Do you know where I can get the seal which goes in the recess on the wheel arches which are exposed when the rear panel is being replaced? Looks to be a neoprene type seal about 1/2 inch wide and not sure of the purpose but could it be to give a bit of rigidity to the outer panel? Stupidly I have found it burns when repairing the wheel arches!
I think it is to maintain the spacing and shape between the panels. I used 10mm thick self adhesive foam tape when I did my inner and outer arches.
I had a bit of old front door seal so used that. Think that was a @brothernumberone trick? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Doing my van interior I noted on the driver's side (RHD) a gap between the outer panel and the wheel arch which lets in road splash. Presumably this means there is no seal strip. So could I just use expanding foam or sealer to fill the gap, its quite big, about 1/2 inch or more. The other side is fine with no gap.
The strip is higher up, roughly where the outer arch flares out from the otherwise flat side panel. The outer and inner arches should be spot welded together at the bottom with no gap.
This. Sounds like your arch wasn't repaired correctly? The strip in question fits in the channel pressed into the inner panel:
Helpful pic thanks. From the inside I can get my fingers between the outer panel and the curved wheel arch, so quite a gap. Also, recently when I did the faffing around jacking the spring plates down to get the wheels off (lowered van) I did notice a gap between the wheel arch and outer panel at the bottom where that flat vertical splash plate sits. The splash plate is not welded to the outer panel so there is a little flexing going on. I am trying to understand what is happening there.
Thank you for your pic. yes that's the plate I mentioned. The plate on mine moves a bit, should it be welded to the outer panel as mine isn't.
The plate forms the back of the inner wheel tub. The lip of the outer arch is spot welded to the inner all the way to the bottom. Tricky to see here, but this is the repair plate I fitted, welded to the repaired inner arch (repaired using a 2nd outer arch to form the fiddly pressing that matches the outer arches shape):
Very helpful thank you I think the next step for me is to jack up the rear and compare both sides as the nearside is closed and sealed, probably it was not majorly repaired, but the driver's side was rot and and repaired with new panels. Does sound as if the new rear panel wasn't fitted correctly and left with a big gap which has let the water and road grot in. Only noticed this problem when I stripped out the interior and removed the cards.
I have just had a quick look without jacking up the van. Running my fingers around the rear panel it seems there is quite a gap between the panel and the outer wheel arch, its attached and sealed for the bottom 6 inches but then a gap over the curved portion above the top of the wheel. The panel and rear arch are secure but the outer arch flexes where the gap is and bangs a bit against the panel. I am thinking a thick rubber strip and sealant may help for now until next spring when I plan to remove the side windows, sort any rust issues and replace the seals. I do drive the van quite a lot in the winter months and need to stop the wet and road grot getting in.
Possibly yes. Its a lowered van and next year I plan to reset the spring plates as it looks sagged a little at the rear, but even on both sides.
Thanks to everyone for their replies, really useful, especially when you are closing off a section you don't expect to revisit for a long time!
