Half of me is screaming leave it alone - the other half keeps saying I wonder what's underneath.... So far the curiosity is winning.. Today because I managed to give myself chemical burns yesterday I decided to investigate the crumbling outer sill... As the hole in the rear arch need to attach to something... I can see that the inner sill has been badly patched especially as I put my screwdriver through it yesterday (those voices again) Here's what I found when I cut the outer Here's the front jacking point Nothing above it.. Rear arch as its badly fitted hence all the filler....
Just a little update Drivers front wheel arch before: Then after: Looks like the box section has totally evaporated at some point hence the tank like patches Then I killed my grinder grrr so I need to go find a cheap replacement... Other than that I cut out the sections I need to repair from the where the fuel tank sits and started templating the patches I need to fabricate. Just to keep myself busy. I guess I should really start welding something
Remove the badly fitted rear arch repair panel for better access to the sills, and to replace it better after you've sorted the sills. The crumbled top-hat above the front outrigger is very typical as it's so hard to replace for what it is and this is the best chance anyone has had. What's the cargo floor like? Once you get all those rusty tatters and filler off, it'll start to look a whole lot better.
This is true, I better not sneeze or cough How best to tease that rear arch panel off - try and drill the welds or a bit of gentle grinding The cargo floor is solid except where the inner sill was / is spot welded Was going to attempt patch it - perhaps better to get a new floor half and chop what I need from it How to weld a new top hat in - looks very tricky hopefully the rot hasn't gone any further ...
Tickle through the welds with a cutting disc, or just hack it off - they're cheap and the other fixing points will probably be more difficult to undo.
the front top hat is a tricky repair depending how far along he rot has gone no easy way to do it but you can either chop the outriggers/jacking points, and cut back the top hat to near the chassis area.....then weld in all new metal......access is difficult .....or, you could chop a section out of the cargo floor right across the length of the bus, chop out the jacking points/outriggers....then cut out the rest of the top hat from above and replace the lot.....you will also have to remove some of the other tubes that go through it....like the gear rod tube. its a lot more to cut out but access can be easier - which is what zed was probably hinting toward swings and round abouts really
Hell either way. It's only really doable with the cargo floor up IMO, the coduits get it the way from underneath. Only the gear shift rod tube though it.
Cheers Zed mind you the other side has similar tank repairs.... Noooo I shall have a lie under the bus for a few hours and have a think what to do, chopping it all out sounds scary but might be the best solution...
zed's advice is always spot on you will only know how much you have to do once you start poking around.....I'd have a look at the other side and see if its worth replacing the whole top hat ...nothing worse than replacing one part of a panel, then staring the other side only to realise it is also rotten and it would have been easier to do the lot at once. If the rot doesnt go past the chassis, then you can probably get away with replacing the ends......if it goes further in then it will probably be a floor up job to replace the lot
Excellent advice. Have a poke at the forward side of the middle section from underneath. If you can get away with leaving the section between the chassis rails, the job gets a whole lot easier.
had a good poke today and gave the grinder a good work out The rot went in between the chasis rails so I did my best to save as much as possible but had to chop the floor quite a bit Here's a shot of the box after poking and grinding it for hours - phew I am whacked too many innuendoes Does it look possible to butt weld a repair section ...? I also took the dodgy read arch repair off
I took a reference measurement before the chop although there were so many patches it was hard to tell what I was measuring against. Also I have highlighted the floor supports that are rotten the middle of them have swelled they look solid about 5cm before the chassis.
Tried to remove the rest of the rotten floor and remains of inner sill and strengthener today .. but the new angle grinder died double grrr I guess cheap isn't the way to go So I spent sometime catching up with my underseal scrapping Looks good in the middle not so good on the near side
what paradox said! cheap grinders are a false ecomnomy they vibrate like hell and dont last long! i've got this one http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-ga4530-1-4-angle-grinder-110v/60674 they do 240v too, i've had it about 5 years now and i use it for cutting slabs too when i lay patios! i've got a load of good floor cuts if you need them mate, just the cost of postage is cool! resto is looking good mate, just dont make the mistake i made by cutting too much before you weld it will look too daunting! keep up the good work. oh and where did you get your epoxy mastic?
Cheers i guess i was lucky before, my previous cheapy lasted quite well, Gonna take that silverline piece of c@@p back tomorrow and get something Got the mastic from rustbusters - but I've heard you can get it from paints2u as well (I think that was the name).. Yep I need to weld something I am getting some kind of block
Just enough time today to switch grinders and ... I didn't think it would make a difference but boy it was so much easier, I went for a Bosch in the end as I already have some of their stuff. And the sill is off with a bit of raggedy bits left to take off That is so much better now I can see what's left to do, need to stop cutting and start welding...although those 'I' sections do need a chop and ...