Panel replacement work underway !

[fmr]

Personally I would call a halt right now and remove the rest of the ply floor to see what else it is hiding...just because the rot isn't showing through underneath doesn't mean it isn't all paper thin on the plyside.

This rot was found by removing the rear quarter panel which in turn was taken off to repair the rear wheel arch. I have already had a very good bang around with the hammer on the other side and it is clear that the offside is nothing like as bad. People a lot wiser than me have told me this is usually the case as the nearside runs in the 'gutter' of the road, hence subject to a lot more moisture. Believe me I am not looking for work here. I bought a cheap van, it has 3 months MOT. I am tackling the obvious work I feel it needs to get it through the pending MOT, if the MOT tester then finds things that are not obvious to me at that point I will deal with these points then.
I will then run this cheap van for a further 12 months, after this time I would consider that the van had paid for itself.
I have mentioned this before, read enough posts on this forum and it is clear that if you are looking for something to take over your life get your overalls on lay under your Transit and start digging
Personally I'm just looking forward to driving mine
So I think I will concentrate on getting this immediate work done, then I will put the spade back in the shed I've had enough of digging already.

Regards
Phil

[Retrohowla]

Tell me about it, i wish i didnt own a spade, its gonna get the better of me one day!!

[fmr]

Well, had the new cross-member section fabricated at a cost of £12.00
This morning I had a couple of hours to kill so got the welder out. Early frustration gave way to thought I remembered reading somewhere that if the wire speed was too fast it would feel like you were constantly being pushed away from the work-piece, I had not yet witnessed this. It was like a brainstorm, I turned the wire speed up and bingo started to turn out beads of weld to be proud of.
Well the cross-member section is now secure, I am now actually looking forward to welding the floor section in tonight.

Nice to find out this welding lark isn't a god given talent.......it's all about the settings

Photos to follow.

Phil

[Retrohowla]

Glad your getting the hang of things now and glad your remembering the info from here and to be of some help, good luck with the rest

[Retrohowla]

Had a little play with the welder in the rain for a couple of hours today, got quite a bit done, hows your floor doing?

[fmr]

Had a little play with the welder in the rain for a couple of hours today, got quite a bit done, hows your floor doing?

Floor done, inner wing done and cross-member done Now just got to do the wheel-arch flange then put the rear quarter panel on. Only got the evenings next week to crack on with it

Then the other side and an engine to put in

Phil

[shane]

more pictures please. we all like to see the different stages of completion, especialy the ones with no experiance.

[Steve4x4]

Hi
Just been reading through this thread and now realise my van hasn't suffered as badly as some. Retrohowla's Mk 2 looks like its going to be a lot of work. Apart from the spring mounts the front of my van isn't too bad chassis wise. It seems worse in other areas though. I wonder if its like this because it has stood for so long outside. It was parked sideways on a slope for most of its life and deffinately seems more rusty on the lower side where the water has collected.
Good luck with the repairs guys.

[Retrohowla]

Well i wasnt gonna let it get the better of me

Who needs Beavers??







Now i just have the suspension to sort

[Steve4x4]

That looks a bit better !
I was wondering if it might be worth getting a really heavy duty bit of box section and running it right across the front of my van but it isn't really that bad at the moment. I need to replace the end of it on one side though so will probably do something similar.

[Retrohowla]

For reference i used 16 gauge sheet steel folded into a 90x120mm channel and chopped the middle out brang it forward 30mm for clearance of the fan (put a di in that seems to sit further forward than the original pinto) and welded the sucker in at that, pics dont show the 120mm strip that was placed over the front and welded on to conpleat the 'box section'
I didnt have a front pannel so to speak so bodged up my own, not pretty but functional, think the old girl belongs in a mad max film now

[fmr]

more pictures please. we all like to see the different stages of completion, especialy the ones with no experiance.

Shane, patience please ! Will try and upload some photos this evening

Retrohowla, nice work My cross-member, inner wing plate and floor plate were all made in 16 guage. In hindsight this guage was a little heavy for the wing and floor plates but ideal for the chassis sections

One thing I have noticed, I am using a hobby mig welder. The disposable gas bottles don't seam to last very long The first bottle I used was CO2/Argon mix the second was just CO2, I didn't notice a lot of differance between the two. I was told that the Argon mix would weld 'cooler' and reduce 'blowing through'

How do these 'Gasless' mig welders perform I see the fluxed wire they use aint cheap

Phil

[dangeeeeerousss]

hi
your doin well mate. i half expected you to have thrown the towl in by now
i would stay clear of the gaseless there more hassle than there worth
argon/co2 generally used for stainless
co2 for steel

but i use argon/co2 i dont know about run cooler but do think you get a better weld from it

[fmr]

No, not throwing in the towel. Need this van for the markets I am planning on doing. Currently using the boot of my Vectra But I am only doing one market a week on saturday at the moment.

I have given the newly welded plates on the floor and inner wing a good coat of underseal containing waxoyl. Tonight I am going to make up the wheel-arch flange, then to fix this in place. Lastly weld the quarter panel on and get underneath and give the cross-member and floor area a good coat of underseal.

A walk in the park really

Phil

[dangeeeeerousss]

well its another one saved from the scrappies and youve learnt in the process
nice work!