Square back resurrection

[sunroof]

Tomorrow I will figure out what to do with this lot

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

So this first thing I think I need to do is remove the remains of the heater channel mounting flange

Leaving this, something I can deal with

Clamp on the new metal and start bashing it into shape

About an hour later and back and forth from the car to a dolly clamped in the vise to smooth and shape and I have this:

Trimmed and clamped

Tacked in place

I am starting to get an idea how this is all going to go together

Unfortunately this is the example I have to work from

At this point I'm thinking that I will not get it right but it will be right enough to function.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[Bobnotch]

Nothing a sawzall or a grinder with a Metabo blade won't fix. Most of that will have to come out anyway, and be replaced with solid metal. Keep in mind that the sides will get covered in vinyl, and the rear seat covers quite a bit, along with some insulated padding, so very little of the metal will be seen. A lot of that will be hidden in other words.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[sunroof]

Ok all welded in place and made nice.

Now to replicate the flange bit

What I figger to be the easiest way to make this part

Finished and ready to weld in. Except it's supper time and I have a date tonight so I must make my self presentable for the public

Tomorrow is British car day but we'll see if I can get this done anyways.

I suspect we might be putting the body back on

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

That went well

A couple of hours work condensed down to two pics so as not to bore the audience with too much detail.

The holes are getting smaller

Tonight I will bolt everything down and hang the door and hopefully the disaster is manageable.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Well that took some maneuvering. The body was back a little on the pan so things weren't quite lining up. Since the body is on jackstands and the pan is bolted to the body moving things around was not as simple as I was hoping. But I managed it without doing any damage to either myself or the car.

Still fitting up nicely

Closing this hole will be interesting. It would be really helpful if someone could take a few pictures of this area to give me at least an idea of what it is supposed to look like.

Finally there is some misalignment here but shouldn't be a problem to weld up

I think I can see the finish line.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[Bobnotch]

[sunroof]

So I was thinking of how to weld this flange on since all the welding I've been doing so far has been butt welding. It took a bit of thinking to wrench my brain out of that and onto lap welding, of course!

That worked. Interesting how nothing is lining up correctly. Anyways, it looks like I will have to go backwards and cut off my nice curvy bit and add a strip to it and weld it back on. It hurts to cut such nice welds apart but I don't see another way.

This is interesting. It seems like 1/4" has appeared out of no where.

I sliced a bit out of the old heater channel to fill the gap

_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

I dunno, can this work?

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[Bobnotch]

If you look at photos of other type 3s with the rear fenders off, you'll see it gets a curved "boxed" section in that area. It's not really flat, which is why it rusted thru there. Squarebacks and Fastbacks (from 66-on) are a little different there from Notchbacks, mainly due to the shapes and positioning of the air box to the engine. That area you're currently working on ties into the air box at the front of it near the top. This area gets a little complicated (like the lower front that you've already done), but you need to look thru what others have done to see what an unmolested one is supposed to look like.
Most of the time, I normally just have to re-plate the lower part to be able to bolt the rear fender on, as that's where they normally rust out. What you're working on does rust out too, but it's from the wheel well arch inward, and toward the bottom. That's when it starts getting complicated. My 71 Notch was rotted there when I started on it, and had to be completely rebuilt. However I didn't go as crazy as you did, in that I just plated over it, using the existing shapes to conture the new metal to the old existing metal. Remember I still had the entire front to do, along with both rockers, the floor and front axle frame head to replace. (meaning that part of the body was done in the early stages of the car getting rebuilt).
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[sunroof]

Huh, this might work.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

No more excuses, I think it's time to weld. I just hope I haven't forgotten anything.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

I love springtime in Winterpeg

Meanwhile...

I've made some copper backers to try and control heat soak into the panels as I very slowly and carefully weld things together.

I get a little help from my floor jack

Happy with that so far

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[Bobnotch]

That's looking good. Keep in mind you'll have to build a curved 3 sided box to finish off where the funky "U" shape ties into the area you're rebuilding (where you still have your boxed panel holder at the end, last pic before the snow shot).
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[sunroof]

Very happy with this

This didn't go as well as the other stuff, it was awkward to weld and it shows.

Also pleased with this

It just might work

Anyways I am out of gas and the gas store is closed till Monday so I will take a little break from the type 3 and start a few little jobs on the TR6

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

I think the next job will be to weld this bit of structure back in

Likely to be a full day for that. Have to weld up all the holes, drill a bunch of new ones and plug, plug, plug weld till I puke.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Got the chassis out from under the body in preparation for the small stuff

The small stuff

More small stuff

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Ok thats done

Up next is this mess

And then back to the A pillar to finish up

And figure out what to do about this little mismatch

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

That's done

Starting into this now

This is going to be a challenging part to fabricate, lots going on here

I sand blasted it to see it better and cut some more of the inner part away so I wont have to weld underneath it.

Now I can weld the face of it instead of underneath.

This is interesting, there is a gas weld here suggesting a good place to start the repair. I may have to put the pan back under the car to get everything lined up just right.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[Bobnotch]

Going off the "gas weld" somebody was already in there before you. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened, as that's a common place for rust.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120