Is it just a case of cutting along them at the inner sill line and along the jacking points or is there more to it? theyve been out before and welded back in by someone whose welding makes mine look professional lol so neatly cutting out welds isnt an option unfortunately
You were brave buying it with welded on belly pans - owner of campershak told me to avoid them - but mine were just screwed in place with red oxide repairs visible underneath - and all was OK when I took them off. Looked as though they had never been welded originally - what was the original method of fastening - pop rivets - bolts ? I would cut them off very carefully as close to the edge as possible.
Are you taking them off for good or for lookeez ? ie gona put back ? Im one who thinks they do some good if everything under them is reasonably ok , and vw put them on some types for a reason too.
I know more now than I did two years ago lol I think I got lucky though.....jacking point is rotted through and by shining a light through the gap I can see the inner chassisleg, tophats,and floorpan are all solid and rot free.... just ancient underseal and neptune blue paint as far as I can make out Theres so much weld along the pans its impossible to say how they were mounted.....its 10mm deep in places lol
Yeh know what you mean , id grind all the welds flat to the pan then cut off if it were me , but im no expert . Mine are still on and ive thought about taking off and making them removeable but .................................................................................. thats as far as its got .
Trouble is they havent been neatly done......theres really thick continuous weld along most of the sill side, so ive had to hack them out as best I can. Got one side off and its mostly good news......fromt jacking point is shot, part of the rear one needs a plate, and the bottom of the inner sill is shot so that needs to come out and be replaced, but eveything else is not bad at all!
Ok n/s pan is off and ive cleaned up along the chassis leg.. also cut out the jacking point.......which was horribbly welded and covered in bitumen. Note to self, wear long sleeves and gloves when cutting in future as melted underseal sticks to skin and burns like napalm! this is the view from below: Inner sill is wasted, middle sill doesnt look too clever, front jacking point is obviously a goner but the outrigger looks ok. How best to tackle the sill? chop it out entirely then sort the middle sill and work my way out?
only hole in the chassis leg.......thought id better cut the rot right out while im at it. Should I be using heavier gauge steel foor this stuff? only have 1.2mm here
Mine were much worse when plucked up the courage to cut them off. New sills all round on mine. looks like you have got off lightly.
I think chassis sections are 2mm steel. Mine rotted from the inside out so give the boxed in sections a good poke with a screwdriver, weld the holes, rust kill and Waxoyl the hell out of it. (at least that's my plan anyway....)
Yeah I was expecting more issues to be honest so im quite relieved its only the sill, jacking point and a couple of plates to do. Hopefully the other side wont be any worse....fingers crossed lol is it possible to do th middle sill and inner without having the floor up? I can get the mig torch in there ok I think but cutting the old panels out is gonna be tricky coz the space is a bit tight around the top hats for the grinder
Yeah ive got a similar approach in mind. Theres some loose rust inside the chassis leg so i'll try to suck that out with a vacuum pipe before I weld it shut again
Bad news......if I get into that level of work its gonna turn into a full blown resto lol. The bottom 3rd is rotten....i suppose I could cut it out from the halfway line and weld a new bottom section in?
To do the inner sills i am pretty sure you will have to take out the interior/ flooring as you may risk burning the floor. This is what I did when mine went for the sills to be done. Others may have a different opinion we will see. I think its the O/S inner sill that is the issue. assuming you are RHD.
Mines a twin slider lol double the trouble. Since the top section isnt too far gone I reckon I can rebuild most of the lower inner sill from sheet steel if I can bend it to the right profile. Reeeeeeally dont wanna get the floor out or it'll be years before I get to camp in it again!
Anyone have a pic of a solid inner sill in place so I can see the profile of how it curves in to meet the outer? Its sunny here today so I dont want to be hanging around til midweek for a panel to arrive.....i'll fabricate one if I can see how its supposed to look with the lower edge actually there lol
