removing front end

[dub-disaster]

 right,
   dunno what the name of this part is but baisicaly the beam that the bonnet sits on front the one that sits behind the headlights and that houses the bonnet catch + lock mechanisim ive had a look and i thought it was spot welded in am i wrong :S i see that in hayesey's post on his "winter refit" thread hes got a picture of his car with it removed. i would like to replace this part with a new one if possible or just remove mine blast it and paint it would do.
     So far i have been rubbing it down on the car and its a right pain in the arse so if anyone could let me know how to remove it then that would be a great help.

[hayesey]

yes it is spot welded, you'll need to either drill out the spot welds or grind through the metal on the panel, either method will effectively destroy the panel although it might just about be re-usable using a drill if you are careful.

when I replaced mine (old one was rusty) I just riveted the new one on so I can remove it relatively easily by just drilling out and replacing the rivets.

[dub-disaster]

god damn! wish i had of just bought a new one cause rubbing the current one down was a nightmare! whered you get your new one from vw dealers? or scrappy? and how much it set you back. thanks for the info though think ill try n drill the spot welds out and as you say rivit the new one in.
  is it just those two spot welds on the tabs or are there more spot welds all around it ?

[Weeman]

Mine had four on each side at the top and then three each side on the bottom.

VW say us now obsolete, unless you can find a dealer with one in stock then it's a case of buying one second hand or a pattern part...

[dub-disaster]

going to look for a pattern part if not ill have to stick to painting mine but my painting skills are non exitant so well see how it goes !!

[hayesey]

can get a pattern one from hadrians or gsf etc...

you aint going to find a new one at a scrap yard!