I'm in the process of getting a six restored that has been sitting in wait for a couple of decades. It was a victim of a couple of MAACO level repairs (pop rivets!) to the front end back in the seventies, and we're going to have to fix them. The bad paint prep and window installation took out the cowls, and spilled brake fluid exposed metal in that vicinity as well. A fender was replaced haphazardly, and one of the front bumper mounts has rotted. And a few other things as well. We've got a line on an front clip from an early four cylinder car in Arizona for a donor.

What things are different in the sheet metal forward of the door jams? The ignition switch mount on the dash is apparent, but what else? Are the mounts for the window washer pump and tank unique to the six?

The most extreme case would be to just replace the whole front of the car, but in any case I'd like to be sure I understand all the differences that need to be carried over.

Here's an example of what the rust under the cowl; this is before we started poking at it. I don't have any photos handy of the damage that's apparent after further excavation.
Click to view attachment

Guy

More than you ever wanted to know:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=74301

Yes, No

Also, the washer bottle itself is different since the /6 uses an electric pump and not the air pressure feed like the /4

What a mess.
Save the right front wheel house if at all possible to keep the original VIN stamp.

I've read the long thread over in the Originality forum, there is a lot of good stuff there. I'm looking for a slightly more focused discussion, what parts of the front clip sheet metal do I need to be sure are preserved or transferred as we salvage large portions from an early /4? So far I've got:

• VIN plate on wheel house
• VIN plate on window cowl
• Karmann tag on headlight bucket
• Dash mount for ignition
• Windshield Washer Pump Mount

What else?

Sixes do have the hole for the windshield washer lines that run to the tire, even though they don't use it; it's just plugged.
Is there anything associated with the hand throttle on the body sheetmetal, or are all the changes on the shifter and accelerator hardware?

We are going to save this car.

I don't have the original engine, it got a 2.7 swap under previous management, so it's not going to be a competitive concours contestant. I'm going to try to keep it fairly stock, and hopefully any deviations will be bolt ons that can be addressed as time, money and interest allows. Or things that the factory might have done if they'd kept the car in production. Anybody got a 2.4 S for a reasonable price?

thanks,
Guy

I believe you have got all the differences for the front clip unique to a Six. I would just try to find the same year clip as your Six to keep it as original as possible. But really the passenger fender well VIN is critical and keep your Karmen aluminum headlight bucket ID tag for the new section. If you go far enough back to replace the dash.... then keep the Six dash/ignition sheet metal. But the dash comes out so unless your's is completely rusted or mangled, just swap it over. Be careful not to obliterate the handwritten chassis number on the underside of the dash frame. The A-pillar VIN tag too.

If you need to replace that far back the inner dash that the removable frame covers has a slot in the center on the 4 to accommodate the center defroster which the 6 doesn't have.