[Burnin21]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into shaving my hatch completly, but i'm stuck in the middle between fiberglass and just normal bondo. What do you think would be easier to use, or show a better result in the end?

 

[elliottcarlose]

explain what completely means are you saying to make the hatch go away

 

[levelseven]

I am going to assume that he is going to fill in the entire back of the hatch, where the license plate goes.

 

[archie]

there are many ways to do this. you can be the average ricer and throw bondo on it and pray that it doesnt look like shit or you can do it the professional way. i dont know much about body work, but i just am giving a rough estimate of how my cousin did his doors. first he made a templet of the area to be shaved and transfer it to a piece of sheet metal. the he grinded down to bare metal around the area, and welded this new piece of cute sheet metal over the area he wanted shaved. grinded down the welds to make it smooth. the he used a metal builder (duramix) and filled in all the uneven area. sanded it down really smooth (there are certain ways to sand, never change direction in the middle of a stroke) and took a flexiable metal ruler and made sure everything was even. then he just went about the normalsteps of painting the door.

 

[hkysk8r07]

best way is to cut out and weld metal in it's place then grind it down to make it smooth.

thats like 20 lbs if you fill it with bondo. not to mention it will fall off after the 2nd or 3rd time you closed the hatch

 

[Foci_Fosho]

ebay.co.uk

search "focus boot"
boot is what they call the rear end over there.

Item #:
8062222375

Ask them to ship to US

 

[hkysk8r07]

those sit on top of the existing hatch and they don't line up with the rest of the foci's body lines. it's like 1/4 inc off on that crease

 

[turbovation]

PM your boy bonacci or whatever...That guy shaved his whole car!

 

[turbovation]

Bonacci01..that is

 

[uberfocus]

Yea man, if you are going to do it, you might as well do it right. Id say if you can't do it take it to a body shop and get it cut and welded.

Not to Thread HiJack but do you or anybody else know about what that would run someone?

 

[TSnedSi]

def. have to weld in a piece of sheet metal, making sure you dont get it too hot by welding in one spot too long the metal will warp otherwise.

 

[TSnedSi]

it looks realy hot when its done tho. good luck.

 

[Burnin21]

Thanks for the input guys, thats how I thought you should do it (welding the metal in) just wanted to make sure. Well let the sanding begin, i'll let you guys know how it turns out

 

[lucas g]

my buddy steev and i did some shaving on his gti. we used sheet metal. it was scary as hell welding on a practically brand new car, but i think everyone was quite pleased with the results.

check it out:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2569620

lucas.

 

[bonacci01]

I hope you have lots of time, money, tools, materials, skill, and willingness to learn..

If the above is true, power to you and good luck.

 

[natgry]

I shaved a civic hatchback for a friend back in highschool, and as long as you have the right tools, alot of time, patience, and a good bit of money, you can do it on your own. Just make sure you take it really slow and spend some time learning to shape metal and weld before you start doing any surgery on your car.

hey bonacci, when you lifted the door bumpers, was there an indentation underneath them, or are there just snap holes? I want to shave mine, but I haven't taken the time to take them off my car to find out.

-jg

 

[Foci_Fosho]

one should take the time and observe the near perfect reflection on that hatch!
My goodness, it looks like it came like that factory.

 

[bonacci01]

I shaved a civic hatchback for a friend back in highschool, and as long as you have the right tools, alot of time, patience, and a good bit of money, you can do it on your own. Just make sure you take it really slow and spend some time learning to shape metal and weld before you start doing any surgery on your car.

hey bonacci, when you lifted the door bumpers, was there an indentation underneath them, or are there just snap holes? I want to shave mine, but I haven't taken the time to take them off my car to find out.

-jg

there are a series of holes dilled underneath the moldings, and a indentation all along the side as well.

Thanks fosho, it was many hours of welding, and sanding. I do almost everything by hand too, I dont like air sanders, they arnt as straight as my hands....hehe

 

[natgry]

there are a series of holes dilled underneath the moldings, and a indentation all along the side as well.

Thanks fosho, it was many hours of welding, and sanding. I do almost everything by hand too, I dont like air sanders, they arnt as straight as my hands....hehe

thanks for the info...definitely fine work on your ride there

-jg

 

[PlutoJared22]

The pic of the shaved hatch just makes me drool. Hats off to anyone that attempts to do that mod, looks like it def. yields amazing results!