That'd be great thanks! Its more out of interest tbh, one regret on our resto project is that, on looking back, perhaps we'd have been better off dipping the shell (and having a body roller)!
you dont think it would be better left undipped ...welded up then dipped ? i can`t help but feel with out the E coat you will never get to those stripped parts with primer
That was the original plan, but after cutting out the metal we could see needed doing we saw other areas which would need doing. This made us think that getting everything out and then welding was the best process. We have pretty much got all the repair panels in house now and have roughly trimmed to shape where necessary so hopefully we will not have too long a delay for each part. then we will clean and prime. We also have seen a few reports of the acid stopping in closed spaces and coming out through paint a few months later. We have pretty much cut the bottom of every cavity so all the acid can run out. We are currently working on a solution to put primer into the cavities we are then sealing up, so they are protected. Bought the body roller last week. I wish we had had it during the strip down, but at least we have it now for the paint and rebuild.
We got Burt ready to transport to SPL today. Using a set Dolly at one end and a heavy duty trolley jack at the other we took burt out of the Shed today. We then placed a double length pallet underneath, strengthened buy a sheet of ply. The van is longer than the recess in the trailer, so the floor has been raised with pallets to raise the floor. This also helped make it simpler for the JCB to lift and place the van shell on without having to slip it forward off the forks. It will also assist at the other end to enable SPL to lift directly off with their forklift. We then lifted and positioned the pallet, before lifting the van. This pic shows it being placed on. We had it stop so I could take the photo as I was directing the 'lift' operation. The tyre is about 1" higher than the pallet width, which provides some cushioning and support to the front end. There is also one placed under the rear axel. Here it is loaded and strapped down. Cardboard is providing the anti chafing for the 3 ratchet straps (plus 3 non ratchet to counter any strap slip added after photo taken.). It is currently sitting solid, although will be checked a couple of times over the 85 mile journey up the M5 in the morning. Clearly we won't be going through any low car parks! I'm tempted to charge up the GoPro and get an interesting perspective on the journey. Here is the full load. Mud tyres taken off 'Rosie' the Rangie (My daughter named it, but it seems to have stuck) plus a mini service, drive shaft nipples greased and suggestion of oil added specially for the trip. 'Rosie' doesn't particularly like leaving Wiltshire but is a great towing vehicle, if a little sedate. We'll be leaving about 7 so will be on the motorway north of Cirencester by about 7:45. Give me a wave if you see us!
Burt came back from SPL about 4 weeks ago, completely rust, paint, filler and pretty much metal free. It took about 4.5 - 5 weeks as they had a lot of other work on, everything ranging from stripping brand new a batch of Land Rover chassis which had failed inspection, massive engine blocks and cylinders from heavy plant machinary and pallet loads of nuts and bolts and assorted metalwork from all sorts of industries. They had just had a few artic loads from oil rigs and oil and gas industry as a whole, for stripping and recoating. Apparently they are changed on a regular maintenance basis as it is much more cost effective to do this than have new nuts and bolts made to replace rusty old ones which are difficult to get out. I'm sure there is O&G experience on here who can give the proper information on that though! They also had a Porsche 968, a Morris Minor, a MkII Ford Escort, a Splitty and a T4 all getting stripped. When I picked it up Phil recommended getting it into an oven to properly dry it out. We couldn't do that in the end, but did get it in an enclosed barn. He also said we absolutely need to get busy with the seam sealer when we do get round to the rebuild proper, and seal every seam we can, to make sure there is no ability to get moisture ingress. We did plan to get the primer on before the welding to get paint into every nook and cranny, but we have metal to replace on every part of the van, so decided to get on with it and do that first. If I do this again, I will basically strip out, get dipped then get going with the grinder and cutter. We wasted lots of time stripping paint and filler etc prior to dipping, which would have been better spent on the bare shell. The other thing we did was get hold of a rotisserie. Of all the things we got hod of, this is by far the best. If you are doing a full resto, I would definitely recommend it. Again, we wasted a lot of time underneath stripping things out, which would probably have been done in a day with the access we get on the rotisserie. I will be strenghtening it though, as it does move around a lot. Here it is, on the rotisserie back from the dippers. We've been cutting out the old rot and cheese grater metal getting ready to properly begin the rebuild. The front will be going too, but have left it on for some structural integrity while we have it spun to do under the floor and Chassis. Next, the welding begins
Exciting times, the welding has begun. I'm getting help with the welding at the moment, as my welding is not up to scratch. I'm learning, but at the moment if it is needed for structural strength, I'm entrusting it to a pro. The below sequence shows the sills in place (Inner and middle) prior to dressing. We kept the original cross members in place, but the ends were a bit tatty. The took some rebuildind with the MIG. The will be dressed, but look good and strong from here. Tomorrow evenings plan is 1. Repair rear cross member which is too badly corroded. 2. Both reach jacking points. 3. Chasis repairs If we get all that done there is front cross member, cab floor repairs and below the bulge. Hopefully I will remember the camera and post pics as they get done.
you don`t think the whole bus will be orange by the weekend ? i`ve not ever done anything like that so haven`t a clue
The last stage in the stripping process puts a rust inhibitor on. It is not perfect and we do have some spot rust appearing in a couple of places, but with a treatment of Fertan they are kept at bay. I know we will have a good bit of prep work to do before paint, but it is holding up well so far.
The work continues. Rear jacking points were worse than thought, so they needed doing. I also found the floor support underneath needed work. I ended up taking out the first foot and putting in a new piece. Here it is prior to welding The rear cross member also needed some work, but not too bad so repairable rot cut out Section welded in and basic dressing done Floor support and new rear jacking point welded in Next Chassis repair Action shot with sparks Plate in place
Next section going in Position 1 top hat in place Front Cross Member in place too Last one is a quick shot showing up above the rear wheel tub. The surface rust is getting worse, we need to make progress and get primer on quite quickly. We have had 4 week of pretty good inhibitor control, but we need to get going now. Fertan is good at keeping at bay and stopping the spread, but it is quite expensive. it will be treated and then primed, painted and lacquered to protect it long term. I did do some priming tonight, but the camera was out of battery. Next update to come on the weekend.
The cross member is the first Klocker piece we have put in. It is definitely not up to the Genuine or even preservation part quality. We had a few fit issues with the preservation parts, but they are vastly superior to the Kloker piece. That was trying to bend with every weld, even though the fit was tight. I'm hoping someone comes up with some decent wheel arch panels before we do them, as I am not looking forward to then doing the finishing after putting the Kloker ones in
We have got original inner tubs, but the outer arches are Klokers, I'd gladly pay a bit more to have more metal.
Something I have just seen in one of the photos which is a tip for people who haven't used them and are for people new to welding and resto, but I'm sure old news a lot of people here. The screws on the floor are self drilling pan head screws. These have really helped pull and hold bits together very tightly, ready for welding. These are running a close first with the air hole punch and flange tool for the best investment in the project. The difference is these were £4.09 from a Screwfix vs £50 for the punch tool.
It is tempting, as I am sure we will get lots of movement when we weld. It comes down to how much filler and work to get a decent finish. Having paid the money to dip the van, it might be a bit stupid to compromise the finish on the ones we have.
Please forgive me if im judgmental or rude in my following words! Im from a background of restoring or modifying on a small budget as the dub world grew upon Make do and mend etc but ive always prided myself on doing the best i can with what i have The dub world has now started to align itself with a lot of the rest of the classic car world I get the impression from the previous posts on your build that your going to do it once and do it properly to a high standard On that impression i would fit a full panel rather than panel beating a repro arch to good order then blending it in If you can afford the full panel it will save you 20 hours filling and prep Im always available by pm if you want to chat
Thanks Paradox, I will. We started on an idea that we had bought a pretty solid van that needed some welding, some cosmetic and mainly mechanical. Umm, that was not quite the case. What was solid has been quite often badly done. It came home when we found a letter of complaint form one of the previous owners and and a report on work done by a garage they had asked to correct work only a few weeks after it was done first time, within the history we have pulled together. We had a choice, dig deep and correct, or be left with something that we would forever be patching, changing and fixing from now on. the fix and refresh has become a full rebuild. A little different from when I did my 72 a few years ago! I though rebuilding the engine, sanding and giving a blow over spray was a a restoration back then.
