Well this is it, the start of what is probably going to be a long and painful process with plenty of ups and downs and empty pockets. Here's the van when it turned up recently Here's some of the top notch repairs as regularly featured on old vehicles Sliding door track covers stuck on and blended in with fibre glass silicone and all the usual good bodge Interior coming out, hammer and snippers all that was required! Floor corners, rear crossmember and surrounding areas probably the worst parts
This was what was behind the lump in front of the rear arch! Then behind the track covers 2 hours of eyelash, eye lid and sticker removal and the campness is removed! This is where it's at now
Any tips from the old hands for the following jobs... Outriggers and jacking points, sills both sides (I'm aware I should try and keep the lower guide in tact if at all possible, rear and front arches, track cover supports, rear cross member, outer b post skins, couple of small bits of gutter (roof ok) What should my plan be regarding paint and sealing etc for instance when an outrigger is off should I derust behind, wire cup brush etc, treat with jenolite, weld new part in and then paint over (rustoleum) then underseal when it's all done? I feel confident I can do the repairs but I would really appreciate the advice from people who have been there and done it can offer to make it as painless and time efficient as possible!
Hope you're living up to your avatar name @optimistic ? Looks like you're going to have to be as have your work cut out there (as well as the rear arches)! Looking forward to seeing your progress in future updates.
Maybe have to change my username to broken man in a few months time! People always say the rust looks worse in pics and it really does, granted there's plenty of rust there but it's not quite as bad as it looks, I'm staying optimistic for the time being
Don't make jokes about having a name change, it WILL happen if @hailfrank sees this & he will. Quite a few of us have had involuntary name changes, I was "Noddy" for a while & then spent a couple of weeks as "Wheresmymeat"