My MK5 Minibus Project

[ginsambo]

I just realised, its the bit hidden by the bumper.... Well praise you sir for the effort!

[ginsambo]

Another handy tip to get lip lines accurate is to use a form made from 2mm steel bent around a line marked with nails to hold it in position on a bench, tape the edge of the metal with masking tape so its real blunt and form the lip line by hand at first and then tap it, finish up with a dolly and hammer and cut v slots if its a massive panel.

[RonTransitmk5]

Pretty feckin good....bit of filler though..

I did my both my wheel arches (Inner and outer) and part of the sills last Sunday (Marathon day) and Monday night from stratch for the MOT on Tuesday. I used a shoemakers horn/anvil (Has three bits to it) and a flat hammer as I had some sheet and didn't want to waste good money on panels. You'll be surprised by what you can fashion as long as you think logically about it, ie what has to be stretched and what has to be shrunk and how you can acheive it by hand pressing and with limited tools.

If you can get an old anvil or something you can beat the stretch marks out of the steel by repeated light hammering against it as a dolly, certainly good enough for only the lightest layer of filler, but the good thing about the shoemakers thing is I was also able to get the lip line bent and curvature spot on as the thing is compound curved on all sides in a shoe shape, so its a bit like using an English wheel or machine hammer. I also used a thin block of oak flooring as a dolly for the arch flatbit to tidy it up. For the sills I used the tipper dropsides as a metal bender... By midday I wasn't even using cereal packet templates, just guessing it by eye as time was getting on and I had to tighten the rear wheel bearing by Monday night.

Investing in a vice and some scrap 6mm steel beams etc is also handy for shaping stuff. Sandbags are good for the major one piece stretching jobs, then just run it over between the coumpound anvil and a flatish hammer for an hour.

Metal shaping actually ain't that difficult, if you have a decent right arm, patience and first think about how you are going to acheive it. Only problem is, unlike you I ground down the welds after the MOT for paint and found that 95% of them were cold and needed redoing... Yeah I'm crap at welding.

You can't beat making something from, and for nothing though, the metal I used was free galv from a wrap around a bunch of RSJ's. Look out for a decent static dolly, like an old anvil or shoe repairer's anvil, they are well handy for forming accurate lines on lips of arches and stuff! I got mine free from a garden clearance...But seriously, true alchemy mate, its what its all about. Spot on!

Filer goes on bare metal after degreasing, its like a thick layer of porous primer effectively.

Wow, thanks for the information & comments, I can't wait to get round a few boot sales when the bus is up & running, as I am after quite a few bits.

[ginsambo]

And another handy tip - if you ever have toothache or a partially knackered filling is this. Tape a biro tube to the end of your slimmest numatic vacuum attachment. It gives better suction than a dentists saliva sucker, and whilst the pain of air flow around your sensitive nerve is extreme, it is short lived and the relief it brings after you have cleaned your cavity of gaseous bacteria and food particles is amazing.

Yeah, just keep an eye out for solid cast or heavy iron things you could possibly use as dollies or shapers or bend formers, basically anything that is free! The old stuff is the best and is often weighed in and not appreciated in this country. I got the shoe repairers thing from a garden scrap clearance a gardener asked me to help him with, amongst the brambles it was a goldmine of fundamentally useless and rusty tools from the '30's and '50's, old deisel cans, car parts and lawnmower parts. You could try your local fleamarket or car boots or skips too. A thousand times more useful than a dolly set from machine mart IMO.

The show repairer who had that anvil is probably long since dead and gone....but he would be proud to know that a part of him lives on in my Transit wheelarch..

[Muttley]

This is all great work Ron, you are a natural and indeed gifted welder and bodger

[robbie.cee]

Hope your gonna bring the anvil to transitmania and show us all how its done, Ginsambo!!

[RonTransitmk5]

All at a standstill at the moment due to a problem with me front o/s brakes

Full details here;

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=104746&start=15

[RonTransitmk5]

Managed to get all the brakes finally finished & fixed the pas pump bracket for now, needs a broken bolt drilled out & replaced, my drill won't go anywhere near it.
Just got a few little things to do & then MOT time.
Currently checking out a few different insurance companies for the best deal.

[robbie.cee]

can you weld a bolt oto it and remove with socket/spanner~?

[RonTransitmk5]

can you weld a bolt oto it and remove with socket/spanner~?

I could , but have run out of welding gas
It ain't going anywhere, so can fix properly at a later date.

[robbie.cee]

its only gotta last long enough to undo 1 bolt, gas or not!! turn feed n current up a tad more too then let it cool for ages after !!!

[RonTransitmk5]

its only gotta last long enough to undo 1 bolt, gas or not!! turn feed n current up a tad more too then let it cool for ages after !!!

That's an idea, just want to get me last few things done to try & get it a new mot, then will arrange a date to sort the engine, it feels like I have been working on it for ages wait a minute I have

[robbie.cee]

m8 it will so be worth all the toil when shes fully up n running n no rust!!!

[RonTransitmk5]

MOT @ 9:30am this morning, passed with no advisories
Came straight home & got me insurance & tax sorted, been out all day visiting a few family members, just having dinner & taking all the kids out

MOT Tester said WOW you have done a lot of work on that m8

Still got the broken bolt & a couple of little things I want to sort out, before the tinted windows, central locking, dash clocks swap for the rev counter, and a few other ideas I have seen on these forums

A Big Big Thank You to everybody who has helped me along the way

Will keep the thread going as I progress with other stuff, I can finally enjoy the fruits of my labour

[MinorMatt]

I hope you didn't drive to the MOT without insurance...

When I weld a (insert appropriate word here) on a difficult bolt I douse it in release oil while its hot (but not too hot or it will go up in flames!) to get it to release easier