Factory Body Work.

[JoshStratton]

You know, I was always under the assumption that most cars from the factory needed very little (if any) body fillers. I always assumed that they were stamped, painted and put together. I have doubts about this and maybe someone can clarify it for me.

I have a 79 TA and have been working on straightening out the body metal. I am to the point where I am ready to strip all paint off of a fender and primer it. I began the stripping process and have found about a 1/4 inch of body filler towards the front edges of the fender. I am estimating that 20% of the fender is covered in fillers based on what I have seen. I believe the fenders to be original to the car and see no evidence of a repaint.

I am more of a VW guy at heart and tradition...10+ years experience with them. This is my first non-air cooled car and I have never seen anything like this before. Is this something to be expected, or are the fenders not original?

[Happyfunballs]

I wouldn't think the factory wouldn't go to that much trouble to repair a fender...the factory that I worked at would've replaced it. They probably used lead to fix any small items anyway. I would guess that those fenders have be fixed after the factory.