The back edge of the door frame (the C-post) doesn’t coincide with the mid-pillar in the side of the Variant. There is a gap of about 125mm which will form a narrow window. This window is not ideal and the suggestion was made to remove the intermediate pillar to create one long fixed side window. But I decided against this option for two main reasons. There was considerable strength built into that pillar which I wanted to retain and it carried the rear seat belt mounting points there. It also meant that I could leave the rear-most side window as original.
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Here is the new window opening as naturally formed. You can see the three original corners and the corner needing treatment. |
| To create this new fillet, I cut a pillar from another scrap Variant which will provide a corner for each side of the car. |
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I then had to cut out the required corner. This was a tough job as there were three thicknesses of steel all welded together, the middle one of which was extra thick to provide the strength for the seatbelt, and I had to separate them. I eventually ended up with this piece which is now ready to go into the gap. |
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Clamped ready for welding (left) and after welding up (right). |
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After the first application of filler to start the long process of getting ready for painting. |