I am in the process of painting the front trunk. I have the gas tank removed to install a sway bar and was considering also painting the area where the gas tank sits and where the ventilation stuff is located. How hard is it to remove that stuff and re-install?Click to view attachment

So I took everything apart and did the painting....hope I can get it back together. Photos to follow

It can be a pain. If you do remove it all, here is a thread that discusses the entire process.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=86942

The gas tank is 20 min job to pull, 30 min to reinstall. The airbox is similar to the 5th to ring of Hell to remove but really gets hard re-installing it.

From the looks of the picture 1 more day and everything else is all out. . Hardest part is the blower box, vents and cables . . gas tank is the biggest pain it the ass and you've got that done. . . . . Be careful and mark all the heater cables that go to each vent. . take pictures. . . You can probably leave the wiper motor in as the blower box covers it up, but removing all this will make the paint job a lot easier and a lot better in quality. . . will take 3-4 to put it back together without hurting the new paint. .

Looks like the wiring is pulled so that's out of the way.

Clean the headlight grounds and tape the posts up. . Add some new nuts and it will look like factory direct . .Clean up the harness. I used lacquer thinner, re-tape as needed, put new plastic tubing on the harness retainer tabs. . Hard part is knowing where do you want to stop. . new hoses ?? new hose clamps? You could spend weeks . .

As for paint, this is about the same as the exterior, needs to be sanded in steps until you get to 400-600 grit if you want it to look nice. . New glossy paint will make all the scratches and chips show so prepare everything well . .use de-greaser and prime. .

Here are my before and after shots.

Getting it all apart was easy.. I haven't put mine back in yet so. I figure I am a few months behind you. I hope to have mine painted this weekend or next

Thanks boys...very good information. I think I am going to go for it....I know I am going to get real pissed off at the blower at some point......would not be surprised if I am posting in the WTB classified for pieces that were just asking to be busted.

I changed the color on two of my cars so I've been through this. It's a real pain and will take you twice as long as you might think. After it's done it will look like new and everyone who sees it will be impressed. Go for it!

I'm cleaning up by front end too. As you remove everything you will see that you will want to buy newer or better parts...$$$$

I removed all the air valves and hoses; just kept the air box to serve as a water drain.

Actually your parts look pretty good already...

The blower is held together by the clips that hold the gates of Hell together...don't try to take the blower apart to clean and paint, unless you've been to confessional and drunk>

It really isn't that hard to get everything out and put back together. Definitely take pictures as stuff comes out for easy replacement.

Also mark the wires off of the airbox so you get them back on correctly. The airbox goes in first and you want to make sure it runs before putting everything back in and find out the wiring is wrong. Same with the windshield wiper wires.

Wipers have a bolt that goes thru the dash. Pain in the ass to get undone. I've done it twice and both times broken the bolt. It's not easy finding a replacement.

here are the photos...paint came out ok for a trunk. Hope I can get this back together. As you can see the area with the blower was messed up due to the family of rats that lived there back in the late 1990s. What a difference. My back hurts too. Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment[attachmentid=372
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here is what see looks like on the outside.....now the inside matchesClick to view attachment

and one question...where do I get replacement hoses for the ducting that I removed that basically crumbled in my hands

VW parts stores.
Same diameter stuff is used on beetles.

rich

I think it looks good! I am in the same boat and will be starting to reassemble next weekend. My problem is that I took it all apart last year!

I think the hoses are available, I opted to leave the wiper motor and hoses mask them. Everything else came out.

And I broke my blower housing trying to mess with the clips. However I learned a trick if you took them off and didn't break anything. Paint them and put them on a block of wood. Cover with a nice thick cloth and whack with a hammer. This will spread them just enough to go back on easily and use a little seal adhesive if they got too loose.

John

I did not take the blower housing apart as I was warned to stay away. Doesn't mean I wont break it putting it in. I will start the reassembly in two weeks, so if there are tricks...let me know.

It is done....not bad for a rookie Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

nice work!

Great! I was worth the extra work.

Good job!

John

Looks nice- just put all that damned airbox crap and wiper motor back in the '73 I'm restoring. A definite PITA for sure!! After hooking all those cables back together I'm not sure they'll ever work right, but the car will spend most of its life in Arizona and won't have a heater, so probably won't be using them anyway!!

Click to view attachment