Fitting
and welding new piece in.This page may take a while to load.
Heater Channel Replacement Article
by dragenwagen
copyright 2002
Page 11
*Disclaimer* This really isn't a how to. This is merely a collection of my thoughts and pictures. If you decide to undertake replacing the heater channels in your Beetle, then it is up to you to decide if you are capable of this task. You accept all risks involved in this endeavor. I am in no way responsible for your actions or your results. I am not responsible if you get killed, hurt, injured, squashed, burned, maimed, disfigured, burn your house down, accidental amputation of body parts, snoring, bed wetting, nightmares, drunk and disorderly conduct, profuse swearing or any other unforeseen natural or unnatural act for which I have no control over. Basically you take what I say or any of my pictures as merely reference material or entertainment material. Please do not use my pictures or my articles as I have written this and I am the owner of this article and all that which is contained in it. All pictures are mine. If you would like to link to them or use them in any way please email me and ask first.
Fitting
and welding new piece in.
| New piece clamped into place, using vise grips and a C clamp. The corner wraps around and I have it clamped tight to the fenderwell. There is a small gap right in the corner that I didn't really account for so I will make a small piece to go in there. |
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| Another shot of how I clamped it into place. Note the 2x4's again to help in creating a secondary support in case the sawhorses fail. Like I said better safe than sorry. I always keep my hands and fingers away from any potential pinch/crush points! There is some small gaps in the new piece and the old bulkhead. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, but it means I will have to add a little more to the weld. Which means more to grind down. Over all I have to say the piece fits real good. |
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| On the inside I had to come up with a way to clamp the piece in place. I have these nifty adjustable needle nose vise grip type pliers. Anyway I used the hole in the bulkhead and the bottom of the piece to hold it tightly in place. Yes this took quite some finessing along with some not so nice things coming out of my mouth after the 9th time trying to get the clamp to stay! The open area was the area is where I sort of goofed, but it turned out I had something else in mind. I used this opening to get a clamp in there and I will just cut a piece and cover the opening later. I had originally hoped that I could use the opening so I could spray something in there to seal up the welds. I tried to get some paint in there but it didn't work too well. |
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| I tack welded the outside then I went in and tack welded the inside. This is after I started to weld up the seam. I still have a few areas where the welder was blowing holes in the bulkhead. That is very aggravating! I will have to grind a little and then fill in the holes. |
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| Blowing holes into the panel. More grinding. This was hard to get to and bending over to get in here is a strain
on the back! The rust on the rest of the bulkhead is just surface rust and comes right off with a wire wheel. I
will brush the whole area and prime and paint it and give it a good coat of undercoating just to seal it up. Its
a hard area to get to and not really seen. It will get dirty from road grime, but it needs to be addressed, and
can't be ignored! Note to self: I need to get a new seal for that brake line. |
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| Inside tack welded. I finished the seam weld with no real problems here.This is after I closed the hole and finished welding. I got a little sloppy with the welds and I didn't really grind them down all that much. Any one who has worked in the foot well knows its a pain to get in there. Try that with a 6 pound grinder! But I finished off the area real good with a wire wheel. I sprayed it with some primer and then I put some gray enamel paint on it to seal the weld. Yeah, I will probably cover it with some seam sealer and paint it again. |
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| Inside finished. |
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| Just another shot of the finished area. Not too bad of a repair. The rust is cut out and replaced with new metal from the donor fender. |
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| I finished welding up the fender well and underneath where the heater channel meets the bulkhead. You can see where I have put the seam painted and put seam sealer and painted again. Looks like a bad bondo job, but the only body filler that is in there was a light skim coat to even things out a bit. I will take the wire wheel to the front and underneath to get the front corner ready to prime, paint, seam seal and paint again. I don't want any water to enter these heater channels! |
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| Closer shot of the front part of the bulkhead. I still have to grind and finish welding the holes up. |
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