mk1 bulkhead on the steel floor or on the plywood

[metalworker0]

Mk1 bulkhead - on the steel floor or on the plywood

This is a genuine ford item ... does anyone know if it fits onto the wooden floor or the steel floor beneath it

if its fitted on the steel floor i may have to remove some of the wood

i just don't know at this stage .

also the rivnuts (captive nuts).. are these special that fit into hex holes or will just ordinary ones do... no rivnuts, as its never had a bulkhead .


all the best.mark

[dumper]

I’ve had the rivnuts hex type from Ford in the past it was for a Ford option that we added it had the hex holes in the body .
Every Ford standard fitment bulkhead I’ve seen has always been fitted to the van floor the wooden ply lining had been a after market add on

[metalworker0]

Ok thanks dumper -- i see the hexagon rivnuts on ebay ... but don't know if a special hexagon rivnut machine is required for them?

I have two pneumatic rivnut machines that i have never used .. picked up from car boot sales, no idea if they work, will have to get some practice in . ALSO friend has a manual rivnut tool that works

The wood floor stops 3-4 inches short of where the the steel floor ends.

There are rivnuts in place .. already ... but it does not seem enough and not spaced properly .. if it had a bulkhead in the past or maybe dog guard type. then it wasn't held by many and not held symmetrically .. then not all where used or they fell into the cavities when the bulkhead was taken out ..I just don't know


all the best.mark

[dumper]

I used the Blue point /Snapon one like a hand pop rivet gun just took it in small bites as they are stronger then the normal alloy ones .

[metalworker0]

Just an update

Well i looked on ebay and there was just not enough detail or was vague information on the sizes of the hexagon involved with these rivnuts .. information wasn't clear enough to get me to press the buy button, especially since it was mostly chinese sellers.

So looked at the net ... and it appeared only "screw fix" had ones that i could actually feel examine and try in the hexagon holes. so a trip to the next town and i had the set .

Only problem is i had to buy the whole Rivnut set to get the right ones.(of which there are 60 of 6mm in the set).. but they are definitely the right ones and I'm happy about that - £ 29.99 though!

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-bras ... -pcs/1380j

brass ? dont know .. they look like zinc plated steel to me .

all the best.mark

[dumper]

Yes definitely zinc plated steel brass wouldn’t compress to clamp round the hole in the plate

[metalworker0]

BULKHEAD FITTED - no snags - very easy 2 hours

all the best.mark

[metalworker0]

Fist drive after bulkhead fitted .

van feels much quieter , less drumming of panels going on, less echo to the back of me , cannot hear the rear tyre noises any more, van feels stiffer, i think there is less flex happening.

Benefits
1. Was unhappy and felt in danger when carrying lots of loose items .. having them all crash into the rear seats when breaking hard. so now that is sorted. imagine carrying say 20 bags of rubble weighing 400 kgs , and getting into a head on collision.
2. Now will be easier to heat front cab, as reduced area.
3. The van is now stronger, so more protection in an accident especially from roll over.
4. Quieter , less drumming noises , less echo. less road noise.
5. People (thieves) cannot look through the front and see what's in the back.

all the best.mark

[dumper]

Yes Mark if you’re carrying loose items in the back you’re better off with the bulkhead many years ago had service one of the heating department vans took it out for a brake test slam the brakes on and a 3 1/2 kg gas bottle landing in the passenger foot well of luckily it wasn’t on the driver side