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The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
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#3,881 ·
Yes, a tweaked hood is a whole different animal. Good luck.

John
But the same principal. A block of wood in the right spot will straighten a tweaked hood quickly.

I worked at the Ford plant in the early seventies for a year and I'd watch the cars come down the line for final fit and inspection. The hoods, doors, trunk lids were sometimes way out of line and those guys had 2.5-3 minutes to get them done. They had a set of various wooden blocks and wedges and just bent whatever didn't match until it did. Once in a while they would loosen a bolt but most of it was just done with the blocks and bending. Course, after you've bent a few hundred cars a day for years, they could do it in thier sleep...;)
 
#3,882 ·
If it will help you, search for the "basics of basics" of hood adjustments. Lots of really good info on dealing with tweaked hood hinges.

For those who are surfing the forums and read this thread the "basics of basics" tutorials are a wealth of information. I highly recommend them.
Thanks John, and if you didn't know, here is a collection of most of them. Basics Of Basics - Autobodystore There are still a number that got lost somewhere in the ozone layer but Len at Autobodystore re-wrote mine reposting the photos on another server so he saved a lot of photos that I have lost so it's pretty neat he did that.

Brian
 
#3,883 ·
But the same principal. A block of wood in the right spot will straighten a tweaked hood quickly.

I worked at the Ford plant in the early seventies for a year and I'd watch the cars come down the line for final fit and inspection. The hoods, doors, trunk lids were sometimes way out of line and those guys had 2.5-3 minutes to get them done. They had a set of various wooden blocks and wedges and just bent whatever didn't match until it did. Once in a while they would loosen a bolt but most of it was just done with the blocks and bending. Course, after you've bent a few hundred cars a day for years, they could do it in thier sleep...;)
I have to tell you, I had been in the body business many years when I took my first tour thru an automotive assembly plant. It was the old GM plant building in Fremont, which had became "NUMMI" which basically was Toyota. I had been tweeking doors, trunks and hoods for years and thought it to be a little "trick" that was close to "hack", I don't know why but I thought it to be "cheating" to do this. I think because other bodymen had looked at it this way, don't know why I listened to them, I had figured out how to make the panel fit better, but I was doing something wrong? :rolleyes: I just thought it was cheating that's all. Anyway, I was in the NUMMI plant and was blown away to see them using all MY tricks on the final assembly! :thumbup: The doors of the car were coming to the assembled car right at the end of the line, assembled door coming down to the car off an overhead conveyer right at the very end of the line. As they bolted the doors on, checking fit, they took large hammers with a blunt chisel like device and WHACKING the striker to get it moved a small amount for perfect alignment, they had a block of rubber on the end of a handle they stuck in the doors hinge closing the door on it to tweek the hinge like I show in my "Sprung door repair" thread, I was blown away at the mount of twisting and bending they did to the doors for the final fit, one of the best in the industry I must say.

And shouldered bolts, I would remove the shouldered bolts on late model cars to be able to move the door, trunk, or hood a bit and I had guys saying "you can't do that", sure enough right in the Toyota panel installation guidelines it had to remove the shouldered bolts for better alignment! LOL

Yep, bending and tweeking for perfect fit is HOW you align, it isn't cheating, it's knowing the tricks of the trade.

I wish this guy worked at the shop where I work to do the final fit. NOTHING ticks me off more than poor fit on a panel where perfect fit was RIGHT THERE for the taking. But instead they let the customer find that the door is dragging or something and THEN they fix it. Of course spending WAY too much time because they haven't a clue how to do it!



Brian
 
#3,884 ·
Nope.

Gas welding body panels is the best there is. Of all the different methods, gas welds are the most pliable and less prone to cracking.
Wouldnt that depand on the rod your using, puggs...with mig wire I would think the weld would be a little hard (like a mig weld) but I havent gas welded any sheetmetal since the 70's I was never any good at it so the mig was my saviour. and it wasnt the tip size because I couldnt even gas weld muffler pipe ...so all I use my torches for is cutting heavy stuff and heating metal for forming.
..............A mans gotta know his limitations.......Clint E.
 
#3,886 · (Edited)
Mike, I will be doing some welding with my Jewelers torch and posting it, this thing will blow you away.

I don't believe the wire is what makes the weld so hard, I believe it's the way it is used, the whole electrons and all. At least I believe so, but I believe that to be the true. I believe they cool so fast the molecules gather making them harder.

On the clothes hangers, they are very soft metal and they are coated with a "paint" to keep them from rusting, so there is a big difference between them and the welding rods bought at the welding supply. I won't be using coat hangers anymore!

Brian
 
#3,887 ·
I'll have to look into that jeweler's torch Brian. That's pretty cool. And the MIG wire is a good idea too.
I have only used it a little bit as I bought it before I went back to work on the line and stopped all my projects at home. I butt welded the quarter patch panel on the Gran Sport with it, I am not kidding you can really do some neat stuff, a TINY little weld bead. This is with the largest tip in the kit, with the smallest you can solder on a circuit board!

Brian
 
#3,889 ·
Burn the varnish /paint off first with the torch ??????

Nope, I will buy welding rods at the store. :D This is sort of like using paint thinner from the McHome store as wax and grease remover.........I just don't think the 14 cents savings is enough to go thru the trouble and the gamble.:drunk:

Brian
 
#3,890 ·
Wouldnt that depand on the rod your using, puggs...with mig wire I would think the weld would be a little hard (like a mig weld) but I havent gas welded any sheetmetal since the 70's I was never any good at it so the mig was my saviour. and it wasnt the tip size because I couldnt even gas weld muffler pipe ...so all I use my torches for is cutting heavy stuff and heating metal for forming.
..............A mans gotta know his limitations.......Clint E.
As Brian mentioned, it's not the rod but the process that makes the MIG weld "crispy".

About the jewelers torch; is it big enough to give good penetration in sheet metal?
 
#3,891 ·
As Brian mentioned, it's not the rod but the process that makes the MIG weld "crispy".

About the jewelers torch; is it big enough to give good penetration in sheet metal?
Yep, with a butt weld and using .023 wire you put a little 1/16-3/32" wide bead. :D

Brian
 
#3,892 ·
They had a set of various wooden blocks and wedges and just bent whatever didn't match until it did. Once in a while they would loosen a bolt but most of it was just done with the blocks and bending.
They used to do that all the time at Winnebago. If the inspector was nearby, they might cut a floor loose and re-weld it; but most of the time, it was a block of wood and a sledge
 
#3,893 ·
Friday and Saturday was spent de-greasing, aluminum cleaning and washing the Pete for pics.
Today I had a little time so I installed a new door panel in the '52. I got them from Jim Carters Truck parts. I got new foam spacers and cardboard washers too for the handles and all new screws and washers to mount the board.

Before..



The cardboard is only painted on one side and they recommended painting the back to prevent moisture absorbsion and separating. I sprayed a coat of matte clear on to seal them.





I wasn't sure what the original color was and thought it looked Burgundy. I got light Gray to match the headliner I have.



Foam and cardboard spacers to keep the handles from rattling.

 
#3,895 ·
Nope, I will buy welding rods at the store. :D This is sort of like using paint thinner from the McHome store as wax and grease remover.........I just don't think the 14 cents savings is enough to go thru the trouble and the gamble.:drunk:

Brian
yeah probably wouldnt make much difference with my gas welding ...mabee i'll get one of those jeweler torches and give it another try...
 
#3,896 ·
It's been many years since I used an oxy-acetylene torch to weld, although I sure enjoyed it when I did. I just seem to have gotten to using the Miller MIG for everything, even when I know some things could be easier with the torch. I need to probably practice a lot to get back in stride with the torch!
 
#3,897 ·
yeah probably wouldnt make much difference with my gas welding ...mabee i'll get one of those jeweler torches and give it another try...
In the old days hangers were pretty good metal. Over the years they became mostly recycled metal and looked like sparklers when you used them. In this day and time it would be foolish to use anything but good CC rods.

John
 
#3,898 ·
yeah probably wouldnt make much difference with my gas welding ...mabee i'll get one of those jeweler torches and give it another try...
Before you go spend any hard earned money let me get back to you being I haven't used mine much, just the few times it was awesome.

Brian
 
#3,899 ·
Today I got up and went to a Chili cook off with the wife and my daughter, and I have to tell you, I enjoy this event every year and today was no different.

So with that and doing some work on the house, not a whole lot got done. But I did clean up the garage to be able to move the cab inside. I also decided to weld the jack-stands to the cart for the cab, looking out side this morning seeing it on the jack-stands gave me the willies. :pain:

So I cut the top of the jack-stands off so it could remove them if I want and welded the top on to the frame. The bottoms were already modified for a project years ago. It was funny that I set up the rear axle without any planning on if the front stands would need any work to make it perfectly level. But right there on the first hole it was perfect. :D

I also put the motor in front of the cab just to make it feel better. :D

Brian



 
#3,900 ·
Yes, a tweaked hood is a whole different animal. Good luck.

John
i got it close picture didnt come out though.

its the hood itself on the driver side its even were the hinge is , then twards the center of the hood moving foward its high, and just at the front over the headlight pocket its slightly low

put a block of wood under the front of the hood and just infront of the hinges and slowly applied pressure and got it much closer. lil more working it and i think it will line right back up. tomorrow when i get out of work im going to work on it a lil more
 
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