Removing spot welds

[mrtexas]

Wow rust 911 sure worked good on this piece!

I need to remove this hinge on the gas door to straighten it out. What is the best way to remove the 10 small spot welds? Want to minimize damage this hard to find 41-48 woodie gas door.

[tubman]

Goggle "spot weld cutters".

[Mike in AZ]

something like one of these bits??....Mike

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-pc-HS-Coba...wAAOSwGzlTxwwS

[Rustyspokes]

I found that a small hand held "Dremel high speed tool with a small thin 3/4 inch dia. Diamond wheel worked well, also used this tool to take off the original spot welds that are very sharp around the Firewall

[Mr. Will]

Originally Posted by Mike in AZ

something like one of these bits??....Mike

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-pc-HS-Coba...wAAOSwGzlTxwwS

Take a old drill bit and grind it like the third bit in the link that Mike posted. I have been grinding them like that for years and they work great. When it gets a little dull, and it will, just give it a little tune up. Good Luck

[mrtexas]

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I was easier than I expected. I drilled out the holes with a 5/32 bit and the hinge popped right off. Looks like the woodie door is the same as the sedan door with a different hinge. My sedan door doesn't need any body work so I'll try the sedan door with the woodie hinge. Not so bad after all!

[Frank Miller]

Replacing the old door to the hinge lets you use the spot welds as a reference point. They may not be exactly the same on the other door so you need to be careful you get the alignment right. You may already know this but...

[glennpm]

Cheap tool from HF that worked well for me:

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eig...ter-95343.html

[TJ]

I always thought the woody gas door has a slightly different curvature then the regular passenger car gas door.

[37 truck]

Blair tools makes hole cutters in different sizes that work great on spot welds. I got mine through Amazon.

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by TJ

I always thought the woody gas door has a slightly different curvature then the regular passenger car gas door.

I assume the door is supposed to conform closely to the contour of the fender?

Needs some work?

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by glennpm

Cheap tool from HF that worked well for me:

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eig...ter-95343.html

These spot welds were so small the 5/32 drill cut them out completely.

[Bill]

The gas door fits the cavity on the fender the same way a glove box door aligns with the dash. I'm thinking the gas door is specific to woodie only fender applications..Bill

[Marvin/TN]

I have never used the ones from Harbor Freight but have used those made by Blair.They work very well but it is best to drill a small starting point just be careful and not go all the way through both (or more) layers. The cutters are fragile and can break if you let them skip out of the intended weld spot. I have been using this type of cutter for 40 plus years.

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by Bill

The gas door fits the cavity on the fender the same way a glove box door aligns with the dash. I'm thinking the gas door is specific to woodie only fender applications..Bill

Yes, 41 woodie came with a sedan gas door that didn't fit. Hinge and door are different.

[Tim Ayers]

Hard to tell by the pictures, but do you think a little bending over a large diameter pipe will get it to sit right or is it a little too short?

[flatford8]

I'd make a template out of thin sheet metal or poster paper and compare it to the door you have or use to reshape it...... Mark