29.05.2016 Planned to put the fuel tank back in today as I found the earth strap, plus finish off the offside rear arch so here are some pics. Ready to go in: And it's in Pipes attached: I know I need to locate a 12mm pipe so I can finish it off but for now quite pleased! Firewall fitted but not screwed in yet: Found some stainless screws (from when I pulled a washing machine apart to create a firepit) so finished it off:
29.05.2016 cont.... Red primer for the offside rear arch: Hope to grab a few minutes and put a top coat on tomorrow then continue to remove the underseal from underneath the rear end. Cheers
16.07.2016 Due to work and things didn't touch the van for over a month Continued with the removal of the underseal - concentrating on the rear beam and the area around the rear bulkhead (that slopes). Using my angle grinder and then a drill with a wire wheel I began: Couldn't get to a good many areas so called it a day - happy so far.
17.07.2016 Bought a Dremel and some bits from B&Q so I could tackle the awkward areas: During the cleanup: Just finishing: After 2 hours of cleaning with the Dremel it packed in - what a pile of sh@t... Need to take it back tomorrow and get my money back (at least I finished it
18.07.2016 Started to treat the rear beam and bits with some rust converter then continued to tackle the remainder of the underseal: Hope that tomorrow I can finish the rear bulkhead and get some rust converter on that. Then wil splash some inc primer over the top ready for some paint. Will then need to address some cables that have not been routed correctly. Getting closer to putting the rear suspension back
19.07.2016 All underseal removed from underneath the area where the rear beam is. Gave it a tickle with the rust convertor then after a few hours went over it all with some zinc primer. Getting there Think the weather over the next few days is scheduled to be a bit pants so will see when I can get back under and start rerouting the cables etc (plus notice a few little areas that need the magic touch of the welder stick
23.07.2016 A couple of hours stollen this afternoon to add some metal to the underside as it looks to have been cut when the replacement panel was put in by the PO (replacement rear bulkhead I think you may call it...) After I had welded a piece in, skim of filler and primer added: In this pic you can just make out where it had been cut!! That's all for now.
26.08.2016 My camera phone is on the blink so apologies for the quality of the pics Decided to attack the hump on the passenger side as it had been plated over and apart from looking naff, was also starting to fail. From inside the arch: 27.08.2016 So cut it out! From inside the arch: Inside the van:
28.08.2016 Cut the panel to fit but noticed that the curvature wasn't the same to cut some slits and re-profiled it to be a better fit. View from inside the van - tacked in: From inside the arch after welding in: Welded in but just addressing a few areas: All ground down:
29.08.2016 Disaster today Didn't check the welder and wasn't aware that I had knocked it on to full power!! Noticed a few holes so decided to weld them up - blew a big hole in the metal, but some of the weld splatter got to the passenger seat and a fire ensued..... Not happy but could have been a lot worse I suppose! Treated the bare metal with rust stuff so once dry will apply a skim of filler and seam sealer and the a lick of paint.
Good work, I remember scraping the under seal off the front underside of my bus and it took AGES! Keep with it your nearly there!
Rain, rain go away Pulled out my old tarp hoping it was wider than it was so I could work on the front (both sides) but it only covered the one - never mind. Removed the spindle then the lower trailing arms - took a photo so I know at what angle it need to go back on: Then freed the upper traiing arms so again took a photo (sorry about the quality but still got the duff camera phone! Pic of each side: Tomorrow is MotoGP so won't be touching it for a few days
07.09.2016 Managed to get the steering and gear-linkage components out of the way over the last few days so today re-positioned the axle stands so I could remove the front beam. Quick pic (not good quality) showing all the bits out of the way: Removed the beam on my own - no issues although wouldn't recommend Hammerite metal paint as it didn't protect the beam (not very clear in the pics) very well - remember, the beam was sandblasted then painted and the van never went anywhere (under its own steam!!!): Chassis looks OK so will be cleaning up and treating/painting etc. Will remove the rest of the ancillaries (steering box, master cylinder etc) then start to clean/protect/paint etc:
