A-Pillar Repair/Replacement Help Needed

[77Campmobile]

My pillar and everything surrounding it was completely rusted out. I probably should have been more strategic in my repair and left more of it intact as I went but I'm beyond that now. The entire a-pillar was removed from just below the lower hinge down.

I purchsed Schofield's 3-piece A-pillar repair panels but they don't line up correctly with the remaining body metal. The flanges come up short and or the bends are off, it's a nice looking 3-piece set but it just isn't fitting.

Anyone do a complete a-pillar rebuild that could shed some light on the process? Pictures and dimensions would be helpful too. I have my new dog log test fit in pretty well so I just need to get the a-pillar sorted now so I can finish it.

I'll get some pictures tomorrow showing the issues.

[Globespotter]

Hinges? An A-pillar is the roof support to the left or right of the windshield.

Are you talking about the door frame?

EDIT: I think you mean A-Post
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[Jetfxr69]

here, right?

i only had to replace the inner-most piece, so i bent up some pieces to fit and welded them in. sounds like your up against multiple layers of rot.
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You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. Zappa

‘77 westy Seamus
‘76 tintop Crusher
‘77 westy The Judge
‘72 tintop bastard westy Hudson

[jtauxe]

This is how you need to support the nose before cutting it off. But maybe it's too late in your case.
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[mikedjames]

The Schofields pieces arent perfect, but that is the price you pay for thicker metal - it cannot curve round such tight bends.

I minimised the amount I had to chop off the A pillar..
This shows my chopping en-route to fitting Schofields replacements.

And after - the fit is not perfect but better than a rusty hole.

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[77Campmobile]

[77Campmobile]

[Joey]

[77Campmobile]

[77Campmobile]

I think I made a little progress today but so far I have had to cut up and reshape/size these schofield repair panels a bit. Everything is only getting tacked in or cleco'd until I can fit all of the panels together including the wheel arch and bumper parts. If I have to I will remove pieces again once aligned in order to finish welding.

Here is the outer a-pillar section fit up. This needs to be co-planer with the whole a-pillar so check well with a straight edge. Also the bottom section of the pillar sweeps backwards aprox. 4 degrees just above the bottom of the hinge. There is a black sharpie mark right about where this bend starts.

I had to cut off the front flange on the outer pillar section as it did not align with the existing metal. I sectioned about an 1/8 out of it and tacked it back on as shown by the three tack welds here. The bottom plate is test fitted with clamps but I think it is too far towards the bumper maybe?

Should this bottom plate mate up with the front lip of the bumper as shown in this pic? It seems to leave the outer pillar section overhanging the flange quite a bit.

The inner pillar panel doesn't line up well at all, it seems the bends in the panel are not quite right maybe, I'm not sure yet as it still needs some trimming. This was just a quick fit as the last thing I did today. In order to line up with the outer edge of the nose skin there is a large gap to the outer pillar at the flange.

Couple additional pics:

[Jetfxr69]

looks like you got it figured out. mine is off an early ‘76 and you noticed they have different hinges, but the length to the bottom of your post should be the same. im home from work tomorrow late and can measure up anything you need before you final weld if needed. i would assume that even if the hinges are slightly different, that the measurement from a reference point higher up would work too.

i could clamp a straight edge off the bumper frame and measure down from there. mine is still doorless, so easy-peasy.
_________________
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. Zappa

‘77 westy Seamus
‘76 tintop Crusher
‘77 westy The Judge
‘72 tintop bastard westy Hudson

[Tvättbjörn]

are the Schofields replacement panel the same thickness like the factory or thicker?

[77Campmobile]