Hi all.
I just collected a 72 1300 Beetle from a fellow forum member, which I've promised to restore if economically possible.
Apart from rust in the usual places, floorpan, bottom of front wheelarches, immediately next to the heater inlet tubes under the rear seat etc etc. the other rust causing me concern is the bonnet lid seal & engine cover seal retaining lips are badly rusted, and either side of the rear window, down to the air intake louvres and out to the rain gutter are fairly badly bubbled and blistered.
Can anyone please help with some advice on these problems?
I've gone through several websites, but none have listed replacement seal retainers. Are they available anywhere, & if not do I have no choice but to replace entire panels?
Can anyone advise on how to tackle the rust at the rear window.
Thanks. Scotty.

those strips are rust traps anyway cos of the sealer over the joint the factory used

if ur not worried about a 100% authentic resto what i do on any bug that has rust under them is rip them off completely, grind down the welds and either stick some weather stipping foam on there or get mexican style seals which clip onto the lip on the bonnet and decklid
this way also gives a much cleaner look too

whilst ur doing the repairs around the rear window make sure to scrape out all the expanding foam thats inside there
thats the reason it has rusted in the first place

thats good advice..

My beetle had some small holes under the rear window rubber
My Son brazed them up for Me...

between the rear window and gutter

cut out all the rusted metal then weld new metal back in
or use putty [bog] to fill the gap...

and pull the strips off that hold the rubber seal on the bonnet and engine lid
and then replace them with Mexican look seals
vintage Vee Dub have these..

cheers

Lee

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug 

In regards to brazing (bronze) on any rust holes, I will give some experience here. Don't do it, if you want to fix the rust properly. The heat and more so the flux used accelerates future rust problems. It rusts quicker than fibreglass.

That's my old bug in the original post. I wonder if it's being restored or wrecked?

Sorry, I wasn't asking about brazing. I was wanting to know if anyone made a c-pillar rust repair panel. Any ideas on the best way to repair this section?

Have a look at this website Cip1

http://www2.cip1.com/ 

They have the seal channels as a straight length that you bend and weld to suit front or rear. I would not be surprised if they have the C pillar sections also.

The best way to repair the section is to cut out all of the rust affected metal, weld the new section in place, and after finishing, ensure you seal inside where the welding took place, by squirting a rust preventative on the back of the bare welds. Fish oil or body cavity wax.