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Tue Aug 13, 2024 7:20 am

⬆️⬆️⬆️Hey Nicholas ⬆️⬆️⬆️

That’s a very good question. I had the same thought waking up this morning.
They use it on the front fenders at the top of the A pillar and again on the rear fenders at the engine bay side trays , I feel like it could work well at this point as too. Another way to accomplish this would be to use foam like VW did often. It would be pretty easy to reach up in there with the straw on the foam can and put a nice bead at that union. I will give it some more thought…🤜💥🤛

Wed Sep 04, 2024 9:14 am

Ok so this was much more difficult then I anticipated. Hats off to the folks that have rebuilt these successfully.

I have done countless beetle and bus hinges so I figured I would give it a go.

First thing I did was modify my hinge tool to be able to fit the taller Ghia hinge into it. Unfortunately it would not even begin to move the pin at all. In fact it started bending the tool.

So next up I made a little tool to try to drive the pins out with heat and the press. Unfortunately that did nothing but bend the tool and the rod I welded on.

Eventually I went to the drill press and painstakingly drilled out all the pins.

I even tried the press again once I had a hole through thinking maybe that would help the pin release some pressure and come out but they were frozen solid…. At the end it was the drill press for the win.

The downfall is now I have no pins. I plan to order the bushings from motion industries and new pins for the Porsches and see how that goes.

Wed Sep 04, 2024 8:28 pm

I needed to use the scissor jack just a bit more on the inner fender to get it to match the passenger side then I moved onto all the final bumping and shaping back in forth with the hammer and dolly, to the sand bag and to the shrinker and stretcher ,I got the panel all good to fit on one last time to mark out my cut lines to the body.

I like to use copper backing to hold the shape in areas that tend to draw in during welding. With a panel this big I don’t get frustrated trying to make every single cut seem line up perfectly gapped, in the photos you will see once the panel is firmly in place I cut my gap as I go and tack it in place when needed. This is probably the biggest panel to date that I have made and welded in so I’m expecting it to take a fair amount of time to keep from warping and getting ahead of myself. I’m looking forward to having this one checked off the to do list.

Thu Sep 05, 2024 6:14 am

Now that is progress!

Thu Sep 05, 2024 7:19 am

⬆️⬆️⬆️YeSir⬆️⬆️⬆️

Today’s is all about ….. weld and weld some more. 😜👊

Thu Sep 05, 2024 9:30 am

That is a huge panel to make from scratch and weld back in place. Awesome!

Thu Sep 05, 2024 4:55 pm

⬆️⬆️⬆️Thanks Mr Loren⬆️⬆️⬆️

I was able to push hard today and get all wrapped up. ☑️🏁👀

Fri Sep 06, 2024 5:55 am

That's some seriously impressive metal work!

Sooooo......I don't suppose you'd be game to try your hand at a second pair of Ghia door hinges?

Fri Sep 06, 2024 6:14 am

I am speechless! That is truly amazing. It is unbelievable what can be done in metal work these days! You are a true craftsman my friend.

Fri Sep 06, 2024 7:13 am

⬆️⬆️⬆️Thanks for the fellas ⬆️⬆️⬆️

🛠️Perseverance☑️Patience🛠️

At this time I’m only learning how to rebuild the hinges for the current projects in the shop. After I’m successful with a set or two I may entertain the thought of doing them separately for folks. Please stay tuned. 😊✌️

⬇️⬇️⬇️Here are a couple more process shots from the fender pix⬇️⬇️⬇️

Fri Sep 06, 2024 7:42 am

Vey nice work my friend. How are you at thin back seat frames? :lol:

Fri Sep 06, 2024 12:21 pm

Fri Sep 06, 2024 5:49 pm

Fri Sep 06, 2024 5:56 pm

Fri Sep 06, 2024 8:39 pm

Love seeing this evolve! 8)

Mon Sep 09, 2024 10:59 am

Fantastic work, I am really impressed!!

Bests

Antoine

Fri Sep 27, 2024 8:29 am

Thanks Guys.

Fri Sep 27, 2024 9:47 am

Success! Looks like I have a perfectly rebuilt passenger side lower hinge. Thanks for taking this on and thanks to your machinist neighbor for sharing his passion.

Mon Oct 07, 2024 5:40 pm

Wed Oct 09, 2024 7:28 am