Doctor, remove everything below the waist.

The bodywork of my car was rotten from the the waist down. Fortunately for me, most repair panels are still available from Goggomobil specialists (Staufenberg & Butschek) at affordable prices. In theory, replacing the body panels while the car body is still mounted on the chassis means that there will be no problem with alignment later. You fit the new panel so that it joins up with all the right places on the chassis and you are done. The problem with my car (and probably most other Goggos) was that corrosion was at it’s worst at the join between body and chassis. This was exactly the area where previous repairs had been attempted and frankly, it was difficult to tell exactly where the original panels had been. Nevertheless, it was better than simply guessing – which is what I would have had to do if I had removed the body at the start so, I took a deep breath and started work.

First I removed the front passenger side wing and cut away as much of the rusty temporary repairs as I could. The bits that I could identify as part of the original wheel arch were left in situ. It soon became clear that the lower half of the A-Post (the bit where the door hinges go) was also seriously corroded and would have to be replaced. I made a replacement section, drilled the holes for the hinges, and attached the bottom to the new outer sill section that I had bought. Doesn’t it make a change to see new shiny metal rather than rust? Here is the new sill & A-Post section welded in place.

Next step was to spot weld the banana panels to the inside of the front wing. This is the part that will later be bolted to the wheel arches and was one of the few jobs where my spot welder was useful. Then I punched holes around the perimeter of the wing and plug welded it into place.

I tried to follow the original position as closely as possible but, as I would find out later, further adjustments would be necessary! Still, in blissful ignorance I went on and replaced…
Both rear arches and banana panels and the panels behind the doors and their inner sections (both sides). Here is before…