tcolt

So, I started stripping the doors on my '7 Vista Cruiser. I didn't even notice a small dent (really a bump) just above the curved quarter panel crease line onto the rear door until after I primed it. It was about 3/4 inch long and ran almost perpendicular from the top towards that body line and was dented out. So it was a bump in the outside door skin that must have been made from the inside. I didn't think much of it until I stripped the other rear door and it had exactly the same dent in the same location. Plus, it looks like both areas already had previously been worked on because they had fairly deep grinding marks in the area and red primer, compared to the factory grey primer (which by the way, is excellent stuff. Barely could get it soft with paint stripper) I tried to take some pictures, but they don't really show the dent much. Does anybody have a guess? It could be a huge coincidence, but I was wondering if there is something (like the door glass) that could make those dents if it was loose or travels too far. I can't check it right now because the door glass is out, but I'm curious if other Vista owners have ever noticed similar dents.

Greg Rogers

That's odd I'll see if mine has them also. I am looking thru your threads, Tom, as I plan to start work on my Vista this winter. Do you have a complete build thread? Greg.

tcolt

Hi Greg
I thought I'd answer you here instead of on the PM. Unfortunately, I don't have a complete restoration thread. Part of the reason is that I didn't really intend for this to turn into a full restoration when I started, but as we all know, the Might-As-Well theory quickly kicks in and before you know it your whole house is full of Vista Cruiser parts. I have also been so busy with the work on my Vista Cruiser roof that I didn't have any time to spare and therefore I've always limited my threads to individual topics that cover very specific questions. I also often wondered whether I should post those threads in more specific sub-forums, but I considered that outside of doing a search for specific questions, I have almost never read or followed posts in any forum besides the General Discussion and I wonder how many people ever would see my posts in the more specific locations?... There are two or three very good and fairly thorough recent and current threads that cover complete Vista Cruiser restorations. However, I think that my threads will be very good resources to fill in some of the very specific questions that someone doing his own, detailed restoration work might have. In fact, I think they might be easier to read and find for people in the future, than a 10 or 15 page long complete thread would be, that covers topics from my 2004R build to 4 barrel conversion to interior fabrics to Vista roof rust repair (which I will detail with a lot of pictures once I have a little more time). The amazingly helpful people on this site have almost always responded within a few hours to questions I had and I was able to quickly continue with my work.

This seems to be my only thread that has stumped people :-)
Maybe the two symmetrical dents are really just a huge coincidence... Because of this site, I'll actually be receiving two driver's side doors, hood, dash top, glass, etc. from John McNeel in Oregon today. I'll let you know if the rear door has the same dent ;-)

oldolds88

sometimes we(fisher body lansing) would get racks of doors,hoods lids ect that had the same dent,ding or even major damage from various items,the racks themselves,fixtures that were used to align the door skins, inner framework or option components. sometimes the spotwelder would be hitting somewhere,and it would be run like that until someone found it and corrected it. as to why it didn't get repaired on the line, I don't know for sure but there were a lot of reasons,quitting time and they guys left a miniute early,relief man doubling up, or just said to heck with it they all have it,ship it.

Greg Rogers

What you say makes sense too, Tom. I sure have learned a lot and there is much more to learn. I love this site!

tcolt

I love stories like that and it completely makes sense. If those dents were from the manufacturing or assembly process, they either didn't notice them or didn't want to cop to them and might have said to themselves, let the paint guys deal with it... :-)

I worked a summer job at the BMW motorcycle factory in Berlin and there was always a reason to take the easy way out. Also, a lot of beer drinking going on all day long. It was hard for a young guy like me to keep up... ;-)

oldolds88

a lot of times the forman would just say ship it, unless it was real bad,for whatever reason,maybe there were too many problems running on the bodies and they were the least of the worries. believe it or not there was a body man in the paint dept to get what was missed. also a guy in trim guess who that was lol 1976 2004

tcolt

That is so cool! Tell us some of the things you worked on and more stories. I've often wondered whether they had fender benders after they came off the assembly line and maybe just sent it right back to have body work and paint done before it was delivered. The owner would never know his car had an accident when it was still brand new.