Aardvark's '78 (Re-issue)

Removed the rear outer valence




Started on the right rear chassis rail



Started looking at the right rear wheel arch...



...but it was too scary and I haven't touched it since!

 

Looks like you needed to get cutting then lol mine was mainly filled with fibre glass and filer plus silver foil behind all the as a bridge were there was no metal . How far you got with the van now then

 

OK, I promise I'll get to the latest stuff soon.

Oil filter bracket removed


Chassis rail stripped to discover some holes


Battery tray removed. This had also had some repair work done on it.


Left hand top of chassis rail removed. I'm keeping this bit as it has the chassis number on it. Don't know whether to try to repair it or just cut out the chassis number and weld into a new piece.


Chassis rails prepared for welding.

 

Nice batterie tray :/

 

Glad to see all the bodges coming out ready to have a proper job done
Best of luck dude it will all be worth it in the end

 

Well done fella for getting out all the grot. Mine has all the similar bad areas (and a few more ;D) but at least mine were all there to see when I got her.

Good luck with the resto.

 

The first bit of welding I did on the bus (and more or less the first bit of welding ever)

 

Left hand battery tray removed. Slightly better condition to the right one.


Usual D pillar condition


More welding on the chassis




More PO repairs to be addressed

 

I'm starting to remember now ,I've seen that chassis bit before , great work mate keep it coming

 

Keep up the good work..

 

The one good thing is, once it's finished, your welding will be second to none.

 

Thanks for the support.

 

Removed the rear window rubber seal and cleaned underneath to reveal more rust.









Not sure how to fix this at the moment.

 

Worked on removing the rear valance.




Before...


...After













My regular attire these days


Started looking at a PO's previous chassis repair welded straight over rusty metal.


Most of the pile so far

 

good to see your resto back up

K+ for reposting

 

Cheers Diddymen.

Removed a PO repair to reveal this underneath






The easy route would have been to cut the end of the chassis rail off and weld in a new one but I'm not that confident on my welding at the moment so going to try to repair it.

Done the outside

 

I was going to post some more pictures of the resto between the last ones and now but looking through them they're not very interesting, I didn't do a great deal and some of them of my awful welding I'm too embarrassed to post on here.

I've taken a rest from the welding. I wan't getting on with it, and I've been using those disposable bottles which by the time I've done any serious practise with they've run out. I've now got a CO2/Argon bottle from Hobbyweld and my new regulator came today to will be getting back onto it soon.

In the meantime I've been stripping out the interior and removing the several layers of paint (at least 4). I'm doing this a section at a time and re-coating the bare metal with a thin coat of etch primer. The paint and subsequent filler removal has uncovered yet more new and exciting discoveries.

I've removed the rubber seal and glue around the rear hatch area and found local areas of corrosion.


This one is on the left hand edge. I've treated the rust with FE123 rust converter but I'm not sure how to repair it. It's going to be a bugger to cut out so I was thinking about filling it but would this be bad?


This one on the bottom edge can't be filled so will have to be removed. Does any supplier do repair sections for this bit?


Curiously under the paint and filler were these three holes on the top rear left hand section. They've been purposefully drilled but no idea what for. Andy ideas?



My bus is a converted panel van so no recess around the rear windows. Removing the window and rubber found these holes. The metal around these is quite thin so will need some care is repairing.


Again under the paint was this dent covered with filler. What's the best tools for pulling dents?


Paint removal creates quite a bit of dust as expected but does offer a nice canvas for a small boy's art.


A rare outing into the sunshine.

 

Your welding looks quite neat to me! As a rule of thumb you will get a stronger, better penetrating weld with a lower power, if you have a gap about the thickness of the steel.

 

Cheers Zed. Fitted the new regulator tonight but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. Need to work out how the gauges work and what I should be aiming for.