V8 Pilot A pillar

[DocJohn]

Hi,

I'm restoring a recently acquired V8 Pilot Woodie and I've started to look at the A pillar and hinge area. Mine has pretty much crumbled away to the extent that it's hard to tell what shape the inner structure of door post around the hinge mounting should be. It's not helped by the fact that the car was dismantled 40 years ago and most of the small parts are missing - stuff like the hinge fixtures for example.

Any pictures of this area or information would be gratefully received!

Thanks

John

 

[KiWinUS]

there is one for sale on ebay uk I believe , maybe you could go look at it

 

[DocJohn]

Good suggestion, it's Colin Peck's beautifully restored Woodie.

 

[FlatheadTed]

Get a look at any 35 to 40 pillar it will give you a idea of what it should look like

 

[DocJohn]

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure how much carry over there was from the '35-'40 cars. Mind you, they are not common over here, and it'll be a very tolerant owner who'll let me peer behind the trim!

As far as I can tell from the remains of mine, the lower hinge has three long bolts through the A pillar and seems to rely on crushing the perforated box section to grip the hinge plate. I'm tempted to rebuild it with a more conventional structure but retaining the appearance of the original.

 

[FlatheadTed]

The crushing action is important ,it makes for a very strong fixture using thin steel

 

[DocJohn]

Yes, I can see the thinking behind the crushed structure. My preference is to rebuild it with 14swg for the main door shut face and then lots of shape for stiffness to get the loads into the floor - basically a hinge box. I would then make a plate with three threaded holes from 4swg to clamp the hinge to the 14swg door shut. From the outside this would look completely original but would be much more stable.

 

[videowallart]

I have a pilot woody and can provide pics as needed

 

[DocJohn]

I have a pilot woody and can provide pics as needed

Thanks, that would be great. It's the area at the bottom of the A pillar and into the floor on the inside and the cowl on the outside that I'm particularly interested in.

 

[Mart]

There's a guy called ethoV8 on the NSRA forum that has broken some pilots. I don't know if he might have some body parts left, but it may be worth giving him a call. He had an ad running recently.

Didn't you say you had another Pilot yourself? Can you not see anything on that one?

Mart.

 

[DocJohn]

Hi Mart,

Thanks for the info. The saloon was rescued on its way to the scrapyard and is much worse than the Woodie! Funnily enough I bought it from a guy called Martin down in your part of the world.

Cheers John