Gav 616 Posted May 15, 2015 Hey chaps.... Still chipping away at the corrosion in my XA. Was fitting the doors to make sure all the lines on the car match up and found that I couldn't adjust the drivers door any further forward. The A-pillar on the car seemed inordinately "thick" - like extra layers of metal were preventing forward adjustment of the door...anyway I started picking away and found "repairs" that consisted of bog and extra metal layers. This is a partial dissection of the A-pillar on the driver's side : Looks bad....but after all the corrosion I've encountered I'm quite confident of an elegant repair. In fact it's largely done. Had I struck this when I began the resto...I woulda freaked! This car has been a sheetemetal welding apprenticeship so I'm reasonably confident where ever basic fabrication and welding are concerned! I've fabbed up a replacement drip channel. Had to. The owner of Grand Tourer died and they scaled back their business. When I last checked their parts facility had closed. They were the only place that sold repro drip channel pressings. So...what I need to know is are the drip channels forward of the front doors on XA-XC's pop rivetted on or spot welded onto the A-pillar? My are pop rivetted but I don't know whether that's because they have been comprehensively fucked with in the past. I'd be rapt if any XA-XC owners could check out their cars and let me know... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ando76 4,354 Posted May 15, 2015 I'll get a photo from the xa Fairmont parts car in the am if that's any help. 1 Outback Jack reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hendrixhc 10,920 Posted May 15, 2015 I can have a look at my XC to if you like but wouldnt be til PM tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted May 15, 2015 I know on coupes they are rolled into the roof pressing and spot welded to the door frame. I can't imagine sedans being any different really. The drip rail on mine had rotted through all along on one side so a long time ago I ground them off and welded the roof to the window frame for a smooth look. If I knew how much coupes would eventually be worth, I would not have done that. 1 Outback Jack reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
78xcgxl 241 Posted May 15, 2015 Hmm that's nasty as, why not just buy a section off another car and weld it in? It will make your life so much easier and will be spot on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gav 616 Posted May 15, 2015 As you say (gerg) that last picture looks as though the drip rail and the posterior surface of the A-pillar are a one piece item that is curved and spotted to the roof and the medial aspect of the A-pillar. I'm getting the impression that with sedans the drip rail is a separate pressing that is either spotted or both spotted/pop rivetted to the posterior section of the A-pillar. It is the posterior section of the A-pillar that is rolled into the roof and medial component of the A-pillar. I'm just trying to get this repair looking as original as I can cos I'll see it each time I get into/ out of the car. If I can pop-rivet my repair section on - it'll be less messy than doing a whole lot of plug welds. But if spots was how it was done...I'll plug weld.... Thanks in advance to the lads who get around to posting more pictures of this part of the car to this thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gav 616 Posted May 15, 2015 Hmm that's nasty as, why not just buy a section off another car and weld it in? It will make your life so much easier and will be spot on. To be honest....I reckon it's easier to make something. Tally up the time/kilometres driven to see all manner of fucked up forty year old Falcons owned by (commercial) interests who don't want to cut their car up as you would like to, versus an afternoon in the shed making something out of brand new metal and cost/versus benefit swings in favour of fabricating something. The corrosion in my car wasn't visible - it'd royally piss me off to pay for an original section to find it FUBARed when I get it home. Take a picture of your car for me? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
78xcgxl 241 Posted May 15, 2015 . I see what you car saying but the A pillar on these cars have many different layers and is pressed in particular shape that it will be quite hard and time consuming to replicate as per factory. I've got a donor XC that i think has a good drivers A pillar i can take pics of it and if you want happy to cut it out for you. Where abouts are you located? 1 Outback Jack reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gav 616 Posted May 15, 2015 Thanks for the offer but I've largely created a solution - A photo would be instructive, though. Just looking at attachment methods for the drip rail... I've enjoyed the intellectual challenge of working through the various repair dilemmas this car has offered - making repair sections is part of that deal. It's not a show car so absolute adherence to original design is not imperative. That being said I've made effort to adhere resonably to original design. Save for the specialist shapes of the exterior panels, the "bones" of these cars are a fairly simple design that can in part be adequately recreated with some thought. The fact they weren't put together in state of the art facilities makes this more possible. 1 Outback Jack reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
78xcgxl 241 Posted May 16, 2015 No dramas, i will try and get a photo for you tomorrow of a A piliar on one of my cars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
78xcgxl 241 Posted May 19, 2015 Pics of A pillar , even took a photo of one cut so you can see how the different layers are put together. 1 Gav reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gav 616 Posted May 19, 2015 Gold, young fella! Gold! Thanks heaps for that....I did think the sedan ones were pop-rivetted ..reps pour vous! 1 78xcgxl reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fordstu 38 Posted December 9, 2015 hey fellas I know this is 7months old but Ive been given a XC wagon and Both A pillars are rusted. The drivers side is rusted through to the outside only but the passenger side is rusted on both sides. The inside on the passenger side is down closer to to where the dash is mounted. My question is would it be easier to replace both pillars completely, ie ease and safe or repair drivers side and replace passenger side?? Thanks in advance Stuart Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted December 9, 2015 Better to replace entire pillar both sides for structural and alignment reasons. At either end you at least have a reference point to work from, but mid-span you don't, which could end up being out of whack. A weld mid-span is also a weak point. You need to stagger the welded joints by 100mm along each plane of the joint (if doing an entire cut-and-shut) as it is a critical structural member. In other words, a simple chop and weld across the pillar will not be an effective repair. Your joint needs to have its cross-section staggered so as to form a kind of 3D zig-zag. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bear351c 10,270 Posted December 10, 2015 I think trying to find a replacement would be the hardest bit....... Rare Spares.??? Are you listening.?? 1 fordstu reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
