TheSamba.com :: View topic - Driver side pillar support and heater channel rusted out.

Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:15 pm

Help me out here guys. I have been working on my 74 standard beetle for about a year now. I have built a new 1776, shaved fenders re carpeted, the whole 9 yards.

I then went to switch out doors because mine had the 1 piece windows with a shitty kit installed and they never worked right anyway. While trying to take my doors off, I of coarse had to use a hammer driver to get the big phillips head bolts out. The top ones came out fine, but the bottoms ones started caving in towards the fender, and you can see where the main support pillar that holds the front of the door has separated started to tear away from the heater channel. I never saw it coming, everything appeared great from the outside, but it rusted inside out.

How have you guys fixed this problem? Do I need to cut a whole front section from another car and weld into a new heater channel or what?

Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:49 pm

You may be able to get away with a new after market replacement pillar. There are two available, a shorter one and a taller one. I would get the taller one and cut it down to replace only the bad metal on your pillar. Of course you need good metal to weld to on the heater channel. The replacement pillar has about a 1/2" flange on the inside that welds to the channel and you will need to butt weld the top and inside portion. Not an easy repair but I did mine and everything went well. Just pay attention to the dimensions of the door opening so your door will adjust properly once you get done.

Now if your heater channel is bad you may be able to do a repair piece to get by for now. If you decide to replace it then search the forum as there are a lot of good posts and links.

Good luck.

Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:35 am

Thanks ocbugger. I cant make a solid determination at this point as to what has failed the pillar or the heater channel, but I think it's a little mixture of both at this time. I haven't yet had the heart to really cut up my baby. This will be the biggest body repair that I have had to overcome, but I am confident I can do it.

Where do you suggest I look to find an aftermarket pillar like you spoke of, and what kind of money do you think we are talking?

Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:35 am

Check the online stores and you'll find them. There are a couple companies that make them so look for the one you like best as far as quality goes. The one I bought was a reddish orange and matched the original pretty close as far as replacement pieces go but I still had to work it a bit to get it to line up with the original metal so I could butt weld.

Of course you could try to find a donor but I didn't have the time. My repair is complete and no one would ever know it wasn't the original.

Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:26 pm

Thanks ocbugger, I tried west coast metric, and wolfsburg west, and no luck on a vendor who sells these. Who did you buy yours from?

Mon Nov 03, 2008 6:11 pm

Hooky's is supposed to have nice pieces:

http://www.hookyspanelshop.com/

Mon Nov 03, 2008 6:51 pm

Try this:

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wolfsburg_new/body_sheet_metal/bug_sheet_metal/hinge_pillar.cfm

Look for your year and side. Call them to see if they have different makers and ask their opinion on which is the better one. Trial and error really so if they offer different brands maybe get both and send the other back. You will only find this info by them going and checking stock.

Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:13 am

thanks Bart and ocbugger. That was exactly what I needed. I saw something on JC whitney, and nothing like we were seeing here. Lifesavers! I'll post when I get it done.