'59 Canadian Standard Restoration

[sunroof]

The latest piece to be trimmed away from the car:

Here is something I don't know what to do with. The rust needs to be cut away but I don't want to disturb the pinch seam as it is in perfect condition. This is also a fairly complex piece shapewise to make. I have seen the reproductions and they are bad enough that I don't want to use one.

A nice easy piece to make.

Finally I can get to welding in the corners. Nice Klassic fab parts but not quite perfect. I measured 10 times and cut once and they don't quite match up.

You can see here where the contours don't match. When I put the panel against the body I thought I had made a mistake but I took the parts I had cut off and fitted them back in place and I had cut correctly. It is the new part that is not correct. If I made the cut is such a place as to make the contours match up, the corner would have been 1/4 inch too low.

[toddyvol]

Very nice work.
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[sunroof]

Don

[sunroof]

Here's my question: The base of the A-pillar was originally gas welded to the heater channel. Now I don't have a gas welder, only a MIG, how do I: firstly cut this apart to replace the heater channel and how do I put it back together again.

Don

[SgtSamy]

Amazing build! Keep it up!
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At the moment owner of:
1968 Mex Beetle

[grandpa pete]

[sunroof]

Cut and weld, eh? Boy I wish I had thought of that.

Don

[grandpa pete]

I HAVE done this before . It's not complicated .

if you want more specifics on how to....pm me
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63 two fold rag
66 sedan delivery Type 6

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569619&highlight=sedan+delivery

[sunroof]

So I got bored working on the front clip and since it was far enough along that I could move on I went ahead and levelled the car preparatory to cutting the first heater channel off.

I decided I would try not to weld anything to the A and B pillars because it seemed to be butcher work to me. With that in mind I left everything for a couple of days to try and figure out how I was going to brace the door opening. The idea came to me to make tabs to bolt to the hinge mounts and the striker plate mount.

This is the result. I made sure everything was perfectly level and relaxed before I welded the braces in. It occurred to me that the body might be a little twisted from being hit so hard but I did everything I could think of to level the car side to side at the front and back and level the heater channels. If the body is twisted, hopefully this will help straighten it.

Finally I got out my recip saw and cut through the center of the heater channel. The back of the car dropped away and down pulling the cut apart. This is due to the single mounting point at the back at the striker plate. I am going to have to add another point at the back. I think what I will do is weld a turn buckle to the bottom brace and the quarter panel so I can pull it straight gently to get it right. I don't know if this will work but it will be fun to try and no harm done.

Don

[Danpa]

I used the "big turnbuckle" idea myself, but I welded 2 short pieces of angle iron to the inside of the panel where the door hinges are. ( Imagine if I left them there, they would hack the side of your shins up when you are sitting in the car.)
The other end was connected to the anchor for the bottom seat belt. I wanted it to be completely inside the car so I could fit the door before I welded the channel in.

Dan

[sunroof]

I have seen people weld the door in place and fix the opening that way. I may yet do that. This was more in the way of an experiment to see how it would work. It's a nice simple idea but may not do the job.

Don

[sunroof]

I have another idea! I'll let you know how it turns out.. I will have to weld the heater channel back together tempo rarily.

Don

[sunroof]

[sunroof]

That worked a treat as LT would say. I welded the turnbuckle to a small piece of 18 gauge and then spotted the 18 ga to the quarter panel. The other end went to the cross brace. A few turns of the screw and the heater channel came into perfect alignment. A very sweet setup if I do say so myself. The next thing you will see here is me cutting away the rusted metal. I'm dying to see what the inside of the A pillar looks like and what's behind the quarted panel.

[a440cuda1]

Looks like a great build and great work. I am picking up a Canadian standard in the next couple week. Have you found anywhere that sells some of the specific pieces for these cars?.....Like the headliner?

[sunroof]

I've been collecting 59 and 59 Canadian customs for 36 years so I have a little parts stash of my own. Where to get a headliner is a good question as I will need one eventually.

I want to see lots of pictures of your car.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[Danpa]

Regarding the headliner, you might have to look across the pond to someone in the U.K. or Europe. I have been searching for a small sparkafer or 1200a headliner for a while now, and unless you have one custom made, they just aren't available over here. BTW, Vw heritage has one left for a 71 and later 1200, but it's a little more than I want to spend right now at over $150 plus the shipping.

I decided to just make mine when the time comes. A got an extra roof section from bugpartslou that I'll use to make the patterns. Too many other irons in the fire right now, though.

Dan

[Danpa]

I found this guy in Germany online for the small headliners;

Peter Theobold at www.decohaus.de

I you go to the 7th listing down on the right side of the page and then hit "Beispiele" , they have photos of the different headliners. The 7th one down, first column looks like a Canadian Standard or 1200a or Sparkafer headliner.
Also Classicult has a Pic of one of these headliners in their bug.

I don't know how much but, looks like a quality piece.

Dan

[sunroof]

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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

A series of reference photos to remind me how it all goes together. Right now the plan is to cut this car apart very carefully to supply the sheet metal to repair the other car.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!