away the washer bulge to leave it
flush with the rear hatch.
For the front windshield jets, just disconnect
the washer hose's under the hood. Pull out the
rubber gasket looking things that protect your
fingers from getting cut. Find the tiny notch
on the jet housing and push in and the jets
should just pop out. |
| STEP
2. |
STEP
3. |
After taking out the license plate holder,
carefully trace the outline of the holder.
Take your tracing and go find a piece of metal
about the same thickness of the VW body. In
this case, we found a Mustang door and got the
metal from that. Cut piece out, along with a
4" square piece for the wiper hole. For
the future, cut out two 1" by 1 1/2"
metal pieces for the windshield jet holes.
Grind the pieces to fit. |
Those for the faint of heart should leave this
to the professionals. Cover the glass with
tape because the welder will leave puck marks
on the glass. Cover the paint to be sure not
to burn it or leave marks. Take a spot welder,
(if you don't have one, stop now!), and weld
the small hole closed first. Tape the piece of
metal to the back of the hole and weld from
the top. It isn't pretty but this is what it
should look like (above). |
| STEP
4. |
STEP
5. |
Next, take the traced out plate and weld it
from the outside of the car. Go slow and weld
in 5" increment spacing as not to warp
the metal. This is imperative to the finished
piece because it may look right but after
painting, it will show warping. |
The tech had a much better alternative to
store bought Bondo. It was a combination of
fiberglass and plastic. You can purchase this
at most body supply stores or through NAPA
stores if available to you. Mix the filler
together and prepare to work fast. AGAIN, if
you don't have experience working with filler,
get someone to do it. The tech who did this
work was an artist with filler and he
definitely knew what he was doing. |
| STEP
6. |
STEP
7. |
Sand, sand, sand. Go easy on the sanding and
have patience. There will be several coats to
sand. This is the point where everything will
come together. Don't get too excited and stop
now because there will be a lot of high spots
to hammer in and fill over. This is the most
important part of this process. Check, and
recheck the smoothness with your hand. |
Paint over the bondo with a light coat of flat
color. Sand over the paint and you will see
the high's and low's that you need to fix. If
you sand the surface and see spots of black,
fill those in because they are low spots. The
above is the finished product. |
| STEP
8. |
STEP
9. |
The hood is basically the same process as the
front. It is a lot easier than the back to do
because of the smaller hole to fill. Begin
with spot welding the pieces of metal to the
hood. |
Tape the metal from the inside of the hood. |
| STEP
10. |
STEP
11. |
Grind out the welds to make it as smooth as
possible with the rest of the hood. |
Apply the filler the same way as the rear.
Sand, sand, sand, fill, fill, fill... |
| STEP
12. |
Finally, paint the hatch and hood with primer
until you are ready to paint. The body man had
a can of undercoat so he sprayed it on the
back of the welds in the hood and the hatch as
to stop rusting and waterproof the welds.
Above is the finished product before
painting... |
