The van formerly known as "Tootle"

Deformation panel lopped off with the plasma cutter

This little lot was inside, it must have been a good 2kg worth! The deformation panel was wafer thin on the left hand side lower edge.

Cutting it off was easy, about 10 mins easy, but getting rid of the part that's welded to the inner valance took a good solid two hours of grinding and expletives!

Next up I made a lower A pillar repair, these are very easy to make, however very difficult to get just right with all the tapering action going on. This was the mark two version and a trial fit of the arch was pretty good so it's staying.

Welded up, rust treated, cleaned up and painted.

 

Made the bottom part of the a pillar this afternoon, I have seen a few people make this with a flat edge but this didn't seem quite right, so I made it curve to match the inside of my new arch.


Also made the part that wraps around the front part of the pillar, about the bottom 250mm has been remade.

This is the reason I had to cut the deformation panel off, I'm just repairing it rather than fitting a complete new valance. The rest is pretty solid and will clean up quite nicely.

 

Very nice, i remember doing my a posts, royal pain in the arse trying to get the shapes right lol

 

Thanks, you're not wrong, they're simple shapes and easy to make but a pain in the arris to get just right.

 

Repaired the inner valance today, I left the return edge in place to keep the shape and welded the repairs to it. Normally it's where panels meet that the rust starts but here it seems that being attached to the deformation panel has kept it solid.

So it went from this

To this

To this (wire wheeled, rust treated and painted in high zinc paint)

 

Very nice work! Wish my repairs were that neat!
Keep the pics coming

 

Started the inner kick panel next, it's peppered with holes along most of its length

Chopped out, this was a nightmare as there's only about a 75mm gap where I have cut the front panel. It's solid from there on up so I wanted to keep as much original material as I could, only problem is I couldn't get in with a grinder so this was mostly done with a little buzz saw and die grinder.

The original panels for this area a pretty expensive for what they are and a new old stock item is £155! Seems a bit much especially to chop up for separate repair pieces. So in the end decided to make my own repair piece.

I only have a bench vice so any long bends are done like this with a plastic mallet


Some slices to allow it to curve

Mocked up to create the correct curve then tacked to retain shape

Welded up, slowly to avoid distortion, then cleaned up and painted on the under side


Welded in place

Surrounding area wire wheeled and rust treated, then covered in bonda

Just needs a bead of seam sealer from the under side when the paint dries.

Now this corner is completely solid I'm going to fit the front arch, I'm going to re-skin and hang the door first to try and achieve a good fit.

Womball is the inspiration for the cab door repairs, watch this space to see if I can do it as well as him!

 

We've been impressed by your restoration so far and are looking forward to seeing the completed project. Thanks for posting all the pictures. Our green machine is looking a little sad front and back. Thinking of a new front panel to deal with these untidy areas but having seen your handy work...may be a repair.

 

Thanks, the main thing I have learnt from this resto is if an original panel can be saved...save it! even if once the rot is cut out you only save a part of it.

I'm glad the repro panels are available but even the best ones aren't as good as the original parts.

If done methodically nothing I have done so far is particularly difficult either, time consuming, sometimes frustrating but not really difficult.

Good luck with yours.

 

Looking at what you have done you will have No problems. Love WATCHING restos. And your is so neat and tidy, Good work On The Front. Just started the front on (Poppies) my crossover so looking in closely

 

Managed a few hours on the door repairs, pretty rotten underneath and it spreads up into the recessed area where the door card sits

Lower part cut out and the new bottom section temporarily clamped in place

This allowed me to start cutting parts of the corner away and replacing them bit by bit, in the hope to keep everything in just the right spot.


Once the corner was rebuilt I removed the temporarily clamped bottom section and cleaned the lower inner frame of the door, unfortunately forgot to take pics but it needed a couple of patches then a good wire wheel and rust treatment. Once that was sorted I welded it all up, the curve on the top and the recess for the door card turned out surprisingly well
I really took my time welding it all up and allowing it to cool between short welds to keep everything straight.

Still a few more repairs to do before the new skin can go on but it's getting there, I will defeat the the rust!

 

Really great to see your expertise in action.

 

Thanks............i'm no expert though!

 

Methinks you're being too modest. It looks like an experts work from here.

 

Great work on the corner of the door!

 

More door repairs......... the support bar was rotted through at the end and the return edge for the seal was past it too.


The bottom of the lower door was just as bad as bottom of the upper the door.








Lots of wire wheel action, jenolite, bonda primer and this is the end result, the skin fits nice and tight around all the edges too so I'm a happy chap.......... apart from the fact it's probably going to have taken 9 hours by the time it's finished and the other door needs doing!

Didn't cost much though and it's free from all rot so should hopefully last well.

 

Door skin fitted and welded up

Door fitted which allowed me to align the wheel arch, the door fitted terribly to start with! The frame at the top rear (which wasn't touched during the resto of the door) was sticking out a good inch and a half! Brute force soon had it where it needed to be though. I think it must have been because of me man handling it whilst doing the repairs to the frame.

Arch fitted

Quick rub down here and then then a lick of paint

I wire wheeled the few rust patches inside the arch, then rust treated, sanded and painted it all, I payed particular attention to the inside of the new arch where the seams are, lots of bonda primer in there would be an under statement!

The arches were the 'best quality' non genuine that schofields sell and seemed to fit pretty well however they were quite light, although I have never fitted a genuine vw arch so have no reference. The step etc isn't perfect but is reasonably well formed and not the wrinkled mess that some of the cheapies are, at £175 a side I'm not sure if I should have coughed up the extra for genuines?! Oh well it's on, fits well and looks right so time will tell I suppose.

I just have to do it all again on the other front corner now! Lower A post, kick panel repairs, valence repairs, door frame repairs and re-skin, arch to fit, new deformation panel, deformation panel end panels, lower front skin and then there is only the engine bay and back end to do! Why am I doing this to myself!!!

 

This is gonna be a cracking bus this is been watching this from the start !! Good work !! Nice work on the doors !!

 

Very nice work! Inside of that door looks a beaut.

As above.. Can't wait to see the finished product.