Availability of convertible 'rear deck?'

[Scimher]

I have a replacement hood (fortunately already attached to a replacement hoodframe...) to fit. My rear deck is doing a passable impersonation of a sieve & someone in the village (a pro-welder who is into VW's to such an extent that one of the VeeDub mags. are visiting him this week to do a write-up!) has taken pity on me & the car & has offered to do something with it & only suggested that I buy him a few beers - I will of course put him on my list of deserving people to be paid summat but, meanwhile, I am right in saying that that particular panel is unobtainable am I not??

Any help, advice, suggestions etc. gratefully received...(The car is my daily runabout so cannot be in dry dock for long......plus am seriously skint at this moment in time!..😳)

[RobPearce]

I believe you are right, the rear deck is not available new for any of our cars. Once upon a time, it used to be possible to find good ones on otherwise rotted-out scrap cars but not so much these days.

For a skilled metal fabricator (which is not the same as a pro-welder, although it's not uncommon for someone to be both) the rear deck isn't too hard a panel to repair, though.

[Scimher]

Thanks, Rob........We'll have to see what we can do.

[daver clasper]

Might be worth contacting Chic Doig as I think he may have body/chassis sections that the usual suspects don't

Dave 

[Paudman]

He will also make one to the original pattern from sheet metal, so worth contacting.

[Scimher]

Thanks, Dave & Colin, for the information & advice - there is a VW classic van/camper enthusiast in the village who, conveniently, works for a local company as a welder, & who has taken pity on me (& the car! 🙂).........He's already spent about 2 1/2hrs. letting in new metal on the offside of the rear deck even replacing the reinforcing bit that helps to support the boot hinge.

I'm going round for 9am this coming Friday so that he can finish the rear deck so we can get the hood/hoodframe on, between us. (Fortunately it has not been too bad, rainwise, but there have been a couple of occasions where the poor old gal has impersonated a mobile paddling pool - fortunately all floor drainage holes are open & there is no carpet or mats behind the front seats!..😳)

As you will no doubt gather she lives outside 24/7 all year round...

   

[Scimher]

The replacement hood/hoodframe were replaced as one unit......being an old hood & probably having shrunk somewhat & with the frame/hood being from another car, there is a fair amount of tension - there is no way the rear deck would have coped without the ministrations of my friend.. (many thanks, Mike!!)

[dingdong]

You can get repair panels for each side of the trans tunnel, mine was further gone so the panels wouldn't have been enough.

when I took my carpets out my rear deck sounds like it was much the same as yours, I took a deep breath and took the cutting wheel to it.

fabricated each side using cardboard templates.

Then had to do some to the inner sills and used a tread panel from the above supplier on the passenger side, then found the drivers floor pan was patched, fibre glassed and filled!

fitted a new floor pan.

It just goes on...

 

[Scimher]

...I hope you've finally won the battle, Graham - my driver's floor pan has now been patched.......fortunately it hadn't been fibreglassed & filled!