The first issue is - are you going to have to replace the heater channels? If they are intact and strong, you can pull the body without doors with no problem. If they are rotted, preserving the door geometry is very important.
The doors on a '59 won't do much to hold the body together, unless you do what I did on my pieced-together Ghia - weld straps of sheet metal about two inches wide across the door gap at the latch side, top and bottom of the door. These, with the hinges, hold the door rigid and fixed in the opening. If the hinges have a lot of slop in them, or if the door gaps are not even to start with, you need to fix that first. If the heater channels are rotted, you might also want to brace across the body from one rear door jamb to the other, to keep the sides of the body from bulging out. The other way is to weld braces inside the body, across the door opening to serve the same purpose, before removing the doors. In either case, the weld beads left on the original metal can be carefully ground off after the major surgery is done. I would use angle or channel iron, rather than pipe - easier to weld in place. Chuck Kuecker asad ishaque wrote: > Haaaaeeellpp!! > > Anyone please?? Please let me know what the thought is for removing the > doors before or after the body pull?? > > TIA > > Asad.> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected]> Date: Mon, 25 > Feb 2008 21:43:50 +0000> Subject: [vintagvw] Body off giving me the jitters!> > > > Volks!> > I have to admit now. Having the body pulled off the pan of my > bastardised 59 ragtop bug is givng me the jitters. My bodyman is skilled but > he is not into VWs. I think he can do an excellent job provided I guide him > precisely.> > New floorpans are not available here in Pakistan. We did get a > shipment a few years ago but they were very expensive (exchange rate kills > us) and not of heavy gauge metal to be a justified purchase.> > The 59 has > major rust issues on the underside. I think once we try to separate the body > n pan quite a few things would fall apart n disintegrate. The heater channels > would have to be locally fabricated along with the pans. Im just hoping to be > as close to the original as possible. I would need all the guidance I can > get.> > Any dos and donts of a body pull??> > Now a question. S! ho! > uld I leave the doors on before taking the body off or not??? Was thinking > of having the doors removed and having steel pipes welded temporarily for > bracing the shell earlier. Now Im thinking maybe they would act as the > brace?> > The doors themselves are of 67 vintage and would be replaced with a > 64 vintage pair along with small sections of the B pillar where the striker > attaches. Hafta get rid of the 67 style strikers too.> > I have the option of > avoiding these 'head n heart aches' and changing my bodyman to a specialist > VW only denter but his downside is he is way too expensive, too far from my > home (Karachi is a huge city), and above all does not work under your > supervision. So if Im not involved in the rebuild, wheres the fun?> > > > > TIA> Asad. > > _________________________________________________________________> Helping > your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give.> > > _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
