Re: Which year 1500?

["Tom O'Malley" <tomomalley@meganet.net>]

Joe Curry writes...

>Side beams showed up much earlier than that.  I parted out a 1975 that had 
>them!

My '74 has them.  I wish they weren't there because I suspect they're
quite heavy.  Each beam is a double channel affair and it looks to be
about the same gauge as the frame.  The reason I want them gone is
because I'm not convinced that the A-post is strong enough for the
heavy door.  During my recent repainting I welded up several cracks at
the hinge mounting holes.  With that and new hinges my doors no longer
sag but it still "feels" like the overweight doors we had on '70's
U.S. cars like Dodge Aspens and Ford Thunderbirds.  Not at all like
the feel of doors on modern cars. 

I've pondered ways to cut them out without removing the doorskins but
this looks dicey.  Very little room to work and damage to the outer
skin is possible.  I've given some thought to the safety issue and I'm
prepared to make the tradeoff,  but I need to consider passengers and
future owners.   I wonder if I could talk one of our UK listers into a
swap!?  Hmmm....perhaps not. :-)

FWIW, you don't need to remove the interior panels to determine if
your Spit has the impact beams.  Just open the door and examine the
frame near the striker.  In this area you'll see several rogue spot
welds that secure the beam flanges.  You'll find a corresponding set
directly across in the hinge area.

Cheers!
Tom O'Malley

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