ghia pans.

[PANCHO]

i need help puttin half pans in my ghia.

driver side first.

then passenger side.

i can not do both at the same time because of the 200 dollar a piece price. i just moved and that broke me for now.

i will do all the prep work and the clean up after the job is done. i just need a good welder and a place to do it?

anyone? anyone?

[GrandMaster B]

GEE I wonder who could have a welder and a place to do it hhhmmmm, to bad you wont drive that pile all the way out here to get it done

[brotherbob]

My hommie, pull up your blanket and listen to ole BrotherBob's fire side chat ......
Harbor freight sells a mig welder for around 100 bucks or a stick welder for around 125 , buy one. Learn how to weld , even if its bird**** welds as long as they work right ? Weld crappy parts togther until you can't beat them apart with a hammer. Grind all the spot welds out with a handy 4.5 inch grinder for 15.99 same crappy tool store. Grind until the pans pull off by hand . Grind everything flat , cut pans to fit , clamp all over the place , weld a plug weld every 2-3 inches or so. Move around a bunch so you dont create so much heat in one spot.
Do it your self, once to learn to weld you'll be a monster.
It aint that hard just time consuming .
BB

[planedude]

We did it to the Baja using my brothers Hobart Mig machine (220volt) using Co "combo gas". Forget the flux core or any 110 volt welder, too much splatter and not enough penatration of the weld. We did it with the body on (I don't now recomend that method). Everyone took a shot at welding (me, brother, my son and brother's son). Just like Bob says we used the removed pan scraps to find a good amperage (how hot) and wire speed (feed rate). We did two inch welds every four inches, except at the seat mount area (continuous applied in three sessions alowing a full cooling between) and sealed the seam with a solvent based calking. Looked good, works great. Try it you'll like it...

Of course I did not have to buy the welder (his was about $400 + bottle lease) only a spool of .063 wire and a bottle fill...

[justjoey]

I run a hobart 135 110v machine and its just fine for me working on VWs. I dont think ill need a 220 unless I start welding frames or thicker steel.

[PANCHO]

what is a plug weld?


well then.... i guess i need someone to come over to my house and stupervise. i guess i need to go price welders. then wait until i can get the pan half to do the job. i don't really want to be pushed out of the nest but you guys are WAY MORE CONFIDENT THEN ME. i will look into it. it will be easier than driving somewhere else and maybe leaving my car.

[GrandMaster B]

Yeah it would get towed :p

[planedude]

I run a hobart 135 110v machine and its just fine for me working on VWs. I dont think ill need a 220 unless I start welding frames or thicker steel.


I have not tried that machine. I can say that the Harbor Freight 110 flux wire is okay for hobby stuff, worthless for anything "pretty" on a bug. My dad bought one to make fence parts, so it was okay for that job. We tried using it on some repair stuff on the baja...ugly.

Welders are a "get what you pay" for product.

The 220 Hobart did a great job on the mild steel class 11 roll cage we put in the bug...

[PANCHO]

well the pans are gona be cheeper than the welder if i have to spend 400$ pluss bottle. i need help with welding not with product reports. i will buy a welder and do the passenger side. i need help with the driver side right now. the seat frame is broken threw the pan and is close too the ground. this car is slammed. look at the picts. in the dallas section. she is a low ass drager. the front fender well is 19 inches and the back is 17 inches. i'll get some help with this pan and then do the pass.

[69 Bug Man]

i need help with welding not with product reports.


Now that's funny.

[brotherbob]

[QUOTE=PANCHO;52819]what is a plug weld?

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/plug-weld.htm

The 110 volts cheap machines are Ok for pan or sheetmetal work. I do agree that they are not capable of doing any thick metal . Your tool cost to do pans could be as cheap as 150 bucks or so. For structural stuff use a good machine with a gas combo or a nice 220 Stick machine.

For pans- I like to find VW pans in rotten cars cut em out and use what VW did. Its cheaper.

So there............now you have another product report.

catch a fish ,feed the man.............teach him how to fish and he can now feed his family. You need to learn to weld , buck up lil camper:)
BB

[PANCHO]

ohhhhhh that is a killer idea. i can cut some sections out of old cars and patch my pans for now. i then can buy a welder and LEARN to weld later. i will then have learned to weld and be MORE confident about doing the job myself.

i am interested in your philosophy and would like to subscribe to your news letter.:proud:

thanks for the good idea i like that way better for now and would be more confident about welding in patch pieces than doing whole pans.

[Parkinglott Whore]

i cant weld for **** but i have replaced ghia pans beofore.... at the shop in phoenix.....so im def in to help if needed

[planedude]

... i need help with welding not with product reports. i will buy a welder and do the passenger side. i need help with the driver side right now. the seat frame is broken threw the pan and is close too the ground...

Sorry for dragging this off topic.
Repair, if you can do it, is easy. Cut the patch as large as you can compaired to the hole you'll have in the pan. Cut and clear the hole in the pan to be sure you have good, clean metal all the way round the hole. A square-ish hole with rounded corners has worked for me(avoid square corners they create stress points later). Next, lay the patch over the top of the pan and match it to the stock location as best you can. I then clamp (or weight it down with the battery) the patch and mark it exactly with a scribe or a sharpie. Trim the patch to within 1/8th inch of the scribe mark quick and dirty (jig saw) and then fine trim. This is the tough part, grind and grind... fitting and checking...until you have a very tight fit between the patch and the pan. I have also seen someone leave the 1/8th inch on the patch then roll the last 1/16th of the edge of the pan hole down and the outside 1/16th of the patch up so that the two would nest on each other. Weld the edges starting on the flat stright part of the hole and weld a short 1/4 inch spot to hold you in place, then repeat x3. Double check your fit and when satisfied, weld two inch spots on different sides of the patch allowing things to cool sometimes. Keep working and welding till you are compleat. If you blow a small hole in the pan you can back it up with a pre 1970's real copper penny, then weld to fill. A copper penny will fall off after your done. New pennies are zinc and they vaporize. This is sort of a plug weld. (a real plug weld would have you drill out the round spot welds to remove the old pan (special drill cuts only the pan, not the ledge). You would then drill a matching hole in the new pan and weld the parts together at the holes. That's the very fast and dirty on that...) Grind and clean then paint to match.
I would offer to help, but we are working 7 days a week now. Saturday, I have to stuff a 40,000 lb thrust P&W F-135 motor up the butt of F-35 ship two...

I wish it was as cool to do, as it sounds...:confused:

[volkscool63]

I would offer to help, but we are working 7 days a week now. Saturday, I have to stuff a 40,000 lb thrust P&W F-135 motor up the butt of F-35 ship two...

I wish it was as cool to do, as it sounds...:confused:

Sounds pretty f-ing cool to me! :proud: Hey Pancho I have a friend that owns a motorcycle frame shop in River Oaks and he showed me how to do some of this stuff. I don't have a lot of experience or the welder, but i do have two good hands to help out with. Between the two of us I'll bet we could figure it out. You've got my # just give me a call, but give me some lead time cause i never know what the wife has planed until its too late. :laughing:

[brotherbob]

Eddie - a local FWAC has a set of bug pans in the classifieds he'd like to wiggle his way toward a running engine ? I've seen the bug pans its the good stuff .
From what I can understand Ghia and type 3 pans are a little harder to come by , section these full pans into repair sections for your ghia? Are the seat sliders different ?
Might have ta' get creative.
:mellow:

[PANCHO]

i am not going to cut up good bug pans for patch pannels. he offered them for a motor trade but what i got needs rebuilding and he needed a runner. i got a set of floor pans from green bean and he was happy to let me cut something up. ghia pans do not come with seat rails. you have to save your old rails and weld them in.i am getting ready to patch the drivers side.

[PANCHO]

still on the elusive pan fix for the ghia. i have fonzy helping me this sun. the 23rd. i hope we get the job done so i can start rollin this dog.

[FONZY]

I am sure I can take care of it now that I have seen pics..

just make sure ya get over here nice n safe :)

[PANCHO]

my chain wallet chain will be rubbin the ground all the way over to your house!

i lost a spider co. knife out of the hole in the pan. man that made me mad i loved that knife. :angry:

[PANCHO]

YEAHHHHHHH we got that big rusty hole in the pan fixed! FONZY welded up the pans with some sheet metal that i had. he added a cross brace and away i went. well after the floor pan job was done FONZY made me a shortened e-brake handle. it is about 6 inches shorter and hides in between the seats. he fabbed up a pinky finger hidden release for it that is fly.


thanks again FONZY. :proud:

[FONZY]

don't forget , you still owe me a hot date with that 'parkinglot whore' chick...