Welding Underneath Transits Help

[Powertone]

Hi,

just been under my 95' SWB smiley to notice that the beam that goes from side to side of the van at the rear is holed quite badly. It's the beam directly under the rear bumper.

Is it just a case of cutting out the rusted metal and welding on new? What gauge steel do I use? Also, any ideas on where to buy some in Central Scotland?

Cheers

[Luke]

i think i know which bit you are on about i searched but couldnt find anyone who can supply a replacement panel so it s a case of patching it!!

as for metal thickness go for as thick as you can but not too thick or you wont be able to bend it and it will be difficult to cut!! panel shops will sell sheets of metal but in all the years of welding ive never bought any - just cut up old shelves etc. someone on here sugested old pc cases - anthing like that does the trick!!!!

[rover]

Yeah I used a standard PC midi tower case to do that exact job on mine last summer, someone gave me a tweak on the back bumper so I took it off to straighten it and noticed the few small holes.........until I took the angle grinder to it to clean it up, then it was almost a continuous hole.

If you can get enough sheet metal its worth doing the whole lot from the outside as the seem is behind the bumper anyway.


Rover.

[bazw]

if you can get it use 1mm "zintec" plate , it is steel plate that has electro plated zinc on both sides
i use it for repairs because it just does not rust in normal use , i did the sills on my old granny with it and did not paint them to see what it would do ,the welds suffered a little but the plate did not in 3 years , also it means the plate will not rust out from behind as its protected , the number of cars and vans you see with new wings that are rusty because nobody thinks to paint the inside before fitting amazes me even some body shops dont do it

[MrMPuk]

The trouble with galvanised plate is it's alot harder to weld even if you grind it back, and when you fianlly do get it to weld it gives off some really dodgy fumes!

[gazza]

agreed, most repairs with stuff like powder coated shelves ground at the joints will last plenty long enough once schutzed

[easylife]

the fumes the galv metal gives of are poisenous

[bazw]

i use it because i use a fume mask when welding anything , all the fumes from welding can do you harm (im a welder /fabricator btw well a blacksmith realy but you do what you can to earn a crust)

[baconsdozen]

In the olden days you could buy a bonnet or door from a breaker and cut a lump out of it.I use the old steel filing cabinets,you can often buy them at an auction for next to nothing.Worth trying office and house clearance people too.

[noiseman]

Forget the recycling of household items. It's time consuming and the steel is of an unknown grade and generally poor structual quality.

Get down to your local industrial estate and find a sheet metalworking company & ask them for a rummage in the skip.

They probably throw away enough offcuts in a day to build yourself a new van from scratch! The stock is generally raw too i.e no paint to burn off or risk inhalation of galvanised metal fumes.

Rust......the never ending story.

Good luck on the van.

[Wolfie]

i just get up from my chair and walk the 10 steps in the yard find the steel bin and nick it from there.


easy when you work in a scrap yard.

[100ps_drw_hicube]

Get down to your local industrial estate and find a sheet metalworking company & ask them for a rummage in the skip.

ye my dads done that a few times loads of brand new sheet steel/alu for free nothing like a cheap fix the back of his landie is all made from alu left in an engineers skip

[rover]

Forget the recycling of household items. It's time consuming and the steel is of an unknown grade and generally poor structual quality

I think you will find PC cases are/were mad of very good metal, tell the back end of my tranny it aint strong...it will laugh at you


Rover.

[noiseman]

I think you will find PC cases are/were mad of very good metal, tell the back end of my tranny it aint strong...it will laugh at you

Does the fan out of it make the van go faster??

[baconsdozen]

"Forget the recycling of household items. It's time consuming and the steel is of an unknown grade and generally poor structual quality.

Get down to your local industrial estate and find a sheet metalworking company & ask them for a rummage in the skip".

How about if the sheet metalworking company make household items like filing cabinets and pc cases?