Back to life - my 66 build begins.....

[dodgerodder]

So now, it is no mystery where all the water was going from the leaking windshield corners......

I was hoping in the mythical, perfect world, this water was magically evaporating before it hit the bottom. That it became drinking water for unicorns haha

It’s funny though, because the bottom of the heater channels (outside the floor pan) are super nice looking

But like my mom taught me when looking for a girl, it’s whats on the inside that counts...

So it appears I’ll be needing funky green KlassicFab parts, fawk....

Well I thing I’ve had enough fun today. Thanks for looking

Dan



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My 66’ build thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=699235

[a.wilson]

[dodgerodder]

[dodgerodder]

Well had a little time to spend on the front quarter replacement.

The last piece of the original quarter to remove is under the seam in front of the door. So 1st step is opening the seam.

I started with the tool I made, and used to open the seam on the a pillars when I replaced the cowl

Tip looks like this

Start by prying the bottom of seam open, enough to slip the tool into.
Then gently hammer the tool straight up the seam.

This slightly opens the seam up

Tap until tool is all the way to top of seam. This slightly opens the seam.

Now I get to use a tool I made for the air hammer, to open the seam.
Basically a version of the vw seam opener you can find on the Samba, except I made mine to use in a air hammer

Cliff notes version. Started by cutting a piece of 3/8 steel into this

Tapered the tip to look like this

This part makes up the piece that slides under the seam to open it. Welded the rest of the pieces from scrap I had, looks like this when done

The long round part is just a handle to hold.

The pics make no sense on how it works. But start at the bottom

More to come!
_________________
My 66’ build thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=699235

[dodgerodder]

Works like this, made SUPER quick work of the seam!


Link


Opened it perfectly in about 1 minute! Edge of seam was 100% smooth when opened, no ripples at all. This would have taken forever to do without the tool, and would never be so smooth

You can see I sprayed Gibbs (kind of like wd40) into to seam, to help the die slide smoothly when i used the air hammer

Then just worked on grinding the spot welds that held the quarter panel lip to the inside of the seam

That section is all gone!

_________________
My 66’ build thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=699235

[dodgerodder]

Next I removed the front beam, to make fitting the new quarter way easier

Then I just HAD to slip the quarter on, to see how it fits....

Well it fits amazingly! This is obviously far from the final fit, but the NOS quarter fits soooooo nice!! Once I spend time fitting it will be really great I think!!

I literally did ZERO fitting here at all, just quickly slipped it in place

So I’ll work on fitting it for real next time, I'm pretty excited!!

Thanks for looking!
Dan


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_________________
My 66’ build thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=699235

[Disc]

Nice! Really nice!
_________________
The glory never gets old, just need new paint.
-------------------------------------------------
Nick

[Oldschoolbmx]

Incredible work!!! Thanks for taking the time to shoot and post the pics--truly inspiring!

[wcfvw69]

I agree. Fantastic photos and good tool making skills. I love the tool to open the seam. Hell, you could sell them!

This bug is lucky to have found a person to fix it so correctly.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[dodgerodder]

Thank you all for the kind words, it really means a lot!

I am honestly really surprised how well (and quickly) the seam opener tool worked!

That would have taken a while to do that long seam the normal way, and the opened edge is super straight & smooth

I’d have lots of hammer & dolly work to do if I pried it open

The only downside is, the tool is side specific. This will only work on the passenger side....

Would have to build a mirror image for the driver side.

Thank goodness I don’t have to do the driver side haha

If anybody needs to do their passenger side, I’d be happy to send it if the user pays shipping. Then just ship it back when you’re done

Thanks again for commenting, is appreciated

Dan
_________________
My 66’ build thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=699235

[GELS]

Totally amazed at your skills, dodgerodder! What a great thread, keep up the amazing work.

[dodgerodder]

[Rhysos]

Oh yes, impressive work as always! I assume you are keeping all of those flanges immaculate as you are planning on using a proper spot welder to join them back together (as opposed to plug welding with a MIG)?

I made a manual seam picking tool last week using your specifications and I must say that it works pretty well. My fingers are crossed that when I eventually fold it back over the steel will not split from overworking or stress fatigue. I am now the process of fabricating one of your ingenious fuel tank braces. I actually need to take off both front quarters on my car at the same time, but reckon that the brace will be very handy upon reassembly to bring things back into correct alignment.

Keep the quality content coming my good man!
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www.vwbeetlerestoration.blogspot.com

[flc]

[dodgerodder]

[dodgerodder]

[dodgerodder]

[flc]

Many thanks For the response, I’ve managed to find some in the uk,
Hookys panels £27 each 😎
Link for anyone this side of the pond
http://www.hookyspanelshop.com/our-panels/engine-b...etail.html

[dodgerodder]

[Rhysos]

Pleased to hear that your dad is doing OK after his ordeal!

Looking forward to seeing your resto progress in due course
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www.vwbeetlerestoration.blogspot.com