A roadster is bound to flex and take up a different posture if it is
supported anywhere other than the suspension mounting points - all the
saloons I have ever had showed the doors closing differently if jacked up,
and if you open both doors on a roadster squat down and squint through the
door apertures you can see a big lump at the front, another at the back, and
the two are joined by not much at all.
If the sills have no visible corrosion, cover plates or filler then the
inner and outer box-sections, at least, could well be sound, but that still
leaves the inner leaf as suspect. Do you jack the car using the original
jack and lifting tube on the cross-member? If so, and the sills are not
buckling upwards, then they are sound - but I wouldn't recommend trying it
just to see! If the floor is holed then what about the cross-member ends
and the castle-rails? If these are sound then again the sills could be OK
but if they are corroded as well then the sills have to be suspect as they
frequently rot, and are replaced, as a package. Replacing the lower rear
quarter panel will reveal the hidden end of the sill, and this should give
you a good idea as to the condition of the remainder, likewise removing the
bolt-on splash panels behind the front wheels to reveal the front end of the
sills. However cracking filler is bad news, it indicates it is not just
levelling filler but has been used to cover structural corrosion. Rust
bubbles could be just that i.e. sound metal underneath, or it could be a
sign of perforation.
If the door gaps are even all the way round when the door is fully closed,
and the body side crease follows a straight line through wings and door,
then again the structure could well be sound and it may just be worn or
mal-adjusted hinges. If the body is sagging I would expect to see closer
gaps at the top of the doors than the bottom. The part of each hinge that
is fixed to the door is held with three large Posidrive screws, and once
loosened these allow the door to be slid forward and back, and by adjusting
each hinge differently you can get the rear edge of the door either hanging
down, cocked up in the air, or correctly aligned - if the wear hasn't used
up all the adjustment potential, that is.
IMHO COD is caused by too close an engagement between 1/4-light and
windscreen. Although the B doesn't suffer from scuttle shake as such you
may be surprised to feel just how much it does move if you put your thumb at
the top of the 1/4-light to screen gap on something other than good tarmac.
I am also of the opinion that there was also a design fault in the main
glass aperture at the top of the doors and I extended the flange from by the
main glass round the 1/4-light post hole, as well as welding up the spilt
and screwing the door mirror into a reinforcing plate inside the door skin
instead of just the skin.
Personally I wouldn't fancy injecting foam into the sills as they are
designed to get wet and drain. The foam would provide a capillary path to
allow a small amount of moisture to spread a long way as well as prevent
them drying out quickly.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
From: Matthew Trebelhorn <matttrebelhorn@netscape.net>
To: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2000 6:20 PM
Subject: Another body work question -- advice, please!
> My 1970 B roadster is in pretty good shape -- still gets lots of "Wow,
> it's in really good shape for its age" comments. I can see all the flaws,
> though -- one or two rust bubbles, the dent from the Jeep driver who
> forgot to step on the brakes, the smaller dent from the minivan that
> really, really wanted to be in my lane, two cracks of doom.
>
> Basically, I want to fix things before they get worse.
>
> The one panel that absolutely, positively NEEDS to be replaced is the
> passenger floor. I wonder about the sills -- how should I check them?
> There are no holes in the outer portions, and I know that there is no
> filler covering possibly bad sheet metal there, but the car does flex,
> when it's up on jack stands etc. The door gaps seem pretty reasonable,
> *but* they do not close easily. Even with the latch adjusted to its
> limits, the part on the door hits the bottom of the plate on the car,
> pushing the door up & into position. Is this a hinge/latch problem, or is
> it indicative of a basically crooked car?
>
> The driver's door has a bad COD, one rust bubble. The quarter panel
> behind it is a mess -- I'm hoping that once the filler comes off, the
> portion abive the trim will be fixable. Below the trim strip, there are a
> few rust bubbles and cracking filler -- I guess this too is a must-fix.
>
> So:
> Sills?
> Door skins?
> part of the left rear fender
> lower sections of both front fenders (slight
> rust bubbles
> a front valance (original in bad shape when purchased 10+
> years ago, replacement fiberglass spoiler removed by 36 inches of snow in
> 24 hours)
> at least one floor
> plugging a few holes (radio antenna, etc.)
>
>
> I did most of the work ten years ago, but at fifteen wasn't up for welding
> -- yeah, I'm my own DPO on the filler in the left rear. I'm looking at
> doing a great deal of the work myself this time, I can get a pretty good
> bead with MIG, and I'm not afraid of a challenge.
>
> I'm looking for some helpful suggestions about determining exactly what
> needs to be done, the order in which I should do it, and how to make it
> last.
>
> Any thoughts on filling box sections -- especially the sills -- with
> structural foam? It has been suggested and widely endorsed on other
> lists, and Audi has been using it for structural purposes for years.
>
> Your thoughts, experiences, or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
>
> Many thanks,
> Matt
> &sidney, '70B
>
>
>
>
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