I knew this ear was broken and I should have fixed it when the engine was out, but I didn't.
Click to view attachment
It kinda fell apart when we disassembled it!
Click to view attachment
Inside we found much nastiness to clean out. A combination of compressed air and various picks pulled all the loose items out. this included things you normally wouldn't want inside a structural part of a car, but that's kinda on the original engineers.
Click to view attachment
My bugs buddy Denny (way smarter than me, yet unemployed) was willing to help!
Click to view attachment
This is a wicked wheel!
Click to view attachment
It only looks like Denny's working... I did most of the dirty work! But the true craftsman needs to be satisfied with the details, right?

Back in place and ready for fun.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment


Click to view attachment

Denny's favorite time...
Click to view attachment

WELD, baby, WELD!

That looks like a PITA.
Click to view attachment
More better.
Click to view attachment

Done and done.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment
Back in the saddle! Get this jalopy back on the road!
Click to view attachment

THANKS DENNY!

Not only do we get the job done, but we laugh like fricken' hyena's while doing it.

That was a fun repair.

"Fun repair" Noo way, I'm glad i missed out on that one.....Good job Denny.

I guess the clunk was more than a motor mount.....

Why didn't you add a few metal strips to reinforce it while you were at it.

Glad it didn't happen at 70mph! So, It's now a driver?

Who's Beetle?

i'm sure that the years of battery acid in that area causes the weakening. And it was a slow process, not a sudden pop. I had seen it a couple months ago.

Chappy, I think the repair will be a good long-term fix. It's totally valid to reinforce, and if I keep the car and put the 2056 back in after that gets done I'll look at all the points of interest. For now though, with no new battery acid eating away at it and a pretty tame powerplant I think I'm ok. If I sell it, I'll tell the buyer about the repair and suggest more work.

Rick, you need to meet Denny. You guy's will have LOTS to chat about. Let me know when your in town and we'll have some fun.

I've ripped a couple of these out
they really are not due to battery acid
they are due to cornering and tires that are much wider and gripper than the car was designed for.

one that I ripped out, was on a replacement (1year old) console with no rust and no scale what so ever.

i strongly recommend bracing on all cars driven hard enough, or driven with enough tire to rip in this area

If that were my car I think I would have placed a new 'skin' over the entire section.