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Mk6 Transit Restoration

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Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:23 pm

Back in December 2016 we were lucky enough to purchase this fine example of Henry's on a popular internet auction site;
Image

After towing it back it soon became apparent that the final auction price of £31 was a little steep :lol:

MOT test history stated that the last MOT as recorded as a 'fail', two areas of corrosion were listed;
'Fail' 1; the whole left hand side of the vehicle :shock:
'Fail' 2; the whole right hand side of the vehicle :shock:

Fortunately, we sold the passenger side single seat to recover our initial outlay and set about repairing the old girl.

Given the extent of the corrosion, the van was used to pattern and produce most of the under body repair parts that we now supply. I will post up how many of these parts were developed and produced, showing how the parts were fitted to this van in the hope that it will assist others when repairing their vans. Many of the pictures that will be posted up are of this van and show how the first 'development' parts were test fitted.

We now have a 'dilemma', in that we have what is probably one of the cleanest and original looking Mk6 short wheelbase front wheel drive body shells we are likely to find, (due to the extensive panel replacement it has undergone), but no planned use for it!

The van has been used to test fit alternative engines and is now fitted with a 2.2 Mondeo engine converted to Tddi and has been used to 'try out' our own 'mix' of Purple paint.

But what do we do with it? Do we continue to use it as a 'test bed'? Four link and coil sprung rear suspension? Mk8 front end? Perhaps air suspension all round?

TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby bambi mk 1 » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:32 pm

Seen a few sets of xc 90 Volvo running gear on the ground today Tim and was doing a bit of thinking :lol:
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:30 pm

bambi mk 1 wrote:Seen a few sets of xc 90 Volvo running gear on the ground today Tim and was doing a bit of thinking :lol:


Nice to know that some members do that :lol:
Stay safe fella,
TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
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07754 806004
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby jonochap » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:46 pm

Good to see you about Tim, sounding like an adventure


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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:13 pm

Now let's get on with the body restoration :D

A sight that often greets Mk6 owners when they inspect the underside of their van is corrosion in and around the rear spring hangers. Repair parts for this area were some of the first parts we produced for the Mk6 range and are still, perhaps, the most frequently sold of all our repair parts.

Here are some examples of what is often found, some pictures supplied by owners when inquiring about the parts we supply and others taken of corrosion in vehicles we have repaired in our own workshops.
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Unfortunately, a familiar sight for many a Mk6 owner :(

We set about removing the corroded parts from our van, CAD drawings of the parts were made and CNC cut to ensure accuracy, the necessary tooling was then manufactured and the parts produced.
Here are pictures of the rear spring hanger parts that we needed to fit,
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These parts, and all the others you will see in this restoration thread are available to purchase from ourselves, please contact our workshop on the number at the end of each post.

Due to the extent of the corrosion on our vehicle it was necessary to replace the rear cross member reinforcing panel. At the time of the repair, this part was only available from Ford as part of the rear cross member assembly, so we set about making a replacement.
Again, the corroded part was carefully removed from the van to enable a pattern to be produced. The Ford part has a pressing to provide additional strength to the part, seeking 'visual accuracy', we manufactured some basic press tooling of our own to produce the correct shape, here you see the final result.
Image

Repairs were carried out to the inside of the rear cross member than this new panel was fitted, here you see it clamped in place. Holes have been drilled in it to enable 'plug welding' to the inside of the rear cross member panel;
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In the picture above you will see that the inner rear lower corner panel has also been removed ready for fitting a replacement.
Now we are ready to fit our new rear spring hanger parts.

The rear spring hanger extension piece and the rear spring shackle plates were clamped in place using our rear spring shackle as a 'jig' to correctly locate the parts, holes were drilled in the flanges to enable 'plug welding' to the floor;
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A small part of one of the original shackle plates was left in place to ensure correct alignment;
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The rear spring hanger extension piece was now 'plunge welded' to the rear cross member and the floor of the van, remember to remove the new shackle plate to allow welding of the extension to the underside of the floor at the forward end as the shackle plates sit on top of this. Dress off these welds before refitting and welding the first shackle plate.

Here we can see the small part of the old shackle plate that was left in place to ensure correct alignment, this can now be removed and the second shackle plate fitted. Again, the spring shackle should be temporarily bolted back in place to ensure correct alignment.
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Here we see the second shackle plate clamped in place prior to welding, remember, DO NOT, weld the very front part of these to the floor as the main part of the spring hanger needs to fit between these and the van floor!
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Now we are ready to fit the main part of the spring hanger, this is spot/plug welded to the underside of the floor, the chassis rail and the spring shackle plates. A few images of it in place;
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In the last two images you can see that we have welded along the 'seams' of the main hanger part and 'dressed' off the weld. This creates a more 'factory' look, but if you do this it is best done AFTER to part is welded to the van so as to avoid the possibility of distortion due to heat build up from the welding process.

I hope that this post will assist other owners in the repair of their vans so if any of you would like to share your experience of replacing these panels then please do so. Naturally we will answer any questions regarding this so please 'ask away'.

More at a later date,
TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:16 pm

jonochap wrote:Good to see you about Tim, sounding like an adventure


It certainly has been and still is :lol:
TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:58 am

The next bit of corrosion to tackle was the inner rear lower corner.

Patterns were made and checked for fit, once happy with these we has a small batch cut from our CAD drawing in 1.5mm Zintec. These were folded and pressed out as 'left' and 'right', here you can see a picture of the parts;
Image

The pressings match those of the original Ford part, so close ups to show this;
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These parts will only suit a FWD van but can be used on a Mk6 or a Mk7, these are £25 each, please state side when ordering.
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I will try to find some pictures of the part installation to assist those of you fitting these.

Once again, if any of you reading this would like to share your experiences of fitting these parts please do.

More later, TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Sun Nov 11, 2018 6:52 pm

The workshop fitted on of there inner rear lower corner panels to a FWD van this last week, so we have a couple of pictures to show were the panel fits, this is the right hand side of the van.

Viewed from beneath the van looking outwards;
Image

Viewed from outside, the outer part has been removed as this also requires replacement;
Image

This should help to answer questions we have been asked as to where this panel should be used.

Should you require this part then please contact the workshop on the number below. This and other parts we manufacture can be viewed on the parts thread here;
http://www.fordtransitforum.co.uk/forum ... 4a86a12add

Please note that this part is only suitable for FWD vans.

TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby oldyellar » Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:49 pm

Nice work Tim
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:12 pm

oldyellar wrote:Nice work Tim


Thanks for the kind words :D :D

More to come over the Christmas holiday period, better than eating cold Turkey :lol:

TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:26 am

At last, a bit more on this for your people!

Having completed repair to the rear spring hanger, we moved forward to the 'C' post area rear, of the side loading door.

Although we did not feel it was necessary to replace the full spring hanger assembly, we decided to produce a full set of patterns, here we see the spring mounting sections we produced. The box section to the right of the picture shows where the chassis rail runs. The existing spring mounting bracket would need to be removed and reused. This would need to be fitted back onto the centre section.
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Here are a few pictures showing the replacement of the rear outrigger/C post together with the lower C post repair section.

Here is the lower C post repair section
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The rotten lower C post was removed and the replacement part offered up,
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The old outrigger was also removed ready to fit one of our replacements,
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The replacement outrigger was clamped in place,
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The join shown in RED has to be welded after the outrigger is fitted in place, a small amount of 'flex' is needed to get the outrigger past the lower C post.

Here we see the panel welded to the floor and the C post,
Image

A bit of protective paint applied,
Image
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Once again people, if you are intertested in any of the panels you see in this thread then please contact us using the hyperlink below, or call the workshop direct on 07754806004.

More later,
TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby RustWidow » Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:57 am

God how long did that take you to do? Lovely work as ever
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:38 pm

RustWidow wrote:God how long did that take you to do? Lovely work as ever


Never enough hours in the day :lol:

More soon.
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby seakoot » Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:40 pm

Is it really sensible to do that with a transit? It seems it has been in the ocean most part of it's life. We here use salt on the roads to keep away the ice. Even that does not destroy the car that quickly.
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Re: Mk6 Transit Restoration

Postby dieselhead123 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:15 pm

seakoot wrote:Is it really sensible to do that with a transit? It seems it has been in the ocean most part of it's life. We here use salt on the roads to keep away the ice. Even that does not destroy the car that quickly.


Unfortunately, this van benefitted from being built at the Southampton assembly plant during the winter months, so likely left the factory well on it's way to a state of 'advanced oxidation' :shock:

Had this been purely a restoration carried out at the owner's request, then it would likely, as you say, be non cost effective. Fortunately for ourselves it provides an opportunity to pattern and produce a wide range of repair panels that will assist other owners in repairing their vehicles, now and for many years to come. We have also been able to provide fitting instructions for the parts that we produce to assist customers with repairing their vehicles, so the time has been well spent.

Lots more to come on this one,
TIM
LightCommercialServices
Sales, Service and Repair for all Commercial Vehicles
Body panels manufactured and supplied
07754 806004
http://lightcommercialservices.weebly.com/
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