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Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:59 pm

My Ghia was pulled out of a field with a forklift.. how would you go about fixing this:

Trevor

Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:10 pm

By cutting that section out and relacing it with a good used one.
Once you have the replacement piece that will then tell you if the sides have been pulled in and what other work is needed to get the good panel to fit nice.

Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:42 am

seriously, it's all about YOUR budget and skills. You could chain a come along around it and start pulling between a large tree or a bolted down pole.

You could cut it out and hammer the sides until the new piece fits.

You could pull it out as much as possible, then cut it out, then hammer the sides, then weld in a new piece.

It's all about what route you want to and are able to take. Just don't give up in the middle.

Me personally? I would pull it out as much as possible and determine what needs to happen from there. Could be easy to hammer and dolly it after pulling it out, slap some mud on it and call it good. After pulling it might still be too bad to use, and then you could cut it out and carefully weld in a new one. How nice do you want the car to be??

Rule #1...never let anyone use a forklift to move your rare car.

Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:02 am

How do you think they got my 58 out of the field Ian.

I wish I had let you replace the heater channels when you had the car.

Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:12 am

veedubfreak59 wrote: How do you think they got my 58 out of the field Ian.

I wish I had let you replace the heater channels when you had the car.

Yeah, I know, everyone uses a damn forklift. Doesn't mean it's right. :P

I'm down to do the channels whenever.

Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:51 pm

If you place a WTB (want to buy) Ad in Ghia Parts one of us will 'cut to order' & ship it to BC by USPS.

Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:54 pm

before you cut anything, try pulling it out with a come along and a pinch clamp. use a port-a-power hydraulic ram. even the cheap harbor freight stuff works decent if you're not going to do a lot of body work in the future. if you cut stuff out before you try pulling, chances are you wont pull the sides out correctly without the rear apron to help align things up and keep tension on things while you are measuring. remember, you can always cut stuff out later, you might be able to save what you have, and really it doesnt look to bad. make sore you measure from a solid fixed point, like the torsion tubes, and reference the same spot everytime

Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:04 pm

vwspeedshack has it correct
YOU NEVER JUST start cutting sstuff off until after you have pulled the damage out to as close as you can get it.Even if you destroy the panel your pulling on seeing as your replacing it anyways.
the reason is that panel pushed other panels around when it got forced into its new shape. When pulling it out it will in turn pull out the damage you might even see. This is from a frame machine specialist. Pull push tug jump up and down ,just dont cut first!! as you will never know where (correct and true spot) will ever be even with good measurements..
good luck..

Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:57 pm

Pull it out for sure. I strongly recommend "The Key to Metal Bumping" by Frank Sargent. It's ten bucks on Amazon, a quick read, and it will tell you the fundamentals about restoring deformed metal to original. It will also teach you to fix all the other bumps and bruises on your car. 50 years old, and I think it is a beginners bible for metal work. Good luck.

Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:34 pm

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've pulled it back and it is better than before, but not perfect. The lid closes, but isn't quite right.

I'll try and find a replacement piece and have it cut in, although I think I may hire somebody who knows what they are doing.

Trevor