Never trust anybody - at least if someone sells used car parts...

One of the very few items I did not overhaul by myself during the restoration of the Streaker is the 
front beam.

At that time, a used original VW beam showed up on the Bugnet and I bought it for a reasonable price. It was painted already and appeared to be in good nick, so I added another coat of paint, assembled the whole thing with brand new VW disc brake spindles + all new ball joints and new seals

 and thought everything is fine...

Just 1 year after completion and some street use, a bad rust spot caught my eye. I poked a little and it got bigger. No chance, the beam needs to be fixed right away!

So, today I dismantled everything and removed the beam from the Streaker. The stainless steel clamps for the stabilizer bar came handy, they can be removed and re-attached easily. Besides the standard work procedure, the front bumper with fog lights had to be removed as well:

 
This is what the beam looked like after removal from the vehicle:

 

At that tme I was expecting that a few patches and some hours of welding and grinding should do the job.
A wire wheel brush was used to remove all paint and discover the ugly truth:

A totally shot dome, paper thin material and too much rust to trust in a repair job. In addition to the damage on the front and the side, this is the rear of the right dome:

At that time it was clear: This beam is dead - but, just for fun, let's check the other dome as well:
front side of left dome:

 rear side of left dome:

A new beam is the only way to fix this. I already cut off the mounting tabs for the front bumper:

Those need to be welded to the new beam, then, cavity wax will be used to make sure no corrosion will destroy the domes of the new beam again...


Another lesson learned: Buy new or check thoroughly before any used parts find the way onto your ride!

 A said sight... awaiting new beam soon!