| houghta3 |
Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:05 pm |
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pulled the vw in the shop today. decided am going to paint it. well i was screwing around and jacked it up to take a good look at the underbody. noticed a few "mounds" on the bottom of the rails. grabbed a screwdriver and strarted poking. everything was pretty solid until i pushed right through where the rustproofing stuff was bubbled, er mounded. ugh. so i poked around a bit more. then i got a bit ahead of myself. i cut about 6inches out the side with my cutoff wheel. pretty much cut out everything that was punky, but am looking inside and there is alot of rust in there.
so- should i just patch this or should i replace the entire rail? when is the point where the rail should be replaced. heater channels in excellant shape, so maybe it wouldnt be that big of deal to replace the rails.... but it would be really easy to just weld a new patch in where i cut out the rust....but then i worry about the rest of the tube and how long it will take for it to eat through..
suggestions?
-mike
am new to this forum...cant believe it took me so long to find this place...i have spent last couple days reading posts... |
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| bill may |
Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:09 pm |
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| by rails do you mean convertible reinforcement rails? or beetle heater channels?? |
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| houghta3 |
Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:40 pm |
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| sorry.. i meant the convertible reinfocement rails. |
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| bill may |
Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:36 pm |
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| you can patch them,check to see if door gap is wider at the top than bottom. i have replaced them ,but the front ends at curves in is not the same on all converts so you must "fit them" not a big deal. remove bad ones -1 at a time ,bolt down and weld in position. |
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| houghta3 |
Thu Jan 27, 2005 7:52 am |
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door gaps are perfect right now...
if i dont replace the rails, is there anything i could do to the inside of the rail tube to stop the rust? should i try to spray a rust converter in there? |
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| RareAir |
Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:07 am |
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| The reinforcment rails on a convertible are providing the needed structural support for the body when the roof is removed. If the rust seems to be comprising that integrity, I'd replace them asap. Expensive & time consuming yes, but it's the only way. |
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| tacky |
Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:53 am |
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replace the rails. the vert will get swayback like an old horse otherwise.
remember what happens to old horses? |
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