heater channel/sill inspection on ghia candidates

[Will91]

Hi all,
I'm looking for a clean, unmolested ghia and in preparation to inspect them, I had a question about evaluating the heater channel/sills that we all know are one of the most rust-vulenerable areas of a ghia. I have watched several YouTube videos and also poured through every picture of the "Average Joe" sticky on the subject and had a question. Other than carefully looking at the exterior of the sill for rust bubbles as well as under the car around that area for things such as clogged drain holes (there ARE drain holes for the sills, right?), is there any other way to evaluate the condition of the sills/heater channel or is my proposed exterior inspection adequate? I understand there is a mud plate in the front wheel wells that, if removed, would allow viewing of the exterior of more of the sill/heater channel, but not sure if this is necessary to conduct when evaluating a ghia for purchase.

[c21darrel]

If they allow you to remove the interior trim panel under the qtr window...and a flashlight you get seldom seen view. 3 bolts removes the mud sill cover. Inspect at the heater outlets. behind the outlets, under door is a typical rust spot normally covered in carpet, ice pick. There should be 3 drain holes aft (under qtr window) and 3 forward, no holes in actual rocker under door. If you can see rust, there is more you dont see, yet.
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[Will91]

Thank you. So there are 6 total weep holes on the underside of the rocker where it meets the pan? Does anyone have a photo of what I would be looking for?

[jeffrey8164]

Don’t forget a magnet.
Also, borescopes are really cheap now. Poke one in through a floor vent.
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[Vladiiiii]

Please also check this thread for some good Pictures :

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=698497&view=next

Since I have new custom heater channels and new rockers, removing the mud plate only reveales the area between it and the A-Pillar. Which has 3 drains, acc to the pictures. Does this area connect to the rest of the rockers on the original cars? (I am not sure).

Then, there should be a drain just under the front corner of the door, then at the back corner of the door. Access to this area is through a 8 (?)mm hole with a rubber plug UNDER the aluminium door kick Panel, NOT through the mentioned heater outlet on the sides just in front of the seat rails. If you look through those you see the insides of the heater channels, not of the rockers.

The last drains are in front and in rear of the jacking point. Access to this area is either through the above mentioned hole under the kick panel (if your borescope is long enough) or better yet, in the rear wheel well. On each side of the car there should be 2 holes with plugs in them, one on the outside (to look in the rockers) and one more on the inside to look in the heater channels.

So this was the theory The reality can be VERY different from this, depending on the 1-15 previous owners and on the 0-5 times the car had been restored with quality varying from "better than factory" to "go and die"

I hope this helps a little bit!
Vlad

Edit: A small tip, if you see even some small bubbles on the outside, it's only the top 5-10%. The rest is lurking underneath Maybe good enough for a "Driver" for 5-10k, but not for something more
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[J1]

[NOVA Airhead]

Get a flashlight and one of those small angled mirrors like a dentist uses.

Remove the floor heater vents and take a look in there using a flashlight as well. Should give you a good idea as to the condition.

Don't be surprised if you find plenty of rust. With the "newest" ghias being 46 years old I think the rust free heater channels will only be found in cars that spent their life in a dry climate - and even then may have rust depending on where the car is and how it was driven. Your best candidates will be those cars that have had the heater channels replaced.
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[ELFRIED]

How do i remove the front heater vents on an early ghia?
Cutting and the again welding back in?