A restoration for Iris

I’ve dressed all the welds on the outer valance now, much better than the klokker panel someone had previously fitted which wasn’t even welded along the top.


Chopped out the engine lid hinge panel as I had to remove the ends to get the new corner panels in, and autocraft do a good panel so it seemed silly not to. Not too bad underneath , just some surface rust.


A quick trial fit of the new panel to make sure the door gaps are still good. The new panel fits perfectly between the corner panels so all my measurements paid off (holes drilled in the inside to please @davidoft!)


And then rust treatment and epoxy mastic applied:



While the paint dried I got the air filter pedestal welded back in too.

 

top job as always bud

 

Loving the quality of the work, you are far more patient than I am.

out of interest, is there a particular brand or type of epoxy mastic you'd recommend?

Keep up the good work!

 

Cheers mate. Bit of a struggle staying motivated atm but still pushing on.
I’ve been using Bilt Hamber epoxy mastic. Goes on really nice.


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Awesome. Cheers Dude! I had been thinking about using hammerite but your method looks loads better (and probably easier to work on if it ever needs some TLC in the future).

I keep getting demotivated too but will turn my attention to a different bit for a while so I don’t get so sick of one job. That said I end up doing lots of little jobs rather than the big ones!


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Engine lid hinge panel welded in. Just need to convert my new later style engine lid to fit.





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The new engine lid I bought for the van is for the later pin style hinge, and as I wanted to keep the earlier proper hinge I needed to convert the mounts.

The first step is to cut off the pin hinge and weld shut the hole:




Then cut the slots for the hinge:


I was originally going to fit rivnuts but I wanted adjustable nuts, and rivnuts would sit slightly proud of the surface so I had a cunning plan.

Firstly drill holes for where the nuts will sit, but additionally drill a secondary small hole next to it:


Then in an attempt to replicate a cage nut, fabricate a u shaped bracket with a tab to weld to which fits the nut with a small amount of wiggle room (I welded blobs to the corners of the nut too):


Then using a pair of allen keys coax the nut and bracket into position behind the holes and hold in place with a cleco clip (unbelievably faffy and very nearly resulted in me throwing the engine lid across the workshop):




Followed by a confident plug weld through the hole to hold it all in place.
Repeat on the other 3 nuts and the job is done. The lid fits pretty much perfectly now:





And shuts with a satisfying thunk:

 

Onto the tailgate which needed some repair sections let in around the windscreen aperture and along the lower edge.

Both corners had rust holes, with the N/S corner having a crappy repair someone had previously made.




All rust cut out:



And started making up some repair sections:


This corner is pretty much done, I just need to fill a few pin holes and grind a few areas down a little more. Much tidier:


I’ve also welded in the O/S track cover mount (the N/S needs some repairs in that area before I can get the mount welded in):

 

Bugger. Lower edge is much worse than I thought. It needs the entire section replacing! I thought tailgates were still relatively cheap but looks like prices have gone up. Reckon I’ll get the JK repair and fix this one as it seems a shame to chuck it.



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If we still had the tlb awards I’d vote for it

 

Thanks guys! I’ve certainly learnt a lot along the way. Hopefully provided some useful reference for others too.

Para, I’ve not forgotten your inlet/exhaust cover btw. I’ve been trying to get a piece of perforated sheet metal for it, the guy opposite my unit was chucking out an old vent cover which looked perfect so I’ve pinched that. I’ll try and get it finished for Jan.


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No mad rush James
Great stuff with the vent cover
Recycling at its finest

 

If anyone can repair it you can...

 

Second corner on the rear hatch window surround pretty much repaired, and battery mounts added to N/S tray for the leasure battery.



And a little christmas update:

 

Battery mounts FTW

Been enjoying this thread all year, will be great to watch the build up in the new year.

Do you know what colour you’ll be painting her?

 

Cheers for mentioning the battery mounts; I would’ve totally forgot if not!

She’s staying Neptune Blue. Don’t seem to see too many about it that colour.


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Thanks! Definitely spring 2019 camp, will see how next year goes.

I’m a “Solutions Architect” as my day job; I design software (current contract is with Barclays Africa). The van makes a welcome change as I don’t find working at a computer particularly fulfilling.


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A "solutions architect"......

Is that like a plumber being a heating engineer....
Or dinner lady becoming a lunchtime supervisor..