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
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*!
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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MUADIB®
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