Test fit, all seems good time to paint the end tack weld in place and check everything has stayed aligned then weld in place.
This has been a challenge but I’m slowly getting there. Hopefully this one will be near finished tomorrow. Then the drivers door is next♂️
Try the door on the van lots of times, it’s very easy to warp the doors which makes them near impossible to fit correctly
That’s my plan for tomorrow before I put supports and skin on I’d be amazed if I don’t have to tweak it a little with the amount of metal I’ve had to cut out
Just read your thread the whole way through. Brilliant, its amazing what we put ourselves through in persuit of our classics. You have put in so much so you must keep going, you are indeed a master of the dark arts when it comes to resto work on your van
So after struggling trying to the swage line/bulge up with the new door skin and front end due to the amount of filler and change of profile from poor sanding/shaping on the front end, I decided to bite the bullet and remove the front in prep for the new one. Quite a few repairs to do behind the front! I hoped for better but actually expected to find worse . Looks like it’s a new windscreen panel repairs to inner valence and new kick panel. Still loving it though! The neighbour has taken the old front for their garden bar so I’ll have a constant reminder when going to theirs for a BBQ!
Thought I would tackle the top of the passenger door this afternoon. Quite a tricky repair this is not easy to get in with the mig to repair the inner frame. Hopefully my welds will hold . I’ll finish off tomorrow.
Does look like a squeeze! A thought you may have already had: Have you tried a tapered nozzle on your mig torch? Might not be quite narrow enough but may allow you to get a bit closer to the join... Keep at it! It's looking like great progress so far. Hope you're enjoying the slog
I have never seen one rusty there! I know you're not finished, but remember it's essential that the seal can sit right down into that channel or your door won't shut properly
Guess I’m just lucky . Ground down as far as I can go this evening I’m now trying to get rid of the radius left by the disk. Good old trusty file for this but it is a slog!
Coming together nicely. Really pleased with how this turned out but also really pleased the top of the drivers door is intact!
Or resourceful and determined The Vw scene has been very lucky in the fact that they made loads and loads of busses so there always has been plenty of second hand original parts. Those are getting thin on the ground now and the prices climbing accordingly. Other makes of classics don’t have the same luxury and restorers have to repair or make what we’d just bin. doors you and I would send to scrap because it’s quicker cheaper and easier to buy rot free imports are now getting repaired instead. I’ve seen repaired bare cab door’s changing hands for £400 plus I paid £500 for my import door and it still needed filling work I remember you used to be able to get a cab door complete with door card,glass and an opening quarter light for £200
Mine were £80 each like that. My comment was made in good heart, there have been quite a few bonkers restorers on here after all. My first resto I made everything I possibly could and that was a deliberate choice so I know what you mean, but I'm afraid it just taught me not to do it that way, particularly piecing together complex shapes that were originally stamped out. Regarding prices, unless I really didn't care, in which case I'd buy a good one, I just wouldn't do it at all these days. You can only make so much of a T2 and that's all bodywork? Sooner or later you need a huge pile of stuff you can't make and that's the stopping block for me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you yourself go round and round the bodywork because doing the engine = £?
Yeah I knew your comment was in good heart It was more of a waffle on about how things have changed over the years and this means approaches to problems also change. There’s also the thing of if you don’t have much money then time and effort is the only way to move a project forward. Something I’ve had to do myself for years Buying that door was an absolute luxury for me. If I was to enter into this lifestyle now I certainly wouldn’t be buying a bay.
Exactly. This is something you could do well on a shoestring but can't now, it's that simple. I'd go further and say if you look carefully, it's cheaper to buy a good one than make one even if you DIY but that's always been the case. I think Graham's doing this for the challenge more than anything?
You are correct, I spent years wondering if I could take something like this on, the time had come to stop wondering and give it a go!
So with the build up to Glastonbury, Glastonbury itself and then the glasto hangover I’ve not been as productive as I should, but finally I’ve managed to finish the top of the door! The new rubber is on the way to try in the new channel fingers crossed it fits!
