Dents in tunnel
 

Sometime in the last 34 years, the previous owners of my 71 beetle have
managed to put several good sized dents in the bottom of the tunnel.
(Rocks?, Parking curbs? Poorly placed floor jacks?). Anyway, since I'm going
to be cleaning off the undercoating and repainting, I'd like to try to pull
the dents out, if possible. Anyone had any luck doing this? I was thinking
of applying heat, and then maybe using a slide hammer. Would this work? Any
other suggestions?

Mike Kayer
71 Beetle

MK wrote:

> Sometime in the last 34 years, the previous owners of my 71 beetle have
> managed to put several good sized dents in the bottom of the tunnel.
> (Rocks?, Parking curbs? Poorly placed floor jacks?). Anyway, since I'm going
> to be cleaning off the undercoating and repainting, I'd like to try to pull
> the dents out, if possible. Anyone had any luck doing this? I was thinking
> of applying heat, and then maybe using a slide hammer. Would this work? Any
> other suggestions?
>
> Mike Kayer
> 71 Beetle
>
>
That *might* work. Don't do it inside the garage though.
It's entirely possible the tunnel will combust; have a
garden hose/extinguisher handy.....

PLAN B: Bondo the dents.

Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

If you're talking about the "tunnel" itself, that's *very* thick metal &
will be *very* hard to pull. Very hard to do under a car. Unless they're
*real* bad, you might consider just grinding & bondoing as Speedy Jim
said.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 02:31:28 -0500, "ThaDriver"
<imangeloneAThotmailDOTcom@> wrote:

>If you're talking about the "tunnel" itself, that's *very* thick metal &
>will be *very* hard to pull. Very hard to do under a car. Unless they're
>*real* bad, you might consider just grinding & bondoing as Speedy Jim
>said.

unless he has a very odd edition '71 model, the metal is not terribly
hard to work. I will suggest a brazed on piece and a slide hammer
puller to "pull" the dents out. No reason to make any holes at all. I
cut up a 71 KG chassis to build my DUNE BUGGY , and it was quite easy
to bend the tunnel metal. I saved some pieces that I cut out too, so I
can make a saddle to cover the seam I made putting it back
together.....

Be patient and make small steps if you just have to remove the dents
at all. Likely they have no bearing on the vehicles strength or
durabilty as long as the coatings are intact.




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