Regarding the Apron, I haven't welded it up yet but I'm going to go with 1/2" tabs and some M5 bolts or hinge-pins and posts (think hood pins) all from the face of the apron. The Huebbe brothers, who rally a '69 in the Rally America Series, said the one thing they wished they had done with their removable apron was have it removable without having to deal with fender bolts. In a stage-rally service, you only have 20min to fix whatever needs doing, so every second counts!
And Steve, regarding the wheel, I could indeed get another rim fitted to the center, and might still. But for now it will work fine as a spare...once the budget stabilizes in the new year I'll look to repair it and powder-coat all five.
Back into the garage for yet another evening. Fire wall was cut out, then I ran it over to a friend's shop to put the two 90deg bends in it. Once tacked into place I instantly understood why Volkswagen ribbed the heck out of the factory firewall. Can anyone say "steel drum"? Not sure that dynomat alone will help it, but at the same time I only have it tacked in so we'll see how it is once welded in completely.
From there I worked out the side rails, and did some problem solving on the Oil-cooler mount. The overall plan is to have as much of the luggage-area floor removable, as it gives great access to the starter, clutch adjustment and the one engine bolt that is a pain to get to normally. I also figure that it should make reaching the 6-miles of oil lines and fittings I plan to install a little easier. In addition to moving the firewall in by 3", and the removable floor panels, I've also decided to move the luggage floor up by about 3". Its going to cause me some problems as far as the dry sump is concerned, but will give me more space above the transmission and Kaefer bar that I'm going to be installing. This in turn will make the oil-cooler mount much easier to problem solve. It's a trade off, with the Dry Sump, but one that seemed like a good idea this evening! And, really, I can always sink it back down if I have to (even just a portion of it) which I figure is easier then trying to raise it up down the road. At the very least, it will look better ;-)
Overall it was a pretty long night in the garage, with what feels like so little to show for it. Ah well, on the plus side I think I'm "over the hump" in regards to the firewall modifications. Once again picking up some pace and motivation to keep moving forward.
-Dave