STEP 1 - Taking Out the Rear Wiper/Plate Holder/Washer Jets
The wiper blade has a nut to unscrew first. After that, pull the wiper blade all the way off. There is a nut after that. This should be everything for the outside of the car
The VW badge, (if you want it off), pry's off. Just be careful not to scrape the paint!
After that, unscrew the rear tailgate panel on the inside of the car. Unplug everything. Then, basically unbolt every bolt you see. Pull out the wiper assembly, and the lock mechanism. To pull out the license plate panel, unscrew the license plate light bulbs from the front and pull those out. After that, everything should just pull out. Leave the lock vacuum unit in
Now, to keep the hatch-pop mechanism working right, ('because this is the only way, you are getting into your rear!), bend the metal rod back 90 degrees as seen in the above photo. (The silver rod). Next, and this part will make you cry, take a rough grit sanding wheel and grind away the washer bulge to leave it flush with the rear hatch
For the front windshield jets, just disconnect the washer hose's under the hood. Pull out the rubber gasket looking things that protect your fingers from getting cut. Find the tiny notch on the jet housing and push in and the jets should just pop out
STEP 2 - Time to Find Some Metal
After taking out the license plate holder, carefully trace the outline of the holder. Take your tracing and go find a piece of metal about the same thickness of the VW body. In this case, we found a Mustang door and got the metal from that
Cut piece out, along with a 4" square piece for the wiper hole. For the future, cut out two 1" by 1 1/2" metal pieces for the windshield jet holes. Grind the pieces to fit
STEP 3 - Now for the Heart Attack
Those for the faint of heart should leave this to the professionals. Cover the glass with tape because the welder will leave puck marks on the glass. Cover the paint to be sure not to burn it or leave marks. Take a spot welder, (if you don't have one, stop now!), and weld the small hole closed first. Tape the piece of metal to the back of the hole and weld from the top. It isn't pretty but this is what it should look like
Next, take the traced out plate and weld it from the outside of the car. Go slow and weld in 5" increment spacing as not to warp the metal. This is imperative to the finished piece because it may look right but after painting, it will show warping
STEP 4 - Okay, Take a Breather and Get Some Bondo Together
The tech had a much better alternative to store bought Bondo. It was a combination of fiberglass and plastic. You can purchase this at most body supply stores or through NAPA stores if available to you. Mix the filler together and prepare to work fast. AGAIN, if you don't have experience working with filler, get someone to do it. The tech who did this work was an artist with filler and he definitely knew what he was doing
STEP 5 - Sand, Fill, and Repeat
Sand, sand, sand. Go easy on the sanding and have patience. There will be several coats to sand. This is the point where everything will come together. Don't get too excited and stop now because there will be a lot of high spots to hammer in and fill over
This is the most important part of this process. Check, and recheck the smoothness with your hand
STEP 6 - Final Sand
Paint over the bondo with a light coat of flat color. Sand over the paint and you will see the high's and low's that you need to fix. If you sand the surface and see spots of black, fill those in because they are low spots. The above is the finished product
STEP 7 - The Hood
The hood is basically the same process as the front. It is a lot easier than the back to do because of the smaller hole to fill. Begin with spot welding the pieces of metal to the hood
Tape the metal from the inside of the hood
Grind out the welds to make it as smooth as possible with the rest of the hood
Apply the filler the same way as the rear. Sand, sand, sand, fill, fill, fill
STEP 8 - Finishing
Finally, paint the hatch and hood with primer until you are ready to paint. The body man had a can of undercoat so he sprayed it on the back of the welds in the hood and the hatch as to stop rusting and waterproof the welds. Below is the finished product before painting...
VW TECH courtesy of: Jason Kress