Can anyone detail the best way to remove the door impact beams of a '70 Skylark? I'm looking to lighten up a bit... The car has recently been painted. It's one of those>> shouldof, couldof, forgot... So I'm hoping there is a way a can get them out without a torch or heating up the door panel too much. Experiences appreciated. Thanks, John
John I did this last year.....It's not easy,But you can do it if you proceed cautiously. First-They are too big to take out in one piece.You need to cut them in half or thirds before you try to remove them. Second-With the car being painted,It will be harder to find the spot weld that hold them in. If I had it to do over again,I would just roughly locate all the spot welds and just cut the door around the spot welds and replace the metal,Then touch up. Since it's the door jamb you have a little margin for error with re-finishing. The biggest thing is to be careful not to ''ding'' the door from the inside. I only had one blemish and I did alot of my cutting with a ''sawzall''. Luckily they were being painted after.
I've always had good luck cutting things with my RotoZip. It makes clean cuts and is easy to control. I'll be using it to cut away the center support area of my new hood with Stage 2 scoop in a week or so.........if I ever get it back from the guy who's welding up the holes the letters went in. Grrrrr, body shop guys.
Phil, I used a Milwaukee sicsor tool to cut out my hood and the bracing, worked real well, proceed carefully and all should be fine, it cut so nice, and did not leave sharp edges, you may borrow it if you like, there will be some spots (sharp corners) that need small atttention. good luck , Bruce
John, removing the window and regulator will help. I cut mine in thirds, put a piece of sheet metal between the beam and the door skin, that way the cut off saw will not cut into the door skin. It helps to have a swivel on the air hose to work in the door area. I cut the center third out then drilled the spot welds and moved the ends up and down to pop the spot welds. Bill Sangster
O.K... Re the spot welds: Are they on the jams > both hinge side and door latch? Is this attempted with the doors on? If I buzz a section of the beam out of the middle and work the remaining ends up and down, will that help target the areas of the spot welds? Thanks! John
John The spot welds can be hard to find....You have the right idea the remove the majority on the beam,Then "work" the ends out after. I would say you should remove the doors to get the beams completely out.
I was able to find and drill out the spot welds on both the latch and hinge side with out taking off the doors. I think I used about a 1/4" drill bit. As I remember there are 3 or 4 on each end. I needed a right angle drill and a very short bit to get the ones on the hinge side. I found if you can see 1 or 2 and drill them and work the end up and down then you may see the others. The hinge side was the hardest. Good luck Bill Sangster.
I just removed all 4 of the beams from the wagon - about 35 lbs. worth! I fortunately remembered to do this before final prep and paint on the body - that way if something does slip, etc. you can fix it. With the body already painted, I agree with everyone else - go slowly, take your time! I was able to find and drill out all of the spot welds. 1/4" bit sounds about right. There were 5 at each end of the door, then I just buzzed the holes closed later with the welder and ground them smooth. I was able to take mine out in 2 pieces - if you get the rear portion out first, you at least have a little more room to work with that portion out of the way. I used a combo of a 4" angle grinder with cutoff wheel (when I could get it to fit someplace) and an air die grinder with cutoff wheel.
Is it possible to get most of the beam out without damaging or having to repaint the door skin? Bruce W.
This is good info, as I thought a plasma cutter would be a good way to get them out too, maybe it is if you have one, but if you don't, now we know how to do it! Thanks RV
