Ford Transit Forum

by **AndyG** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:02 am

Some of you that go to shows/meets, already know my van :!:

It's a high spec MK5 :!:

Unfortunately, like most MK5s that are used everyday, they suffer from mainly front wheel arch corrosion :!:

This is the number one bug of the MK5 (alongside the noisy cabin area) :!:

The corrosion was from inside a box section and so as the van wasn't six years old, (at the time) I thought I could have the work done under the 6 year anti perforation waranty :!:

Unfortunately, they sent me to a newly appointed dealer (with absolutely no Ford Transit experience) to have the corrosion assessed :!:

They clearly didn't want to take on the job :!:

And rejected the claim, on the grounds that the van had "paintwork" done to it :!:

(They measure with an electronic paint depth gauge :!:

)

A year later and now out of waranty :!:

So decided to fill for now, and repair properly later :!:

But as you can see, it was only a matter of time before it started coming through again :!:

So it was time to find someone local that I could trust with my van to do a good job of fitting the panels I had already bought :!:

Genuine Ford inner and outer front arches and Beever supplied Hadrian rear of front arch which included the the sill and bottom of B pillar :!:

(B pillar part cut off as not needed, as you will see

)

Having met Martynx our forum van tuner, he introduced me to Ian of ICR Ltd Ickenham :!:

Ian told me to bring down my panels and he'll sort a price for fitting :!:

When I first met Ian, he was working on a MK6 Transit :!:

So things were already looking good :!:

He seems to also work on a lot of sprinters :!:

(wonder why :lol:

) They seem to crash (if not roll) a lot :!:

And their panels seem to be wafer thin :!:

Price agreed and I'll strip what I can to make the job easier :!:

Strip strip strip :!:

Corrosion had also started in another "favorite" place :!:

Worse on the drivers side :!:

and almost holed :!:

Into the workshop and doors removed :!:

Ian started work on the van, the following morning :!:

The inner arches (as expected) were well gone along the edge where the outer wing was spot welded by Ford :!:

He wasted no time at all, removing the panels that needed changing :!:

Can you believe the day isn't over :?:

And the O/S panels are in place and fully welded :!:

Trying door for fitment and clearances before welding :!:

All this work, up to now, was done by one person in only just one day :!:

Now that's what I call professional :!:

by **AndyG** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:06 pm

Day 2

And the N/S panels are on :!:

The Vectra damage can now be forgotten too :!:

The rear arch was surprisingly only surface rust and made to look worse as the paint was lifting quick :!:

Ian soon had that sorted and I stepped in and applied some Jenolite rust eater, just for good measure :!:

Should keep it at bay for a while :!:

by **AndyG** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:29 pm

Day 3

Or should I say the third day spent on the van :!:

(Poor Ian suffered a knee injury playing footy at the end of day 2 :shock:

And fell down the stairs the following morning :!:

)
Well I really couldn't expect him to work on my van that day, so it was left 'till after easter before carrying on :!:

Only fair I thought, as so much work was acheived and far more than I expected :!:

Who wanted to see my Safe T Bar I bought off E bay :?:

Ah

Now we're talking primer :!:

Oooooooooooooo :!:

Now we are talking Diamond White 2 pack :!:

by **AndyG** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:43 pm

The re-fit has started :!:

Just look at those pin sharp all steel front arches :!:

(Ignore the paint match on this photo, as the rest of the van was yet to be polished, at this stage)

Underseal applied and a litre of waxoyl injected into the box sections via the air gun :!:

Let it poor out :!:

Once polished, you could see that the paint match can only be described as EXCELLENT :!:

Well done Ian :!:

Now, having the van in bits in front of me, I worked out what was the most likely cause of the front arch problem with these vans :!:

The A pillar is two box sections :!:

One leads to the inside of the van, where you have a speaker on a MK3 or wiring loom multiplugs as on the MK5 :!:

The forward of the two box sections leads directly on top of the inner arch, which is angled to direct water to the outer edge and roll down either side of the arch and out :!: