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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:36 am Post subject: Der faule Kürbis |
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Yes, that’s “The rotten pumpkin”. That’ll be the name of this 1966 Beetle project that I dug out of a field about five years ago. I was on the fence about calling it "Die faulen Tomaten" or the rotten tomato, but Der faule Kurbis just seemed tor work better. I sold it to a buddy & it came back. I sold it to someone else & it never left. It’s been for sale off & on & no one could ever bring themselves to look twice at it, so instead of crushing it, I decided to tear into it & make it road worthy again, just so I can get it out of my way. This will also allow me to perfect my process before I start cutting into my Ovals, I’d rather destroy one that should be crushed than crush one that should be saved.
My plan is to resurrect it & bring it back to a daily driver status. It's gonna be done well but as inexpensively as possible using lots of s-crap that I have lying around. It's gonna be raw, it's gonna be ugly, but it's gonna be bad ass.
I am using the JP Group/Dansk brand heater channels.. These are decent quality for the price & are twice the thickness & much better stamping than the Klokkerholm ones. In fact, since I'm so impressed with the commonly available Klokkerholm patch panels, I will be making my own patch panels.
I did a side by comparison of the JP Group/Dansk channels in this thread.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=717290&highlight=klokkerholm+vs
Here it is as I drug it out of the field.
Here it is after my buddy washed it.
And after he clear coated it.
About three years ago, I got ambitious & I braced the shell. That's as far as I got. So today, unbolted the halves (But I'm not sure why.) & proceeded to separate them.
As you can see, the bottom plate stayed with the pan.
Here's what's left of the pans.
That's a whole lotta dead foliage.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
Last edited by TDCTDI on Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:23 am; edited 7 times in total |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 12:19 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Unable to dedicate any more shop space to this car, I decided to leave the pan underneath the car while replacing the heater channels & pans so I made a couple of "Service tools" to raise the body while bolting it back to the pan to keep the body from moving around too much. This will also allow me to effectively use the pan as a body jig.
I found a 1' section of 1" schedule 40 black pipe, cut it in half & then welded a bolt into one end of each piece...
Then I repurposed a couple of "washers" that were made by my hole saw from another project & I welded a couple of nuts to the washers.
Then I welded those to the other ends of the pipe.
After letting them cool, I threaded one end into the torsion housing...
And then bolted the body back down to the service tool.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
Last edited by TDCTDI on Sat Dec 07, 2019 11:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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67rustavenger Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015 Posts: 9753 Location: Oregon
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 12:35 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Subscribed.
I wanna see where this goes and the end result.
Interesting bit of ingenuity on the body stand offs.
Like most east coast cars. It looks like you have your work cut out for you.
Good Luck.
EDIT: You posted a couple more pics while I was typing. The stand offs are a great idea. IMO. _________________ I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 2:38 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Thank you sir!
The front "service position" tool is nothing more than a stack of 2x4s.
As y'all can see, this thing is a mess. This car's only saving grace was a clean & clear title. And the fact that the keys were hanging out of the ignition switch.
Here goes nothin'...
I employed the torch to make it easier where the inner fender panel ended.
And continued hacking away at... well... not much of nothin'.
And that concludes today's adventures. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9638 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 8:27 am Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Well, you certainly have welding skills to tackle this pumpkin.
"Faul" (pronounced like "fowl") can also mean "lazy" in German, though I would certainly not regard you as a lazy bumpkin with the work you just did in this short time.
Looking forward to the Beetle's resurrection. |
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panicman Samba Member
Joined: December 18, 2011 Posts: 2290 Location: Canby, OR
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Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 11:09 am Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Creative approach... I’ll stay tuned to this one. _________________ Plate of shrimp |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Rome wrote: |
Well, you certainly have welding skills to tackle this pumpkin.
"Faul" (pronounced like "fowl") can also mean "lazy" in German, though I would certainly not regard you as a lazy bumpkin with the work you just did in this short time.
Looking forward to the Beetle's resurrection. |
Thank you sir.
Admittedly, my knowledge of the German language is primarily through Google translation.
This morning I continued hacking, torching, grinding & drilling... And a fair amount of cussing too.
After drilling out the spot welds, I used my panel separator to, well, separate the panels.
Then I flattened the inner fender well back out.
Including having to warm up the seam sealer on the inside...
I carefully cut just inside of the factory weld attaching the front bulkhead to the heater channel.
Then I continued peeling the layers away.
I used the die grinder to cut a slit into the remainder of the channel inside the bulkhead.
So I could get the sawzall in...
To finally extract this little bastard..
And here it is with all of the extraneous bits removed.
while the channel was out, I attacked the lower fender bolt that I had to cut off due to the captive nut spinning ...
So I took it & heated it up so I could extract the rest of the bolt.
After spending way too much time screwing with the captive nut, I finally turned my attention to fitting the new channel in place.
Then I removed it, trimmed here, adjusted there, & beat the ever lovin crap out of several other spots & coerced it to fit a bit better.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 11:25 am Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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This morning, I started by cutting the remainders of the pan bolts off so the heater channel could sit flush when I set the body back down to check alignment.
Then, knowing that the heater tubes to the defroster vents were of this magical construction that just unravels into useless coils upon the slightest of a sideways glance, I went to the local parts store to source some 1.5” flexible exhaust pipe. This is where I was dumbfounded by the sheer stupidity of the brain trust that were employed there. I checked the shelf & they had an assortment of 2”,2.25”, & 2.5” sections but no 1.5”. So I asked the sales person if they had 1.5” available & he pointed to where I was at & said it was there. I explained that there was none back there, could they order any, so he goes back there, grabs the smallest diameter one & says “here’s the 2””. Again, I told him that I needed 1.5”, so get this, he starts checking the labels on the LARGER diameter ones & telling me that these are the ones I need. Finally, he gets the manager involved & this dipshit asks me what the part number is?!? How in the hell am I supposed to know what the part number in your store?!? You have a computer, do your job & look it up. Anyway, it continued to go downhill from there so I went to another store and got it there.
So, with the desired piece in hand, I removed the ethereal ribbon & installed the defrost splitter on it.
And then checked how it fit to the heater channel...
If you have the need to do this, it fits perfectly!
WARNING!!! DO NOT TEST FIT IT, once on, it’s like Chinese finger cuffs, it will not come off. I had to tack weld the riser into the channel so I could twist the exhaust tube to release it.
While I was tack welding the riser, I went ahead & welded the seam on the heater channel.
Then cleaned it up...
I then inserted the heater tube into the body.
And attached it to the channel...
And then performed the convoluted dance of positioning the channel into the bulkhead at a 15° incline & a 35°angle, twist the channel counter-clockwise while lifting the rear, slip the heat register into the inlet, & then tuck the rearmost flange of the channel into the body. Whew, typing that out was almost as difficult as fitting the channel.
Once the channel was in, and since I had no reference points on this car, I took some measurements off a parts car (which oddly has PERFECT heater channels) & came up with 1.75” from the bottom of the body to the top of the flange.
And here is the result of the final fitting.
I must say, once the “service tool” extensions are in place & the car is on jack stands, it’s completely solid, there is no wobbling or swaying when pounding, pushing, or pulling on the body. Best of all, they’re a helluva lot easier to store once the job is done. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
Last edited by TDCTDI on Sun Dec 01, 2019 7:28 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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67rustavenger Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015 Posts: 9753 Location: Oregon
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 11:51 am Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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I find the same issue with the FLAPS here. The idiot behind the computer just cannot function without it. If the part is not listed in the inventory system. He/she are at a complete loss as to what might work on my car.
I try to look for the oldest parts counter person. They tend to have some knowledge. Compared to the pimple faced computer jockey!
NAPA tends to keep some of the old guy's busy.
I really like it when an old guy whips out a paper parts catalog to help with my search for a comparable/compatible part to fit my 67.
Please keep posting updates.
Good Luck. _________________ I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:50 am Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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As to be expected, even though I braced the body, some shifting did occur resulting in the passenger side door drooping a bit. Leaving the door slightly ajar, I could see how the door aligned without the assistance of the latch into the striker.
So, I made some more tools to pull the front of the body down to lift the rear edge of the doors.
I then bolted these through the front body mounts.
After a few turns, the door started to align better.
However, the roof only flexed in the bend above the vent wing causing the door to rub as it was closing into the aperture.
So I got a couple more 2x4s & placed the jack under the rear of the body to lift up & twist the body forward.
This then opened up the gap just above the vent wing.
And now the door fits & closes perfectly.
So I then began welding the channel in to retain the fit.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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After getting the heater channel anchored, I turned my attention to the mostly non-existent lower B-pillar.
So, I just started hacking until I got to some decent metal.
I went to the local hardware store to source some sheet metal but they couldn't get anything thicker than 22 gauge. While pondering whether I should start hacking into a couple of '68 bus doors that I had, I came up with another PERFECT source, Y'all ready for some true back woods solution?
A rotted 55 gallon drum....
The paint even works. So I chiseled the bottom out of it,
And whittled it down & spent waaaayyy too much time manipulating it into something useable.
Once it was close enough...
I tacked it in place
And began stitching it in
The lower corner protruded out a bit too far
So I made a pie cut & beat it in a bit
And stitched it back up too
It's not perfect but it will at least be structural & I need to finish welding it in but that's as far as I got today.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:11 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Today, I finished stitching up the outer section of the B-pillar.
And then cleaned it up a bit.
Then I bent up the inner support piece.
Tacked it in place...
And then welded it in place. However, what I thought was decent metal was too thin also so no matter how quick I was, it just blew through the rusty metal above the patch.
Since I can't go any higher without removing the bracing, I turned my attention to the A-pillar. Feeling lucky, I started to weld it to the heater channel. However, I was not so lucky as the pillar evaporated any time the wire got close.
So I started trimming away the lower portion of that too.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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iowegian Samba Curmudgeon
Joined: February 16, 2005 Posts: 9829 Location: Somewhere between Dubuque and Keokuk
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Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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She's lookin' good, Earl--------when ya gonna buff out that awful clear coat orange-peel ??? |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:45 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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iowegian wrote: |
She's lookin' good, Earl--------when ya gonna buff out that awful clear coat orange-peel ??? |
NEVER! It's totally owning that "Eggshell" texture. Maybe I'll start another trend, I'm pretty sure that I had the first car with chalkboard paint. Maybe another with this method of heater channel replacement.
Anyway, with the passenger heater channel mounted, and the fact that my "Auto darkening" welding helmet no longer does, I started copying the process on the driver side, the only difference being that I had to be sure not to cut the harness.
Including trying to cut it free from what's left of the heater channel.
And then, since I found at least one of the vent doors, retaining the original guide.
And then continuing to whittle away at it...
That's all for today. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
Last edited by TDCTDI on Sun Dec 08, 2019 5:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Dibaltic Samba Member
Joined: May 06, 2007 Posts: 564 Location: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:19 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Making quick work of this project! I like how close the barrel paint matches the car's paint |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 10:45 am Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Dibaltic wrote: |
Making quick work of this project! I like how close the barrel paint matches the car's paint |
Thank you sir! It was definitely one of those fortunate coincidences, or in the ever so immortal words of Bob Ross, "Happy Accidents" (Don't we all love those. ).
Speaking of barrel paint, I trimmed another strip out of the donor.
To get a crisp edge, I placed it in between a couple of steel plates on the press & tapped the edge over.
Then, after forming it a bit, I checked for fitment.
And scribed a line on the old A-pillar.
And cut it away.
I then started tacking it in place.
And stitched away.
Here it is after a quick clean up.
Unfortunately, I drilled the access hole for the door hinge bolt a bit too big, but screw it, I ain't starting over now. The next owner can piss & moan about the previous owner being a hack.
While I had the welder fired up, I drilled & filled some holes in the lower channel flange to secure the bulkhead, & finished welding the lower seam between the bulkhead & lower plate.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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This morning I continued paring away at the crust that was the old heater channel on the driver side.
Then, I started preparing the replacement for it’s trial fitting. First, since I planned on reusing the slider door on the channel, I began to modify it to resemble the original.
The door caught on the louvers.
So I gently pried & hammered them to the correct profile & then trimmed the rear ones to better imitate the originals.
Once satisfied, I welded up the seam.
And welded the heat riser to the channel.
Then I addressed the heater inlet. These do not align correctly with this early car.
I started by running a bead along the inside of the seam. I did not do this on the other side & when I cut the flanges off, there was a larger gap that I had to fill.
After cutting the flanges off, I ran a bead along the outsides of the seam again.
And cleaned them up a bit.
After that, I found an appropriate sized socket & inserted it into the tube...
And heated it up so I could bend it to the correct angle.
After all of that, I trimmed the channel a bit & slipped it in for a trial fit.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:19 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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Today, I trimmed, adjusted & pounded the heater channel into place for it's final fitment.
Before I started attaching it permanently, I adjusted the door fitment & striker one last time & finally got the body line corrected. I didn't take any close up before pics but it is visible in the pics from the first post. This line was off about 3/8"
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:10 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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With the heater channel in place & after taking & confirming several measurements, I went ahead & started making it a bit more permanent by welding the ends in place so the channel wouldn't shift as I started cutting away my reference points.
I also cut my other heat riser to length, tacked the end to keep it from unraveling, & installed the Y-pipe.
After fitting the riser tube to the heater channel (I really should have attached that first like I did on the other side. ), I scribed a line along the heater channel where the inner fender attaches.
Once done with that, I carved out the rotten section & then harvested more of the oil drum to make another patch panel. The sides of barrel, between the ridges, are far more curved than I expected & would not allow the panel to flatten out, so I rolled the edges a bit in my English wheel to flatten them out & to work out a few dents.. I'm glad I got that.
Then I clamped the patch panel over the scribe line...
And then went on the inside & scribed another line so I could trim the patch to meet the original inner fender.
I then removed it, trimmed it to fit, & drilled a bunch of holes in it before fitting it back in place & beginning to weld it up.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
Last edited by TDCTDI on Fri Dec 13, 2019 4:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 4:19 pm Post subject: Re: Der faule Kürbis |
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I continued stitching away at the inner fender patch. The replacement heater channel has a slightly different contour in it so this required me to make a few relief cuts so I could get the two panels to meet.
Depending on how the panels aligned, I worked from one side to the other. the welds have good penetration but tend to be a bit ugly. Obviously, I’m using a flux core MIG. A gas fed MIG makes for much prettier welds but the material needs to be much cleaner also, the flux core just burns through the crap & you don’t have to worry about running out of gas.
Here they are after a quick clean up with the grinder.
I then concentrated on tying in the A-pillar to keep the door frame from shifting. Here's what's left of the original...
I then made another patch & laid it over the pillar so I could scribe a line & then cut it out.
Then I started stitching the new one in place.
Hey, I even got the access hole right this time.
_________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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