Front Fender Removal -
Apart from the electrical connections, removal of the front fenders is not too difficult. First, raise the front of the car and rest it securely on jack stands. Remove the front wheels (the fender can be removed with the wheels on, but you'll have limited access to the fender bolts -- we recommend removing the wheels).
First remove the headlights and all the wiring; wrap the wiring up out of the way. Then it's just a matter of undoing the bolts and pulling the fender off. The rubber bead has cutouts around the bolt holes (it doesn't have holes in it - just cut outs). Dave reported that his old beading practically came apart in his hands. Rob said that the new stuff will probably outlast the life of the car.
Dave was especially anxious to replace the fender beading, as well as all of the rubber in the body of the car, as some PO had painted right over it. Rob said that's the first thing he look at in a Beetle. If the beading has been painted over you know that the painting's been done "on-the-cheap".
Dave found that it was very easy to get to the bolts; the biggest problem, especially on the forward bolts, was the captive nut breaking loose before the bolt loosened, primarily because they were damaged in a past accident. Even liberal use of penetrating oil (e.g., Kroil) did not help with this problem. Dave found that EVERY ONE of the captive nuts broke loose! The fender had been replaced before, with a used one from a GREEN bug! And lots of body putty. Dave feared that he'd really opened a can of worms.
Front Fender Replacement -
Dave decided to replace all of the bolts for which the captive nuts had broken loose with new bolts, large washers on both sides, and nuts. Much easier than it was getting the bolts out in the first place.
Rob recommended the use of a little soft (non-setting) silicon or similar around the fender bolt holes to help prevent water from leaking into the luggage area and rusting the washers/nuts -- there is a lot of sprashing going on under there. A little grease on the threads would be good too, just in case.
Dave wrote that the holes for the fender bolts are in a mess all the way around on the left side - square and ragged from the "captive" nuts being pulled through. I'm going to follow your suggestion and put a bead of silicone around each of the rectangular "washers" after I paint them to keep water out of the trunk. Bolt/washer/shim/body/shim/washer/nut/silicone will make for a good connection.
Rob wrote about an accident with a cow near Alice Springs -- the right fender mount area was damaged and they had to use bolts through the panel (captive nuts removed so the panel could be straighten). They used very large washers under the bolt heads inside the luggage area, and it gave no trouble at all. Your idea does something like that too.
Dave learned to his dismay that the new fenders he had ordered for his Super Beetle didn't fit! The supplier had incorrectly sent fenders for a Standard Beetle. Dave didn't notice it until the guy called from the paint shop. Fortunately he still had the old ones (hadn't taken them to the dump yet) and even more fortunately Dave was able to sell the new fenders to a guy in Florida (getting them shipped was a nightmare!).
It also meant that Dave would get to keep the "frenched-in" antenna well in the left front fender after all. The paint shop completely removed the old antenna well and all of the fiberglass and stuff that the PO used to install the well, then they welded a new one in place!
Dave found that the rearmost fender bolt on the left, right down at the bottom of the fender, had pulled through just like all the others. The captive nut had pulled through completely and the hole was enlarged and distorted. To make matters worse, the backside of this one is not accessible -- it's right down there by the "snout." Dave decided to try to find a heavier version of a "molly" bolt that is used in hollow drywall.
Rob suggested perhaps welding a "plate" with a new captive nut over that hole. Or, perhaps leaving that bolt out altogether, since the bolt to the running board is right near that one, so it wouldn't be without some support. But Dave's too much of a perfectionist to leave a bolt out! :-)
To see how much trouble it was going to be, Dave put a light in the fender well and then had a look through the little hole inside the car that provides access to the "snout" up to the defroster vents.
Rob suggested that if the hole could be seen from inside the car it might be possible to get one of those flat "nuts" like the body clip(with thread) close enough to catch the thread of a larger tech screw or similar put through from the fender side.
Maybe I'll be able to put the head of the bolt through the hole (backwards, from the fender well side) and then slip a body clip down over it back behind the snout. I'll probably have to take the defroster tube back off of the snout to gain access.
But then, how to tighten the nut on the other side? It all depends on how much room there is on the inside behind the snout -- there's very little, and that's the limiting factor.
Rob had a good suggestion - "Choose a bolt long enough so that when tight the threads will project out from the nut. Then you file two flats through the threads at the threaded end of the bolt so when the nut gets snug you can put a shifter (adjustable wrench) on the flats and hold the shaft still."
Rob suggested -- there may be no room for fingers but enough room to hold the upper end of a flat strip between the snout and the damaged outer skin/captive nut area.
Dave reported marvelous success with replacing the fenders.
Disclaimer stuff: Rob and Dave have prepared this information from their own experiences. We have not assumed any specialised mechanical knowledge, but we DO assume that anyone using this information has at least some basic mechanical ability.
We hope you find this information useful, but we don't take any responsibility for anything which happens to you, other people, your VW or any other property or goods resulting from your use of this material.
Feel free to print off any of this information for your own use. If you intend to link this material to another site, reprint it, or in any other way redistribute it, please leave the information complete, including this disclaimer section, and provide a link to this Web site.
Last revised 4 May 2004.
