TheSamba.com :: View topic - 71 Ghia coupe - full front clip replacement advice needed

Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:40 pm

Hey gang:

I've got a complete front clip from mid-rockers and mid-windshield forward that I'm attempting to graft onto my '71 coupe project. Before too many objections are raised, let me assure you that pretty much the entire front clip needs to go. The inner fenders are a rumpled mess, as are the fenders, nose, hood channel etc. The door/roof pillars are fine, as is the dash and cowl, but that's pretty much it. If the rest of this car weren't pretty much perfect, I wouldn't bother with this, but it is.

Which brings me to this...

I'd like to peel apart the front rocker/channel seams at the bottom, and the seams at the roof pillar to make a clean swap of the front clips. The donor clip is abso-fricking-lutely virginal, never hit, and after soda blasting and a full day with my sheetmetal guy, about as close to right out of the factory metalworks as you can get.

So, to that end, I've welded braces in place a few inches behind the front rocker seams, triangulated to the striker plate and across to the rear seat area, and vertically to about 2/3 up the roof pillar. Looks more like a shark cage than a roll cage at this point. But it's rock stable and ready for whatever's next. I'm also building a windshield gauge before I cut anything.

There are a zillion lovely cross-sectional explanations of how a rocker is constructed. I think we all get it. I've looked at that factory 1960-ish bodywork manual as well. What I can't find is how the 3 (or 4 for a vert) pieces each over/underlap the front lower quarter / dogleg / door pillar pieces. And similarly, I can easily locate the inner seam in the windshield post, about 1/3 up from the bottom, as well as the spot welds along the length, but where is the outer post joined? Is it the square/right-angle butt weld that adjoins a full fender section and the cowl?

Thanks in advance!

Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:19 pm

The vertical flat piece goes very far forward, much further than the other sections.
the outer rocker stops at the fender the inner channel stops at the dogleg the middle piece becomes flat and goes further forward and the inner panel from the wheel well overlaps it going to the rear of the car. Lots of spot welds on that one.

Tue Sep 24, 2013 12:40 am

I see it now... makes sense. So I'll cut back the outer rocker since I'll replace that after the swap anyway, then I'll cut into the dogleg far forward of that inner channel seam, take apart that seam and finally I should have clear access to drill out the center divider.

SO, that leaves the roof post. Anyone have any thoughts on that? Clearly I need to offset the seams for maximum strength, even though the shop manual shows a straight hacksaw cut and gas weld re-join. That just seems brittle.