Field find 1954 Canadian custom

[sunroof]

Started really cutting into it tonight.

It was starting to look real good:

Then I tried to fit the door and discovered that the hinge was too fat to fit.

This took some fancy Dremel work to correct.

I spent many hours trimming and trimming so carefully till I got to this point:

Looks good, no?

It was now time to try to hang the door. On the other side I waited till I had it welded in place to fit the door. I was smarter this time and tried to fit the door before I welded anything. Lucky I did! Virtanen made the same mistake as on the other side, the hinge mount was 1/2" too high and all my careful trimming was for naught. I started cutting the bottom to lower the hinge mount to the correct height and got it pretty good. Of course I now have to undo all my previous careful trimming. This is how it looks now:

The door opens and closes nicely and lines up acceptably. I will add back the trimmed part to the top and tack it into place checking again and again that the door continues to fit.

Better and better mistakes.

The marked area will all have to go. I will get Wolfparts quarter panel and take what I need and sell the rest.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[tomsbuggered]

Fooled once, twice shy..

Glad you took the time to try fitment before getting too far into the welding. The door fitment is probably one of the most crucial alignments, and it looks like you will get it.

You've made such a lot of progress, which will be rewarded in the end.

I am on hold on body work until sometime after the New Year. Door alignment is first on my list.

Press on Don.
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June 1956 VW Oval Beetle

[sunroof]

Got back in the garage and started fitting this little bit. The green stuff is pretty good but I'm going to have to do some shaping for the hi/lo beam switch.

It needs to slide over a bit like the other side. Obviously I made a compromise between getting the flutes just right and getting it to fit in the allotted space. Of course this is a part of the car that will never be seen but one likes to get things right.

Up down up down up down....

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

First real test fitting. I had to do a little tap tap tap to add the contour for the hi/lo beam switch.

Like the other side, the flutes are in the wrong spot. I tried to move things into alignment but the position was dictated by the flange on the left and where the part meets up with the chassis. So a little more tap tap tap to make the flutes look a bit better.

Things are not fitting up quite as well as the other side. Not sure what is wrong but I'm sure my trusty hammer will set things straight.

Down on the chassis with everything bolted up snug:

You can see here how things are not quite lining up the way I would like. This is not a problen I faced on the other side.

I don't know how people do this and get everything lined up correctly without putting the body on and off the chassis nearly every day.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

Looks like the heater channel needs to be adjusted towards the exterior. Can it move?
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[sunroof]

[sunroof]

I wasn't satisfied with the tab on the front end of the heater channel so I cut it off and welded on a slightly wider one.

I then tacked the front piece to the heater channel. It all went together pretty nicely.

I tacked the inner part of the firewall to the channel and put in the defroster hose":

Next was to add the tab that the Klassic Fab heater channels are missing:

Added a couple of plug welds to the rear quarter:

Shot some primer on the tab and plug welded it to the body:

I clecoed the inner is as I am not quite ready to commit yet

I suppose this alignment will have to suffice, not exactly dead center but close enough for government work.

The only fly in the ointment is this little bit of misalignment.

I moved the heater channel back about 1/2 cm which brought the bolt holes nicely in line with the chassis but did not help with this. If I moved the firewall panel to the right it would climb up the chassis and leave a gap at the bottom. It is perfect at the top but where it butts against the heater channel it sits a couple of mm proud. I may have to make a small pie cut to get things to meet up properly. The only conclusion I can come to is that the heater channel is a bit too narrow at this point. I am NOT going to try to correct that!

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

Its perfect! Don't be too critical. Got to remember that these were mass produced by the cheapest bidder on parts, as all cars are! That alignment looks good enough to weld together. You may need to hammer on the wheel well panel to get it to lay flat, but it will!

Looks good!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[sunroof]

So today I decided to move away from the very complicated A pillar while I wait for a quarter panel to come from Wolfparts. The frunk was rusted somehow so I decided to cut out the rust and put in some fresh metal.

Originally I was going to paint it with POR15 and leave it but I need to replace the bit between the steering column and the quarter panel but since it is impossible to weld to rust I followed it back to solid metal. I am happy this part at least is fairly simple.

Cardboard template:

It all came apart very nicely:

New metal:

From below:

The Hole:

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

That is a hard transition to fabricate! It took me 4 hours, and I only got close. My hat is off to you!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[tomsbuggered]

Wunderbar!
Looking good over in the 'Peg Don.
Major progress being made.
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June 1956 VW Oval Beetle

[sunroof]

OK, that will have to do.

Next up:

I will think carefully about how to approach this. I am running out of metal and we have code red shut down so the sheet metal shop is likely closed. I am also running out of primer. I do not want to have to take a break due to supply chain issues.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Shaping the next piece:

Back and forth to the anvil many hundreds of times until it lays flat nice and relaxed.

I cut away the flange so it will sit correctly against the inner fender.

And then the lip into the tank area:

Now the piece can sit correctly where it will find its home:

Drill a few holes and it's done

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

Nice job! Looks great!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[sunroof]

Made it to the metal store and stocked up. So out of purgatory for now.

Piece: The next.

The usual drill, a cardboard template.

Start rough shaping

On another note: I saw a video of someone making an axe out of a piece of railroad track. I got this piece of small guage track from my father who got it from his uncle sometime in the '50s. It is one of the most useful tools I own. So the video gave me an idea to reshape the track a little to make it more useful for metal shaping. One of the things they don't mention in the video is the mess you make in your shop with all the cutting and grinding necessary to get it the right shape.

Also also I got this from Wolf so there is nothing holding me back now.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

Yippee! Going to see some forward progress again!

That segment of R&R rail brings back memories. I was around 9. Dad owned a custom cabinet shop. It had a yard area that back up against Southern Pacific main line to Long Beach. Trains went by on the 20 minute marks.

One day while assembling cabinets, I was becoming distracted by the noise out the back door (big 14 x 16 roll up). Went over and witnessed a crew on a big railroad car. There were about 6 working cars, followed by a set of attached flat cars, maybe 15 or so, full of materials, rail and ties, retainers and spikes.

Anyways, I meandered over to the door, my father followed shortly after, and we watched this train (more like a caravan) roll by. The first car removed railroad ties. It dug them out, removed the spikes and pushed the tie out the side. Next car shoved a new tie in. Next car set the retainers and drove in new spikes. All of this going on at each car continuously! It was impressive to watch!

After the cars went by, a crew in a rail mounted truck followed. The one guy would get out, inspect a segment of the track while walking, during which he would spray paint a bad section of the rail. He carried on down the track. A few minutes later a bigger truck, piled to the hilt with tools and a f’n big welder. This guy jumped out of the truck. Pulled out a cutting torch and burned out one marked section. Another guy walked up and dropped a cut segment of rail down into that same spot. Then the welder guy came over and welded that rail in place. That’s when Dad said it was time to get back to work, shutting the door to protect our eyes!

After they had passed. I asked the old man if I could go get a spike. “Sure, but watch out for trains!” I jumped the fence, as a 9 year old does, effortlessly and meandered over to a spike near that rail segment. Really cool standing there. Surreal in a sense! Picked up the spike and threw it over to the fence where I could then throw it over the fence. Then I tried picking up the rail piece. It was maybe 1 foot long. It was so heavy. I managed to drag it over to the fence. I hopped over the fence. Went in the shop and gathered a pair of cutters and some rope. Went back out, managed to cut through the bottom four or five openings in the chain link fence making a nice hole. Big enough to reach out and drag my prize into the yard through. After getting it through. I threaded the rope through the chain link and pulled it back into alignment. I than wound some rebar wire back and forth to secure the cut links in the fence! What a day!

Thanks for that! Never did anything with the spike. The rail segment, my father used when gluing large flat panels together. It worked great! Wish I still had it. That would be cool!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[sunroof]

Divide and conquer!

The method that has worked so well else where on the car will be repeated for this complicated little segment. First up, the flange that welds the frunk pan to the inner fender.

Many hours of shaping and trimming brings me to this point:

Next up:

Clamped everything down real tight and made a couple of tack welds.

Finish welded it and set in place to test the fit.

I really think this is going to work.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[grailoc]

[sunroof]

Did a little more shaping and finish welded a couple of parts together. All in all a fun afternoon.

This next piece should be pretty straight forward.

I am a little worried about turning the corner but I will cross that bridge yada yada yada.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

So here is a silly story: I bought a pair of welding gloves when I first started welding a lot on beetles. They were nice thin leather gloves and had great feel while welding. At some point I was told they were not MIG welding gloves but TIG welding gloves. I don't know if that is true but it seems likely. Anyways, while working metal and welding I kept forgetting to take the gloves off when cutting and shaping. Eventually they got dirty and full of holes. Not good for welding. BUT! they are great for grinding and cutting, they protect my hands and wrists and have great feel due to being thin. Finally they got so full of holes they were no longer useful so yesterday I bought another pair. For $20 they are cheap and so nice to have in the shop. It will be a shame to get them dirty.

A little more progress tonight.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!