83 Gti set to get full resto

Melteddrummer said

It's a new one mate, I bought it from a member when I first joined the forum. Not sure where he bought it from though.

Where did you buy yours from mate? and is your outer rim all one piece or is it in sections like mine?

Andy, mine came direct from Werk 34 in Germany, although it looks like a copy. Not a good fit though and will need some attention when I get there.

Managed to get it in tonight

Think I might have to remove it again though as I forgot to bare the metal and zinc prime  It took me a couple of hours to sort it out after work.

earlier in the week I sorted the back half of the floor out and zinc primered the lot




Here's how the wheel well is held together, not very straight!!




So, I broke the spot welds and used a ratchet strap to pull it in straight as the well was tapering out at the top making it tighter the further it went through the hole  I had to repeat this in three places around the wheel well.




After all this work it still took a bit of persuading into position but she's in at last


The fit isn't perfect in the recess inside the boot and it's overlapping in a couple of areas but once it's covered with seam sealer you wont even know.


I'll be back to finish it off tomorrow, then it will be seam sealer and epoxy time!!!

Well done lad! 

Good work man!! I wish to do this one day with mine as mine was missing a wheel well when i bought the car, 

Im sure ive sed it before but this car is gonna be a beaut when its done! 

Inspirational...

I'm wondering if that wheel well should be welded in from underneath so you don't have to make it fit the hole.
Although I've just looked at pics of my shell and they definately were originally fitted through the hole.
Just a thought……

I had the same thought Graham but the original one came out that way, so I just put it back through the hole. I think the problem was more to do with it being poorly made.

Good job in making it fit  

It's a bit lame of the panel maker though. About the only one criteria (other than holding a spare wheel) is that the tub fits through a hole - you wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult for them  

Amazing thread, great attention to detail.

Keep up the amazing work  

Definitely goes in from the top, they're just not well designed.

Hairyarse said

Good job in making it fit  

It's a bit lame of the panel maker though. About the only one criteria (other than holding a spare wheel) is that the tub fits through a hole - you wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult for them  

Cheers, Andy. I'm just wondering if they have a Q.C dept at werk34

ant5 said

Amazing thread, great attention to detail.

Keep up the amazing work  

Thanks Ant, just on the final push now

Cero said

 they're just not well designed.

you're right there bud!!


On a sde note, can anyone confirm for me one thing?

My car is a gti originally so the engine mount is already in the big block position. I don't need to remove any engine mounts and relocate them for the 20V T conversion do I?

Thanks in advance.

Another amazing update dude. Massive respect for all of this hard work and effort.    

I've been away for 12 days with virtually no Internet access, got home and caught up with you're updates, seems you've been very busy andy!!     Top notch work as ever, like the use of the ratchet strap. Clearly no quality control were the wheel well came from. So close to paint, can't wait for it to begin.

Matt

smudger said

Another amazing update dude. Massive respect for all of this hard work and effort.    

Cheers dude, much appreciated

pazwaa said

I've been away for 12 days with virtually no Internet access, got home and caught up with you're updates, seems you've been very busy andy!!     Top notch work as ever, like the use of the ratchet strap. Clearly no quality control were the wheel well came from. So close to paint, can't wait for it to begin.

Matt

Can't wait either mate, won't be long though

awesome mate, and i thought i'd been busy!!!!

Nice work mate   
As you've all said the spate wheel is dropped into the floor and spot welded from the top. Its also welded to the cross member under the floor.

Macca said

Nice work mate  As you've all said the spate wheel is dropped into the floor and spot welded from the top. Its also welded to the cross member under the floor.

I ended up welding mine from underneath as removing the old one was one of the first jobs I did and at the time I didn't know about spot weld drills  so drilled right through cf_emoticons__BangHead: It's all done now anyway so here's a small update from the last couple of days.

I took the wheel well back out and made a couple more adjustments. I the bared the metal on the lip and applied weld thru primer as per




I then refitted it, welded it in and then bare metalled it before applying zinc primer

shiny shiny


tonight after work I went down and zinc'd it

Tomorrows job is to seam seal, then epoxy mastic the rear arches,wheel well and the rest of the floor. Once that is all done she's going back on her wheels so I can do the rear panel. I'm off work for the next ten days so you can guess where I will be

Awesome work…

I too am off for the next ten days, though I won't get to spend much of that time in the Garage unfortunately!
I will deffinitely make some progress, but I fear nowhere near as much as you might!

Melteddrummer said

tonight after work I went down and zinc'd it

Tomorrows job is to seam seal, then epoxy mastic the rear arches,wheel well and the rest of the floor. Once that is all done she's going back on her wheels so I can do the rear panel. I'm off work for the next ten days so you can guess where I will be

Nice one! Fantastic work!
 That's so worth the extra effort to get it right  

The underneath of your car is looking spot on.