ah ha ye of much wisdom and knowledge, as you may or may not know i’m currently doing a heater channels replacement, yes its takeing me awhile because i don’t want to balls it up and i’m reading stuff and getting as much info on the subject. i know what i think i’m doing but just want loads of opions on what to do.
so who’s done one and what advice do you have for me? its a original german heaterchannel the open bottom type and i’ve got a bottom plate for it (noy original)
do these two pannels ever meet at the edge. bottom plate way bigger sticking out is this normal?
a few ppl i’ve spoken to say yes its normally the case
which end to weld first? does it matter?
also any tips on getting doors to shut smoothly? cheers babys crying gotta go.Mark
I have done about 10 heater channels to date. Genuine VW channels (mexican), are grey in colour, have no bottom plate, which should be fitted before fitting the channel to the car. Make sure you line the bottom plate up at the front, with the original captive nut plate. At the other end as square as possible. Certain parts of the panel stick out and can be trimed accordly. Make sure you clamp it steady and work side to side from one end to the other. Also give it a good lick of paint inside. Good shutting doors is the holy grail of heater channel replacement. Fit a good door first (without dropped hinges) to line up the door post and the B post. Then tack the two posts to the channel before removing the door. Chech again and again that the door shuts nicely from every angle, then remove door and weld the posts properly. Refit door to check its okay. If you have to replace the door post, do only after welding up inner front wing first. Then fit post after tacking in place. If you need more detail come to any blether and I will be happy to tell you the details in extruciating detail. The last channels I have done were the first using genuine channels, and the second that have had rub free doors. Its tricky!