TheSamba.com :: View topic - Replacing Convertible Support Rails Explained

Tue May 25, 2010 10:33 am

During my project i cut the bottom half of the 62 donor sedan from New mexico. The rear luggage tray and front and back qtr. panels, front hump rear humps etc. were left welded to the 62 rails etc. basically cut the bottom 8" of complete sedan and welded it back to the vert body. I flipped the 62 rails over and welded my vert sapports in. the biggest thing here is to keep them outside of the pan gasket seat area. if you move them to far towards the pan seat area they will not clear the pan. I picked up my rails from wolfberg west. nice stuff. only after market steel on the hole vert. And this vert should have been laid to rest. 2 more block sandings and it goes to the paint both.

The only bondo filling i did on the vert was the rear qry. panels about a 4" cut across. and 2" on the front panels. Inside the wheel wells I used a seam sealer and rubberized undercoating.

1.Bead blasted.
2. 2 coats zinc primer
3. interior and underbody coated with F-150 2 part epoxy. (hard core stuff)
4. Under body coated with commercial rubberized paintable undercoating.

Rust suxs

Dave[/youtube][/url]

Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:39 am

I am about to do the rails on my '60. The car is up on saw horses with the doors on. I havea few questions:
I you leave the doors on don't they essentially provide a three point support for the opening preventing the body from "tacoing?"
Can the old rails be removed with a air chisel top break the spot welds or is the metal lip on the heater channel too thin and will tear necessitating the drilling out of the spot welds?
What are the big holes on the inside of the support rails for?
Is it safe to assume you have to plug weld it on both sides of the heater channel?
Thanks.

Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:16 pm

Braukuche wrote: I am about to do the rails on my '60. The car is up on saw horses with the doors on. I havea few questions:
I you leave the doors on don't they essentially provide a three point support for the opening preventing the body from "tacoing?"
Can the old rails be removed with a air chisel top break the spot welds or is the metal lip on the heater channel too thin and will tear necessitating the drilling out of the spot welds?
What are the big holes on the inside of the support rails for?
Is it safe to assume you have to plug weld it on both sides of the heater channel?
Thanks.

Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:35 am

So I read through the 4 pages on this thread and know where to buy and how to make late model body braces, and where to buy rails and how to measure the body. but I already firgured out that stuff years ago.

but can someone actually post step by step pictures of the process of removing and replacing the support rails. This thread is called Replacing Convertible Support Rails Explained right?

what spot welds on what panels need to get removed? where do you cut?
where do you weld up the panels when resintalling it, and lastly how did you align it? PICTURES PEOPLES!!

lucy got some splaining to do

Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:28 pm

I'd like to know the same thing as guteandtite.

Mon Dec 27, 2010 12:34 pm

I've got a few from my project, there a pain the asss to post on here, drop me your email and i will send them.

David

Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:44 pm

I can't really help you guys with "cut this weld here" and "grind this spot here" because my car had the original rails removed along time ago and those gnarly looking box tube and angle iron pieces welded in. If you take sometime and look at the construction of the lower body, the heater channels and the support rails, you should be able to decifer what needs to happen to remove the rotted rails.

It's a lot of work, but I also feel it's a lot of fun to sit back when your done and say, "Yup! I saved another one!" :wink:

Scott Faivre

Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:08 am

Scott Faivre wrote: I can't really help you guys with "cut this weld here" and "grind this spot here" because my car had the original rails removed along time ago and those gnarly looking box tube and angle iron pieces welded in. If you take sometime and look at the construction of the lower body, the heater channels and the support rails, you should be able to decifer what needs to happen to remove the rotted rails.

It's a lot of work, but I also feel it's a lot of fun to sit back when your done and say, "Yup! I saved another one!" :wink:

Scott Faivre I realize that rust and previos hacks make a difference as more may need replacement, however there's got to be a list of spot weld row here, cut seam weld here, remove this panel, then this one,clamp here tack here, I'm just saying, bentley did it for many panels, but not this one. I'm patching mine not replacing, but it would be nice to have an over all knowledge of the procedure

Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:48 am

"Bug Me" video series, video number 7 shows exact, step by step instructions. Best all around resource for tackling the heater channel and reinforcement rail replacement for convertibles. Complete "tack here, stitch weld there" video instructions.

Tue May 17, 2011 10:31 pm

Braukuche wrote: What are the big holes on the inside of the support rails for?
Is it safe to assume you have to plug weld it on both sides of the heater channel?
Thanks.

Those holes are for access to the body/pan bolts. Yes, you'll need to weld on both sides of the rail. It's not thin sheet metal, so a simple "plug" or "rosette" weld from your 120AC welder is probably not the best choice. You need some serious power to attach these things to the heater channels. Remember these are the basis of the integrity of the car. You want those suckers on there good!

Scott Faivre

Sun May 22, 2011 12:04 pm

SO AFTER SKIMMING THRU 4 PAGES IN THIS THREAD I see no step by step on support rails. any help there guys?

Mon May 23, 2011 2:40 pm

Good n tight, email me, i can send some pics and explain how i did mine. look at my pics on the gallery.

Jaxvert

Mon May 23, 2011 2:48 pm

jaxvert wrote: Good n tight, email me, i can send some pics and explain how i did mine. look at my pics on the gallery.

Jaxvert thanks for the offer, but can you post it up here for the benefit of other samba members as well, I hate to be greedy and do it by PM. Thanks- Bret

Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:11 pm

guteandtite wrote: jaxvert wrote: Good n tight, email me, i can send some pics and explain how i did mine. look at my pics on the gallery.

Jaxvert thanks for the offer, but can you post it up here for the benefit of other samba members as well, I hate to be greedy and do it by PM. Thanks- Bret

or you can email it to me at [email protected]

Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:38 pm

I was disheartened after obtaining this 4 page flyer for $18.95. I was heading in the general direction of the support rail install that it describes anyway. I thought they had a trick ? Nope. The last page covers the torch cutting out of a support rail at Fast Wrecking in Duarte, Ca. 2 photos. The flyer also shows a rail that has to be cut and hammered into shape at the front. The work is performed by Robco Collision Repair. He cut the old out with a plasma cutter and MIG welded in the rail. :(

Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:57 am

Just caught this support rail thread. Good info.But unless your HC are really FUBAR, you won't need anything like those support braces from BUGSTUFF.

Too expensive! I will be doing my HC soon, and will use a one inch angle iron for what ever length of the door is with the doors still attached to the car. And drill a couple of holes and use 1/4 inch self tapping screws. That's what they used in the BugMe video and seemed to have braced very well. That will only leave two small holes in the pillars and you can weld them in or what ever. No need to buy pricey tools for a one time deal.

Sat Sep 08, 2012 5:21 pm

Pricey tools aren't required - but generally using simple tools means headaches (R&D work) and less than desirable outcome without exceptional attention - which is generally the trade-off, cheaper often takes longer and/or turns out poorly...

Any tips on installing the convertible rails to a `69 sedan? Straight forward so long as the pans/channels are in good shape?

Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:52 pm

jaxvert wrote: I've got a few from my project, there a pain the asss to post on here, drop me your email and i will send them.

David I saw your post on bracing the vert, I'm a new V/W owner needing to replace heater ch. and support Hoping you could e-mail me the pictures you have. much appreciate. afussell; ([email protected])

Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:05 pm

Here's some assistance including pics on another site:
http://personal.cfw.com/~ctvert/poj/heater/

Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:28 pm

I have a very rusty 63 convertible. The body has been separated from the pan and I have removed the doors and put braces in their place. I've read about the need for bracing but am wondering if its okay to replace both wheelhouse and lower firewall before removing channels without any additional bracing (other than the door braces) before tackling the heater channels. Appreciate any thoughts or comments.