Can an average joe replace heater channels?

SoCalJes · Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 2:43 pm Post subject:

And you can sell them to the next guy that needs one Cool

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71 Ghia
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Just because it didn't come that way, doesn't mean it shouldn't have.

J1 · Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:10 pm Post subject:

QUESTION: Where on my torsion cover area should I cut?

Solid line = where I plan to cut.
Dotted line = where full replacement panel could go

Cutting at the solid line would leave some surface rust, but I figure it'll be a little less work to phosphoric acid and prime the rust than to cut/weld curved sections and mess with the trim holes.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Btw, it turns out this section has filler over rust...

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1971 Ghia coupe. Assume I know nothing and you'll be pretty darn close to the truth.

NOVA Airhead · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:05 am Post subject:

I had similar rust on my car. Followed the contours of the car as much as possible rather than make a straight cut. This will make the body work much easier later on. Take advantage of the curve of the body as well as the side moulding. Here are some photos of my repair:

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swavananda · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:12 am Post subject:

I went with the theory of using as much good original steel as possible so I did go straight across with good results .

But it also looks you have much more rust creeping up than I did. Cut low and work your way up........ If you can get some sand blasting done in there all the better.

NOVA Airhead · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:46 am Post subject:

J1 · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:27 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the comments. For now, a more pressing question has come up. Seems I've opened pandora's box and I'm sure many of you are saying "yup, been there"!

QUESTION: The rear quarter of my pan seems to need replacement. My options seem to be 1) replace the pan and channel as one project or 2) replace the channel, enjoy, then replace the pan later. If it's even possible to replace that quarter with the body on, is one option significantly harder than the other?

This is the driver side rear quarter, towards the center, the worst part. There are a few other tiny holes forming throughout the quarter, but the other 3/4 of the pan seem ok.

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c21darrel · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:34 pm Post subject:

You need to be able to have clean, solid metal to weld. No problem cleaning off surface rust. Remember, the thinner the metal the more difficult it will be to weld w/o blowing thru. What size is your replacement metal? I dont like to cut until i have my replacement in hand, hard to un-cut. Very Happy

Everything in that pic^^^ needs replaced. If you can do it with a 1/4 or 1/2 ...partial pan, perfect.
You wont want to tear the car apart a second time. Now is the time to do it all, I think you will be happy you did.
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NOVA Airhead · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:00 pm Post subject:

On my car I thought I only needed a quarter. I ended up with a full pan replacement. What ever you end up doing I would do it now.
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J1 · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:41 pm Post subject:

As my 8yo son says, "Oh brothers".

I'll let this marinate, but I'm tempted to focus on just the channel. Remember, my experience and threshold for pain is very low and I already have tons of questions swirling in my head... the pan might put me over the edge.

Although the rear quarter pan and the channel are in the same general area of the car, there doesn't seem to be any overlap between the work required for the channel vs work required for the pan. In other words, there is minimal "economies of scale" by doing these at the same time.

To be more specific, the replacement quarter pan includes only the section that dips down and not the body bolt holes that the channels would attach to. And since the pan can be cut/welded from the bottom, there are no obstructions to worry about. Am I thinking about this correctly?
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1971 Ghia coupe. Assume I know nothing and you'll be pretty darn close to the truth.

c21darrel · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:05 pm Post subject:

J1 · Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:54 pm Post subject:

Not gonna do the rear quarter pan now. The work required for the pan - removing tarboard/carpet on the pan, removing seats, cutting off seat tracks - would not be necessary for the channel so I see no benefit doing it now. The part where the pan bolts go seem solid and I believe that's all I need to be concerned about for the channel work.

Step 4: Remove pan bolts

I'm adding this as a separate step because it was a little harder than I expected. Just unscrew, right? Well, it's screwed into rusty metal, so let's just say I got a good workout. Not a big deal but it's something unplanned... I'm gonna be buying some new pan bolts.

Here are the casualties. 2 in the back came out fairly easily, 3 in the middle have stripped threads, 1 broke off, and 1 turned into rusty metal art!

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1971 Ghia coupe. Assume I know nothing and you'll be pretty darn close to the truth.

J1 · Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:34 pm Post subject:

I'm ALL IN!!! No turning back. Actually feels refreshing to commit Very Happy

Step 5: Cut out rocker area

I am feeling like a butcher, not a good one, trying to figure out the best "cuts". It doesn't help that I have the body on and only a 4.5" grinder. I started out with a general cutting plan and that quickly went out the window. My only plan now is simply... don't cut anything I shouldn't cut!

So the first skinning was to the rocker. I'm only skinning right now because a bulky grinder just can't do everything in one shot. A sawzall and a small cutting wheel may be handy here but alas those are not in my toolbox. Anyway, here's proof that this project is necessary...

Then I skinned the torsion cover area. Again, I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to get all the rusty metal out. I'm just gonna take it one cut at a time. While the metal fitting and welding may be detailed exacting work, I think this cutting stage will be just good ol' brute demolition...

One thing is for sure... my neighbor is going to get used to hearing my grinder.
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1971 Ghia coupe. Assume I know nothing and you'll be pretty darn close to the truth.

J1 · Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:42 pm Post subject:

And btw, I could use a little encouragement right about... NOW Laughing

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1971 Ghia coupe. Assume I know nothing and you'll be pretty darn close to the truth.

c21darrel · Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:51 pm Post subject:

Way to go J!!! Applause

Lil warm out there today? Cool

Keep at it, 4.5 grinder is a wonderful weapon.
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jbsx127 · Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:52 pm Post subject:

Wear ear plugs when grinding. Your ears will be ringing without them.
Take it a little at a time. Examine an area and see where to cut, than move on. Cut into the rusty channel and towards the good metal or body parts so you don't cut too far. If you do, metal can always be added in. It's just better not to add more work.
If the A pillar bottom needs attention, do that before putting in the new channel.
You'll get there. At least your making more progress than my 2 hours a week I put in on mine.

J1 · Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 1:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the encouragement. I am focusing on cutting out the rocker section now. Dashed lines represent the cuts I have to do next in order to get all the metal off the rocker area. I'll do this when I have a relaxing chunk of time since I have to be delicate so as not to cut too deep and into the pan.

In order to get here, it required 5 cuts going the length of the channel (in addition to the 2 cross section cuts at the ends of the rocker). This is a cross-section, so from this angle, the cuts would look like they're going downward...

Cut 1: Along the top of rocker skin.
Cut 2: Bottom of rocker skin.
Cut 3: Outside-bottom of channel.
Cut 4: Inside-top of channel.
Cut 5: Inside-bottom of channel (from outside of car)

One mishap was a wire that fell into the path of the grinder Mad

I'll deal with that later but I believe this is for an aftermarket speaker so not a big deal. Seems I'm averaging about 1 bumble per session.

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1971 Ghia coupe. Assume I know nothing and you'll be pretty darn close to the truth.

c21darrel · Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 1:24 pm Post subject:

moogie32 · Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 5:38 pm Post subject:

Way to go J1! Amazing how rusty it is under there.....Keep at it! Very Happy

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