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The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle
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Dan22
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:27 am    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Thanks Jimbo. Every little bit is a step in the right direction. I know you know this!
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Dan22
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:51 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Been offline for a bit dealing with life. Rest assured, this project is going to continue.

I decided to begin work on the passenger door since I need both doors to judge whether the body is straight enough to finish the A and B pillar work. I have not cut out the old heater channels in an effort to keep original alignment.

This door had been sprung at the hinges with the lower one pretty bad. The inner reinforcement and outer skin at the rivets had been cracked from who knows how long they just slammed it shut and straining the metal repeatedly. Some gentle tugging with a sheet metal hook pulled it up. and then heat to shrink the stretches. Skin was torn as shown.

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I tell you that is a tough spot to weld! I stuck some aluminum can sheet down between the hinge and the door skin to prevent sticking across. I used TIG then went for MIG at the end.

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The little spots are from the shrinking tip.
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Then time for planishing and shrinking. I gotta say, that Vevor spot dent puller with a shrinking tip works super FINE! It is actually quite smooth, and I verified the profile with a long profile gauge from the other door.

I need to buy some thin copper sheet to finish adding metal to the very corner of the cutout. It is not completely filled. I am nervous about burning it out though.

Till next session...
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 11:12 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Awesome work! Love seeing the progress!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:55 pm    Post subject: Door hinge pin day Reply with quote

Had to get 2nd oversize pins and the reamer for these hinges. I will go through the steps. I used the WW .322" reamer.
1. Bead blast and straighten any leafs (leaves?) that may have had a slight bend.
2. Drill through pillar leaf with a letter size O drill. An 8mm drill would work too but I did not have one. This is to allow the new reamer shank to pass through the assembly. The door side hole was already large enough from wear.
3. Poke the reamer through shank first and hook up the drill. This way it self pilots the alignment. Add some cutting lube oil.
4. Pull the reamer through slowly till it pops out. I used a low drill speed. It did not take much pull force on the drill.
5. Test fit the pins! Some pins were still too tight and need a follow up pass with the reamer with a slight wiggle. Achieved a snug fit but free movement on the door side leaf.


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Very nice hinge action now! I will drive the pins home when I am done with the door alignment and A/B pillar work.

I am finding that my right door is slightly sprung. I may have induced this when repairing the upper hinge cracks. The seal gap is not right at the upper curved part, meaning the weatherstrip won't contact the body for a good seal. I have about 3mm "flare" to the upper window frame. Hmm, I have to figure out how to fix this, or get another door. Good thing it is not the body being warped. I confirmed with the other door by measurement.

These pictures show how the left door sits closer to the windshield pillar than the right door. It is not the hinge screw positions causing this.

Too tight
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Just right
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Two steps forward.....
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2023 10:29 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Hi Gang. Time to give an update. Been busy with a new girlfriend in recent months that altered the priority for a bit. Back at it now. Life is good and I am not complaining! I am inspired by the car shows cropping up now and I am due for progress.

Focus has been wrapping up the twisted A-pillar. Taking the time to check everything fits well. The door curve, door gap, planar surface down the pillar, and the hole positions. I had some surface rust in here so I sand blasted and etched the soon to be hidden metal. Zinc primer and some top coat to seal it off. JD green! It has been a bit of a dillemma deciding how best to keep this area from ever rusting again.

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Final fitup of the top metal. Ready to tack it in.

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Ground and sanded. Very minor dimple at the seam.

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Next is to spot weld the new outer skin to the inner reinforcement.

Here is what I started with in this corner!

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 7:24 am    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Nice job! I look forward to see how the final outter skin looks. I'm into the same area on my 55 but not as extensively so this post is helpful to see how everything goes together. Thanks for the update.
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 10:01 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

OK experts.

Soon I will patch in the lower outer panel on the drivers front quarter, then I get to figure out how to fold the flap over to make the pinch joint. I am thinking I am NOT going to just start pounding and end up with an uneven edge, or damage the nice fit and shape of the pillar doing so.

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I bet there is a fancy tool out there that does it. I have seen the pinch seam opening tool. Is there a similar closing tool? This new metal is thicker than the original so it will be a bit tougher to fold. I will try to achieve the same width as the original pinch in the upper half.

Is heating to red hot a good option? Or some kind of forked or grooved push tool that spreads the bend area out? I may have to get creative. Repeated vise grip bites? Rolling Eyes

I appreciate any advice out there from the experts.
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 11:01 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Heating the steel to “red hot” is the wrong solution. Do not do that. A little heat may make it more plastic. But just good o cold forming is in your best interest and the steel’s longevity! Going to “red hot” changes the steel molecularly, and not in the direction you want. It will become weaker and harder. Cold keeps it more plastic and pliable!

You need to work slowly and methodically, a 1/2” at a time. Just slightly reshaping the fold along the entire length of the seam. Patience is the tool that is most needed here. Baby steps. It will get there and it will be good!
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TDCTDI wrote:
Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look.


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GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! Smile
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:08 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

This is magic, and inspiring, and wonderful. What a story and what a car. I'll be following along, as I do my 61, coincidentally I decided a few minutes before reading this thread to paint mine Iceland Green!

Keep these updates coming!
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2023 3:19 am    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

The Pilch wrote:
I'll be following along, as I do my 61, coincidentally I decided a few minutes before reading this thread to paint mine Iceland Green!



Love Iceland Green.
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2023 7:00 am    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Nice job! It’s satisfying that you can do this all by yourself. Keep up the good work Cool

Yannick
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 9:52 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Slow going lately but there is movement.

I took my miscelaneous chrome parts up to a guy in Centralia WA to get them rechromed. My original wing window frames were quite pitted and rusty so I modified some later versions by shortening the shaft to fit the ribbed door style of stays. Old on the right and modified on the left.

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The parts!
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It will take about 6 weeks he said.

Made some progress on the outer A-pillar. I used the panel from Virtanen and cut it down to the necessary size. I also sanded the pinch flange area so it won't end up too thick when folded over. I used his inner A-pillar metal too and it is 1mm thick. Original is 0.8mm thick. That would be noticable if not thinned down, I believe.

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Some final fitting and shaping and welding coming up! I think I need to fit the fender and make sure it looks right. Then, maybe it is heater channel time.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 11:11 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Nice update! I like the progress!
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Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look.


67rustavenger wrote:
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 5:55 am    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

I would install defrost tube before you close up the outer skin. Almost impossible to do through the little 1" hole on the inside.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 10:05 am    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

type241 wrote:
I would install defrost tube before you close up the outer skin. Almost impossible to do through the little 1" hole on the inside.


My replacement heater channels from Gerson have new pipe included that I plan on just poking up from below. I won't need to get in there for anything but sealing up the weld joints from rust.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 12:12 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Good luck with everything, I hope it goes together nicely. It is all so familiar!

Keep the pictures coming.

Don
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 05, 2023 5:09 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Good progress today. Did the final fitting and prep to weld the patch panel in. Took a long time to make sure al the profiles were good and the lines matched.

I metal etched and painted the inside surfaces since they are impossible to treat aftwards wtih any reliability. The pinch joint got spot welded to the jamb panel after I verified the outer curve. Then spot by spot leveling - welding - cooling.

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I am not happy about the globular nature of the welds. I find there is just no consistency in how my weld wire feeds. I think I have a problem with the feedroller. Or my skill! I am out of practice.

Finished product for the day.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 05, 2023 5:36 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

That patch came out pretty nice. I hope I can get mine to look as good!
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 05, 2023 9:47 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Looks pretty good. Up at the top middle, the panel looks low. That would be hard to knock out. Are you going to use a stud puller?

Your welds look all over the place, in temperature. Are you using the same setting each time? If so, maybe you are moving the nozzle at different distances from the steel. Odd pattern.
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Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 12:01 pm    Post subject: Re: The Life and Rebuild of Dad’s Iceland Green 1955 Beetle Reply with quote

Hey Jimbo. There was some wreck damage above the patch that I was able to bring back out. It is hard to tell in pictures but when profile measuring it is very close. There was some shrinkage at the weld that created a depression and I was able to work that back out with my spot-weld slide hammer.

Fortunately with the defroster pipe out of the way, I can also stick a pry bar down the cavity and work things out, PDR style!

I was using the same temperature on the welder, but the wire feed rate was flaky so it impacts the energy balance. Plus, some of that fancy weld-through primer causes popping and porosity bubbles. I am not sold on the benefit of that primer. Spot welding it is fine but with MIG it makes a mess.
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