News Articles
Underneath The Arches
Posted by Chris Gilmour on October 07, 2008
How To Adapt a ‘73 on arch to fit a ‘71-‘72 Bus
The humble VW bus, like many other mass produced cars contains many subtle changes over the years. Whilst to the untrained eye, the ‘Bay Window’ bus changed little over the years, upon closer inspection there are little tweaks here and there that can make life complicated for us poor restorers.
During the bus’ long production run, VW designers made plenty of nips and tucks, particularly to the bodywork. One of the most common areas for rust to appear and for replacement to be required are the front arches. Whilst the early buses up to 1971 and the later ‘73 to ‘79 versions have repair pressings available, for some strange reason Volkswagen saw fit to use a different design on the ‘71-’72 buses. Sadly, there is no replacement panel for these years.
Thankfully, all is not lost. If you are the proud owner of one of these ‘change over’ vehicles there is an easy solution to the problem of the dreaded rusty arches. Adapt a ‘73-on arch to fit!
To begin, the old arch needs to come off. Usual common sense applies, so gloves and safety specs on, guys! Firstly, the factory spot welds must be carefully drilled through along the top of the arch where it meets the wheel tub. Then cut through the arch away from the ‘B’ pillar (back of door) moving towards the ‘A’ pillar (front of door). For the sake of your own safety and a decent job cutting these panels is best entrusted to an angle grinder with a quality metal cutting disc, or if you prefer a nice, sharp chisel.
Once the old arch is off (mind the sharp edges!) you will need to clean up any rough edges that have been left behind. This is a nice easy job for the angle grinder. It’s now time to offer up the new arch to see how it fits. Basically - it won’t! It should look all wrong, but fear not! It’s not as hard as it looks..
Start by cutting the inner step away from the outer, leaving at least half an inch overlap. Here at JKHQ, the best method we have found over the years is to use a jigsaw with a sharp metal cutting blade. Once this piece is removed, position the new arch back onto the van to ensure that everything aligns in a factory fashion. Important note! If you’re fitting new or replacement doors at this point, these should be hung and adjusted before installing the arch, as no two doors are ever the same! Once you are happy with the fit and location of the arch, mark out where it fits and carefully remove it from the bus. Using a grinder with a 40 grit ‘soft pad’ clean off any paint, underseal or surface rust from where the new arch is going to sit. Also, don’t forget to grind off the paint from the new panel where it’s going to be welded.
Once this is done, time for a final fit up and check. Remember the old adage. Measure twice, then weld once! It’s much more fun that way round. Once you are totally sure that everything is in line, tack the arch in place along the ’A’ and ’B’ posts and along the tub.
Once the arch is in place, you will need to fabricate a new inner step to bridge the gap. This is best done by creating a cardboard template of the piece needed. Once you are happy with the shape of this, transfer the pattern to a piece of 18 gauge and cut it out. Then, tack your new panel carefully into place. Last chance to check everything is perfectly aligned before finally welding the whole lot up. Use the previously drilled out spot-weld holes to plug weld the arch to the wheel tub and then precisely weld the ‘A’ and ‘B’ post and step edge in solidly.
Once everything looks fine and dandy, it’s really worth investing some time towards making it look good - and making it last. Grind each weld back to a nice level and treat with seam sealer, underseal and paint. Once this is done, don’t forget to Waxoil all of the inner box sections of the new arch. Now stand back and admire your handiwork. If you’ve followed these superb instructions carefully, that’ll last for years.
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