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Welding Needed

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Welding Needed Empty Welding Needed

Post  CrazedVW Sun 1 May - 22:13

Does anyone have welding equipment they could bring to my garage and take care of some welding needed on my '73 Super Beetle? I initially was going to take it to Ronnie at Bug Haus to get done but arranging to get it transported has proved to be a much bigger problem than I anticipated. So if at all possible I need to be able to get it done on site. I need the following done:

-Front firewall patched/replaced. The corners have rotted out.
-Front bottom sections of the heater channels on both sides patched/replaced. I've been probing to see how bad the rust is and as best as I can tell they're solid from the A Pillar back. It's just the front sections that have rust.
-Passenger side rear cross member patched/replaced. There's a hole there but I'm not sure if it's bad enough to replace the whole section or maybe it can just be patched.

I'm willing to pay for the time so if someone's looking to make some extra money on the side here's a opportunity. I'm kind of stuck and can't really make any more progress on the Bug until I get this done.
CrazedVW
CrazedVW

Posts : 33
Join date : 2010-03-28
Age : 42
Location : Sandston, Virginia

http://www.y73bug.com

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Post  Slow Steve Sat 7 May - 20:30

Post up some pics of the sections that need to be replaced. Super beetles can be quite the project on the front cross member area.

Sounds like the same work I had to do on the rotten lemon. Check the thread in projects. Not my best work, but the guy was on a super budget and wanted everything done on the cheap. So... it was done on the cheap. Josh was really happy, and got to drive his bug again and not send it to the crusher. I learned quite a bit doing that project, yes I would do things differently moving forward. Laughing

Slow Steve

Posts : 191
Join date : 2010-02-01

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Post  CrazedVW Sun 8 May - 11:57

Here's some photos:

Welding Needed Driversiderot
Driver side rust

Welding Needed Passengersiderot
Passenger side rust

Welding Needed Heaterchannelhole
Small hole in the passenger side front heater channel

Welding Needed Insideview
Inside view of the firewall

Welding Needed Crossmemberhole
Passenger side crossmember

I'm really not concerned with how it looks after it's fixed since it'll be covered with carpet and never be seen. I just want it fixed so it won't continue to rust out. I already have a new firewall section that I ordered from OEVeedub/Mid America Motorworks (Danish origin) and I'm guessing I'll probably need to order new heater channel front sections/bottom plates as well.

Just out of curiosity what's the deal with Supers and the front firewall? The piece was far more expensive than the Standard Beetle piece.

CrazedVW
CrazedVW

Posts : 33
Join date : 2010-03-28
Age : 42
Location : Sandston, Virginia

http://www.y73bug.com

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Post  Jerry Hundley Sun 8 May - 15:01

What does the back of the heater channels look like? Very rarely does just one end rot out its usaully the whole thing
Jerry Hundley
Jerry Hundley

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Join date : 2010-01-11
Age : 53
Location : Colonial Heights Va

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Post  CrazedVW Sun 8 May - 15:09

Jerry Hundley wrote:What does the back of the heater channels look like? Very rarely does just one end rot out its usaully the whole thing

They're solid from the A pillar back as best as I can tell at least from the outside. I've alos shined a light down from the heater vents in the footwells and they look solid on the inside too.
CrazedVW
CrazedVW

Posts : 33
Join date : 2010-03-28
Age : 42
Location : Sandston, Virginia

http://www.y73bug.com

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Post  Slow Steve Sun 8 May - 23:03

Did you say that the crossmember is rusted away too? The reason I ask is that you or whoever goes ahead and takes on this project is going to need to line up the cross member with the holes on the repaired heater channel, napolean cap and firewall, that means putting and taking off the body a few times to make sure it's lined up. You're definently going to do it the right way with the body off the pan. Post up some pic of the pan area.

Slow Steve

Posts : 191
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Post  CrazedVW Mon 9 May - 9:35

The passenger side crossmember (below the back seat, assuming we're talking about the same piece) has a hole in it like the picture above shows. I'm not entirely sure it needs to be replaced. I was thinking maybe a small patch could be welded in to seal it up. Like with the firewall I'm not concerned with anything that can't be seen after the car is finished looking perfect. (As much as I'd like to get everything done perfectly money is limiting me somewhat on this.)

As for the pan and frame it's solid. I took it down to bare metal last year top and bottom last year and then POR15 and topcoated it. There were a few small holes in a few spots but nothing a little putty and fiberglass couldn't take care of. I did reinforce the rear half of the passenger side floor pan with a sheet of fiberglass because it felt a little weak to me and I didn't feel the need to go to the expense of welding a new half in. I might revisit that before the body goes back on though. Pictures of everything I did to the Pan can be found on the Bug's website here:
http://www.y73bug.com/page5/page31/page31.html

CrazedVW
CrazedVW

Posts : 33
Join date : 2010-03-28
Age : 42
Location : Sandston, Virginia

http://www.y73bug.com

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