TheSamba.com :: View topic - shaving the gutters doors and bumpers.....

Tue Jun 22, 2004 11:25 am

Ive been doing bodywork for an eternity and will be finally getting paint this month on my 77 transporter, but before I do there are still a few things im considering.

1. Shaving the doors: I like the smooth look without door handles. I am planning on putting solinoids to pop the doors open, has any one done this on any cars? If so let me know I have some welding questions

2. the gutters, mine are covered in rust nothing eating through, just alot of surface rust. Should i shave them? or is there an easy way out of all the tight sanding?

3. the bumper, Im shaving the back, but what about the front, the stupid crumple panel looks goofy without a bumper on it, Ive seen busses with out it, is it easy to grind off, or will i need to do more welding and fabricating some metal to make it look clean. This is what it would look like, or am i crazy
www.needforspeed.ca/stevefeature.asp

What do you guys do when you want to smooth over the panel gaps? weld or fiberglass or both?

Thanks for any input

Tue Jun 22, 2004 3:07 pm

wow.. I would make a new screen name ....

Tue Jun 22, 2004 3:37 pm

I'm with koot on the name change.

personally, i would try to do as much with metal fabrication as i could

Tue Jun 22, 2004 5:21 pm

On my panel lay-ups I first mig welded, started with about six inches between like 1/4 inch welds and worked my way around, to cut down on heating up the body panels. One thing to keep in mind, on my 71 each panel has kind of an arch to it so appling the glass afterwards doesn`t just make sense, but a lot easier to fill, not just that but now it`s slammed at the same time. (the added weight). The rain rails, I used a wire brush wheel, then on pitted areas, small sand-blaster and meatl etched soon after. Good Luck, Sounds Like Loads Of FUN!!!! sand sand sand \:D/

Wed Jun 23, 2004 7:40 am

Tip for rusty gutters. 3M makes an abrasive disk that looks kind of like a heavy duty Scrubbie pad on a drill arbor. They are about 5 inches in diameter and come either single or double thickness. for a gutter, the single will fit (or will wear down to fit) in the channel. It is superior to a wire brush because the silicone carbide abrasive in it leaves a smooth, shiny surface. I discovered them while doing a motorhome with 50 feet of rusty gutter. I think they are about 6 or 7 bucks and you may go through a couple but they are just the ticket for a gutter job.
Some day, I promise I'll actually remember the correct name for them.

Wed Jun 23, 2004 11:54 am

ive got a hobart mig welder, Ive done larger steel beams, but i was curious to what wire/settings you guys are using to weld panels, and small welds like filling the holes for the door handles etc... Last time i tried i was burning up the fenders

Fri Jun 25, 2004 3:38 pm

.025 wire
Minimum voltage
On a 0 to 10 scale, wire speed about 2.
Go from there. any bigger wire and you'll burn through in an instant.