back in the day, i know of folks that used to lead the seams so they would
look smooth!  (OK, so i am young- my dad told me of this from back in the
40/50/60's)
-Matthew
84 weekender

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bulley [SMTP:gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 12:57 PM
> To:   vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      Weld 'em, was: Body Seam Rust (long)
>
> As far as welding up the seams, I plan on doing it to our 1982
> We'llfollowya,  if it ever gets rust on it.
>
> Eric may have a point about body flex via the seams, but I don't think you
> will get "all kinds of cracks in the body". In pursuit of body-stiffening,
> welding the seams is a pretty common practice on Porsche 911 and 914's
> that
> folks autocross. No harm done.
>
> Mig, Tig, Arc, Spot, zap.
>
> G. Matthew Bulley
> Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
> www.bulley-hewlett.com
> Cary, NC USA
> 888.468.4880 tollfree
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:   Gary Shea [SMTP:shea@GTSDESIGN.COM]
> Sent:   Tuesday, June 15, 1999 1:58 PM
> To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject:        Re: Body Seam Rust (long)
>
> You remember when Bob Hoover was on the type2 list?  He apparently
> thought that mig welding the seams was the way to go, and had done
> it on at least one van.  I don't remember any more details than that.
> His claim was that flex was not an issue, that the seams were there
> because the car companies were too cheap to do the welding themselves.
>
>         Gary
>
> On Tue, 15 Jun 1999, EMZ wrote:
> >     Your going to mig weld the seam? I think this is a bad Idea.
> > This I am sure, is where the vehicle flex. Wellding them close
> > will cause all kinds of cracks in the body. BTW, sandlasting
> > is the best way to remove rust.
> >
> >             Eric                   86-VW4x4
> >             vw4x4@fyi.net          72-240z
> >             Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler