'95 LWB 150 minibus conversion

[Luke]

yeah what would worry me is you could get another door and find it wont fit strait into the van the sliding doors have got to be pritty strait or they are a pain to open and close

but dont worry too much - this was my mates van



a van reversed out as he drove past the towbar hooked in and ripped the door off fixed now tho and the door slides fine - just needs cosmetics to the pillar

[Nadjenka]

Unfortunately it sounds like there could be something major...

Get a bodyshop, or Muttley to have a good look at it....

Oh no! I hope not... I checked the bottom underneath the step, there is no damage there except the panel bent a little on the step, the body frame pillar is intact, so hopefully there will not be anything serious. I'll give Muttley a call tomorrow to see if he can have a look... I can't believe it...

[Nadjenka]

yeah what would worry me is you could get another door and find it wont fit strait into the van the sliding doors have got to be pritty strait or they are a pain to open and close

but dont worry too much - this was my mates van



a van reversed out as he drove past the towbar hooked in and ripped the door off fixed now tho and the door slides fine - just needs cosmetics to the pillar

Oh if that was me I would just sit down right there next to it and cry. And yes - that's the point where a man should come forward... Women are not ment to be dealing with accidents When I said "pillar" I ment the one inside the sliding doors - those little ones that holds the outer panel in place and the frame of the doors itself. NOT the pillar on the frame of the bus (next to the sliding doors)... I hope I can find something that fits. I can't imagine myself welding THAT!

[MinorMatt]

Ahhh!

Doesnt sound so bad then... if the frame of the bus seems ok then its probably ok I would still get someone who knows what they are doing to look at it though

[Nadjenka]

Ahhh!

Doesnt sound so bad then... if the frame of the bus seems ok then its probably ok I would still get someone who knows what they are doing to look at it though

Thanks, I have to see somebody tomorrow, will be calling around to see who's open and available, body shops, scrappies, another thing I have never done before... And I wanted to try and weld the step tomorrow - I was on my way from B&Q with new welding wire on the seat next to me

[MattBlackMinibus]

Bad luck Nada Some people, eh

[intransit89]

God help us! If inty is inspiration then all is lost

He tackled it for a very looooong time and stuck with it. That's the inspiration I meant...

funny thing was it got me a job welding and then i brought the old snap on welder from work now i have a vw to weld and a bloke i know with a tranny has got 5 vw golfs he wants welding up and he said how much you charge i said 15.00 a hour provideing you have the steel

[Muttley]

Sods Law at work here eh? Typical that they miss the crap panels and hit the good one. I can lay my hands on a door quickly enough and we can put together a costing to repair so you can prise the cash out of her first

[Nadjenka]

Finally I have decided, that I can not do more damage to my bus than it was already done, so I've started welding The step is going to be the unvisible part and yet can be done in stages, and then cut out if I'd mess it up, so here we go.

I cut out the rusty and filler full areas



I cleared it all up inside the box aaaand started patching up. It takes me loooong time because I hesitate a lot if I'm unsure about something, but finally I got the first patch to catch on to the right place...



It's not welded up completely yet, as I stupidly bought 8mm welding wire by mistake and I don't have 8mm tips, so it was quite a struggle with that wire, but it did catch on nicely and I'm currently very proud

[Nadjenka]

Sods Law at work here eh? Typical that they miss the crap panels and hit the good one. I can lay my hands on a door quickly enough and we can put together a costing to repair so you can prise the cash out of her first

Wonderful Andy, thanks! I didn;t want to disturb you in case you're having family Saturday, but it would be perfect if you could give me a price. I'll be calling you on Monday then!

Thanks!

[Muttley]

Looks OK to me

[Nadjenka]

Looks OK to me

It needs to be one continuos weld 30cm from the belt mounting right? That's not done yet, I just welded points in to get it stuck, then made some holes by sccident then trying to repair them I made some blobs of weld then I grinded them off and finally got it right! Tomorrow I'll get the proper tips and weld the rest in... I know it doesn't look like much, you would have that done in no time, but for me it's a miracle that it stays in place and stands hammering and at the same time I can close the doors!

[MinorMatt]

with 0.8mm wire you should take the little drive wheel on the welder off and turn it around... there are 2 grooves one for 0.6 the other for 0.8

Looks like you are doing a good job but I cant see the welds....

[Nadjenka]

with 0.8mm wire you should take the little drive wheel on the welder off and turn it around... there are 2 grooves one for 0.6 the other for 0.8

Looks like you are doing a good job but I cant see the welds....

Thanks, I figured that one out but the tip is struggeling now and then if there is the slightest bent in the wire it will not go thru the tip, so I'll have to get the 8mm ones tomorrow. You can't see weld lines, because there are none. It's just point welded in place as I wrote up there, the flow of the cable is not smooth enough to do continuous weld line. I'll finish that tomorrow.

[MinorMatt]

remember you will need different settings with the thicker wire