141 replies to this topic

[dave21478]

Well, I got the van shifted from the farm to the wee workshop at my house.
Its a bit more cramped than I had hoped - the workshop isnt much bigger than a lockup style garage, but it has heat, lights and power, so I can work regardless of weather or darkness.

To give you an idea why I had to move, this was a brand new panel I bought a few months back...

The dampness at the farm where the shell was kept has started it rusting already. The whole shell is covered in surface rust now wherever I had left unpainted metal - it will come off easilly enough, but there was no way I could work in those conditions.

Today I turned my attention to the other a-panel. It was a bit more rotten than the first side...


I hacked it all off, welded a few plates into the flitch panel which had a few holes and was pretty thin in places, then welded on the replacement step panel along under the door.


I fitted up the new a-panel with self-tappers just to trial the position and check the door fits, and thats as far as I got this evening. Should get it welded up tomorrow.

[analogue_radio]

Really impressed Dave! Keep it up mate, can't you fix some thin wood boards to the side of the barn? Would at least give some protection against the elements.

[dave21478]

No, its not feasable to close off the barn, hence the move to the wee garage.
todays efforts....
Welded on new inner and outer a-panels, patched the hole that had been cut in the wing, then repaired the bodged de-seaming effort and welded a new lip on to take the seam cover.

[edi57]

You've done really well to save the old wing! All your welding is looking great.

Ed

[dave21478]

Things are ticking along nicely for a change. Mojo is high, and the end is in sight. Far away, mind - but within view!

Today I sorted out the other side a-pillar. Tidied up the nasty welding by whoever tried to deseam it, then welded on a new lip to take the joint cover.

Thats both sides done now. I have new joint covers, which needed a little re-bending to fit well, but thats done too.

Inside, for some reason, someone had chopped out the lower dash rail. They had welded in a bit of scaffolding tube in its place, which was hardy pretty.
tube removed...

I then chopped the dash rail from the donor shell back on the farm, and welded it into place...


Then onto the front valence - it was folded right under and again, someone had tried to deseam the front and hacked off the bumper lip, making a right chuff of it. So, I tidied up the valence, bent it back to shape, then chopped the lip from the donor shell and welded it on...

Still need to do a little panel beating there to smooth the curve of the valence out before I start paint prep, but that can wait for now.

The Gods of MIG were smiling on my SIP today, it was working a treat for a change, so I decided to finish off the last remaining big welding job, which was the outer sills. So, I took the van off the trestles and flipped it onto its side...

(not easy when you are on your own and in such a small space, but got there without mishap.

A new pair of sills had been included in the original sale. I hadnt really looked at them till now...

Cheap and nasty cover sills
Cover sills (also called oversills) are just that - they are designed to be welded straight over the top of the old rotten sills. They are a fair bit wider to allow you to weld to good metal on the floor away from the original rotten sills.
You can see their width here compared to the line you can see where the original sill was welded...

They are a complete bodge, that will get a mini through a MOT or two, but the rot is still under them and spreading rapidly.
The original sills were long gone, so I cut these things down along their length to convert them into standard sills. The fit isnt great, but its workable. Drilled all the holes required for the plug welds and thats one side ready...

I then treated and painted inside the sill section to prevent grot returning soon...


Then realised that I cant weld the sill on till the paint is dry. Past experience told me that this stuff is VERY flammable when still wet and welding near it before its dry results in big flames and nasty black smoke, so I left it for tonight. Should get the sill welded on tomorrow morning, then I can flip the shell the other way and attack the other side.


I was thinking today - I have the sills to finish, then a few wee bits and bobs to weld up...a couple of hours at most, then thats the shell finished and ready for stripping and paint prep!
Still got all the doors to do though, which might be tricky, but once they are done, I can get some paint on, then start with the mechanical refurbing and rebuild.
I will eat my boiler suit if its not finished for this summer!

[guywithvan]

i'll pm you my postcode and you can pop round and have a go with my van if you like ,where abouts in france are you?im hoping to stay at my grandads place just outside bordeaux sometime this year.


quality work so far makes me value my van much more now and think twice to let it go or not,keep up the good work!!

[cookie4343]

Just read this whole thread its excellent workmanship and is spot on and your fabrication skills are excellent too keep it up mate its looking great.

[dave21478]

Not much to show for todays work apart from some nasty photography...

Welded on the sill panel. My cruddy old SIP is working well. Too well. Its probably lulling me into a false sense of security and I expect it to die completely at any moment.


Flipped the shell over the other way, and did the same for the last sill...

Will weld it tomorrow once the paint is dry.

I then attacked the floor to clean it up ready for painting. A years-old mix of paint, dirt, waxoyl and leaked engine oil was foul to remove. I used a wire wheel in the grinder, which proved to be easiest. Due to the grinders rotation, if I worked left to right, it flung the goo all over the front of my boiler suit, if I worked right to left, it flung it all over the ceiling. Well, the ceiling should never rust now!
End result is a clean floor. Tomorrow, once the sill is welded on, I shall use seam sealer on all joints I have welded, then paint the floor in primer and stone-chip stuff.


I also did the(hopefully) last few welding jobs around the bulkhead and inner wings - nothing photoworthy though.

[joe_m]

really good project.

i want to work on my designer but its collld, have no garage.

this thread makes me want to do it even more : /

going good, keep it up.

Joe

[dave21478]

Went out to weld the other sill on....
It would seem that at some point either last night or this morning whilst doing other stuff, I accidentally locked the cat in the workshed.
She has expressed her displeasure by having a sh1te in my welding helmet.

Thats a mojo-killer right there.

[edi57]

Urrgh... Nasty! But poor cat!

[dave21478]

Things are coming to a halt again.

Local price for 4 litres of 2k paint - ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY *melonsing* EUROS. Oh, and that doesnt include the hardner or thinners.
uk ebay supplier - 5 litres of paint, hardners and thinners for under £80. wont deliver overseas though, and every courier company I check are unwilling to send it internationally "hazardous goods blah blah blah...."
so, do I buy it locally, and get shafted for close to 400 sheets by the time I have bought primer, paint, hardners, thinners etc etc etc?
or so I order it from uk sent to my sisters house and get her to wrap it up and send it here by international courier and pretend its something else in the box?

A user of another forum Im on has kindly given me some links to German ebay suppliers, so I need to spend some time looking into how viable it is to order some from Germany.

Into old cars? thinking of moving to France? DONT DO IT. Prices and availability of parts and consumables here sucks donkeys *male chicken*. This has been a recurring theme throughout this build...When I did anything car-related in UK, I thought it was a hassle having to drive all of 10 minutes to the motor factors for anything I could possibly need. Thats a distant memory now, with getting hold of things taking days and weeks now, and generaly costing triple uk prices. Slimline cutting discs? around 80p each in UK - 3.40€ each here. How is that possibly justified?
I'm just having a moan, but its really getting me down now. This is supposed to be my HOBBY... a fun, enjoyable way for me to spend my free time, but its turned into a right chore. I'm plodding through it knowing the next major hassle is only a few days away at best, and frankly have absolutely no incentive or real will to actually finish the bloody car now.

Edited by dave21478, 18 January 2009 - 12:06 PM.

[Scotauto]

Into old cars? thinking of moving to France? DONT DO IT. Prices and availability of parts and consumables here sucks donkeys *male chicken*. This has been a recurring theme throughout this build...When I did anything car-related in UK, I thought it was a hassle having to drive all of 10 minutes to the motor factors for anything I could possibly need. Thats a distant memory now, with getting hold of things taking days and weeks now, and generaly costing triple uk prices. Slimline cutting discs? around 80p each in UK - 3.40€ each here. How is that possibly justified?
I'm just having a moan, but its really getting me down now. This is supposed to be my HOBBY... a fun, enjoyable way for me to spend my free time, but its turned into a right chore. I'm plodding through it knowing the next major hassle is only a few days away at best, and frankly have absolutely no incentive or real will to actually finish the bloody car now.

I can relate to this living in Denmark but unfortunately that's the way it is. Sometimes it takes three weeks for something to arrive other times a couple of days. I've actually started buying things that I think I might need at some time just so they are in stock. Don't give up the project though you've been an inpiration to quite a few "restorers" on TMF and you've come so far. We're all looking forward to the shiny paint and that is often a boost and a pat on the back for the whole work involved. Sometimes we need a wee break to just get away from our projects and then come storming back to start the next stasge of the restoration. Keep up the great work and if you need any support most of us are here to help. Jason (Scotsman living in Denmark)

[miRon]

you are a very skilled man
good job


will you paint it?

[Rosslin Racing]

Things are coming to a halt again.

Local price for 4 litres of 2k paint - ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY *melonsing* EUROS. Oh, and that doesnt include the hardner or thinners.
uk ebay supplier - 5 litres of paint, hardners and thinners for under £80. wont deliver overseas though, and every courier company I check are unwilling to send it internationally "hazardous goods blah blah blah...."
so, do I buy it locally, and get shafted for close to 400 sheets by the time I have bought primer, paint, hardners, thinners etc etc etc?
or so I order it from uk sent to my sisters house and get her to wrap it up and send it here by international courier and pretend its something else in the box?

A user of another forum Im on has kindly given me some links to German ebay suppliers, so I need to spend some time looking into how viable it is to order some from Germany.

Into old cars? thinking of moving to France? DONT DO IT. Prices and availability of parts and consumables here sucks donkeys *male chicken*. This has been a recurring theme throughout this build...When I did anything car-related in UK, I thought it was a hassle having to drive all of 10 minutes to the motor factors for anything I could possibly need. Thats a distant memory now, with getting hold of things taking days and weeks now, and generaly costing triple uk prices. Slimline cutting discs? around 80p each in UK - 3.40€ each here. How is that possibly justified?
I'm just having a moan, but its really getting me down now. This is supposed to be my HOBBY... a fun, enjoyable way for me to spend my free time, but its turned into a right chore. I'm plodding through it knowing the next major hassle is only a few days away at best, and frankly have absolutely no incentive or real will to actually finish the bloody car now.

and dont forget car hating Switzerland ( thats not true its the some turkeys shaggers in goverment)
but getting stuff here is a nightmere, thats why i sell stuff. in lots of garages around the country are all sorts of classics being restored or stored up.
your getting on fine Dave your miles ahead of me.