Gertie the 72 crossdresser. Full resto....and it needs it!

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by exuptoy, Jul 5, 2012.

  1. Using about 10/12 lpm gas. Looking back at the welds further up the page, it looks like I have better penetration, but that steel was maybe 2mm whereas this stuff is 1mm and the original pillar behind the corner is maybe down to 0.6 as it has some corrosion in there. So I am pretty happy with how it's turning out.

    I don't mind a little criticism where my welding is concerned as I want to be good at it. It's certainly better than my earlier attempts but I take no credit for that, it's the portamig I purchased. I really do rate these machines.
     
    Paul Weeding likes this.
  2. Cheers for the praise by the way. :)
     
    Paul Weeding likes this.
  3. having a good welder makes all the difference!! :)

    I've been welding for well over 15 years now, but i still manage to do duff welds from time to time :lol:

    One of the things to learn is the flow of the metal you're welding... you want to get it as hot as you can without blowing a hole in it, and slowing it down with tacks can help with this :)

    Keep it up, you're almost there :thumbsup: :)
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  4. thats looking great man :) keeping a close eye on this one....
    keep up the good work :thumbsup:
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  5. Got about 5 hours in today.

    I offered up the rear corner repair section and noticed that the lip at the bottom of the inner pillar stuck out and stopped the panel sitting flush. Maybe the chassis cut I purchased was from an earlier or later T2. I decided to cut it back and replace it with a right angled repair to match the lower lip of the middle panel.

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    This allowed the panel to sit where it needed to be.
    I originally cut this panel to fit the bus way back when I first got the bus and as usual I was a like too keen with the grinder but it was close enough to fit with minor fettling.

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    I fitted it in place with intergrips and made a start welding it in place. Once in place I filled the hole left from my over exuberance with the grinder lol

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    I will need to use a thin skim of filler when I'm ready to start the bodywork but it's not too bad.

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    Gave it all a quick coat of zinc172 primer.

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    ...........then realised I still had to drill and plug weld the panel to the inner structure.

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    Ground back and ready to move onto the next little job. When it was finished, I drilled a hole through the hole in the rear quarter into the inner panel to allow me to be able to insert a waxoil injection lance when I'm finally done.

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    konaboy6284 and paradox like this.
  6. Managed 3 hours so far today, doing a little repair and then cleaning up my crap to allow me to move the van out and turn it around in preparation of doing the opposite side chassis work.

    Got a piece of scrap rear load bay floor from Carl Perkins from this very parish, (Cheers pal ;)) so cut out the gash previous owners work and welded in a new piece.

    As it was when I got the van!

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    ......and when the plate was removed!

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    When I finished welding.

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    Painted.

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    A little skim of filler I can handle. Plates riveted over bad workmanship I can't! lol :D
     
  7. And turned around ready to tip it again.

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  8. :thumbsup:
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  9. Thar she goes.

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  10. Now it's on it's side again, this is what's coming up next.

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    Then finally the rear valance.

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  11. Plenty to do still dude :eek:

    But coming along nicely :thumbsup:
     
  12. Slowly getting there Paul. Went back up the garage at 7:30 when SWMBO (She who must be obeyed!!!) was watching her soaps.

    Got about 3 hours in today although I had to stop and go and get a bottle of Agroshield from my mate.

    Set my welder up to power setting 8/12 and wire feed 4.5 and got good penetration and quite a flat weld. (The blog in the middle is where I blew through and had to fill in).

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    Got the second patch finished after running out of gas! (The thick vertical weld is from my previous attempts and needs grinding back).

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    The both patches have been welded both sides although there was no need. What's the general opinion on here, should all welds be ground back for neatness even if they look reasonable or should they be left for strength? After all when the work is covered in stonechip and paint you won't see much!

    The bus originally had belly pans fitted so there was still some metal which needed removing. I used an 8mm spot weld removal drill bit and hacked it all off. (Brilliant bit of kit).

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    I scraped back the main chassis rail and was surprised to see it was solid!!!

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    ....and painted with etch primer then ZInc182.

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    Tomorrows work entails cutting off the crap with the plasma in preparation of refitting the jacking points.
     
  13. Nice work dude :thumbsup:
     
  14. Got about 6 hours in today.

    Attacked the majority of rot with the plasma then made a start drilling out the spot welds from the floor to repair the both rearmost top hat floor supports. I then found out that the new sections I thought I had here have been used up!!!! I had one small section left so used it for one repair, then ordered more from Schofields VW. Should be here tomorrow.

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    Next I welded in a brace so that the chassis didn't fold in half :)D) then I made a cardboard template for the repair section. (Fed up of looking at the small bits of metal I had welded in and decided it would look better with a one piece job).

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    Cleaned up the underside of the floor where the top hats sit and gave it a quick coat of weld through primer. I repaired one of the top hats, first I cut it to the required length with a 10mm overcut then used the joggler, so I could weld both sides of the cut for extra strength. The penetration was good and you could see 2 lines of weld on both sides of the top hat.

    I then welded in the plate I had cut out.

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    As usual, a quick coat of etch and zinc182 and thats my lot for today.

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    Selection of panels arriving tomorrow with any luck so I can carry on.
     
    Paul Weeding and oxiderenegade like this.
  15. Quality work buddy, slowly coming back together
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  16. Yep starting to look good:) glad my chassie was in good condition around that area.
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  17. Great progress dude your welding looks good
     
    Paul Weeding and exuptoy like this.
  18. Cheers guys. :D
     
    Paul Weeding likes this.
  19. Managed around 3 hours today.

    Got my delivery from Schofields this morning so set to it, cutting the top hat to fit the rear section, bit of a pain to get in place though. As before, I joggled the edge and welded it in place.

    Looked at the piece required and thought it would be better doing it in 2 so then I could weld it in place from inside then put in the second piece.

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    Then got my second piece cut and spotted in place.

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    Welded it all up and ground back for paint.

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    and painted.

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    Looking better already.

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    madpad likes this.
  20. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    You're getting better at this every time I look! Lovely welds.:cool:
    A thin (2mm) bolster sharpened like a chisel is great for chopping through the spotwelds bellypan/chassis and lots of other jobs where you want to remove a scrap thin bit from a thick bit e.g. outrigger flaps from the chassis. Not so good for thin/thin but you'd have whacked the belly pan remains off in 5 minutes.
     
    exuptoy likes this.

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