Next up was some repairs to the sills. David, who's done an otherwise superb job so far on the resto had had some penetration problems(haven't we all!), possible because of an over application of epoxy primer before fitting which contaminated the weld and also the welds weren't close enough together which would probably get picked up by an MOT tester. Unfortunately, I only discovered this after I'd welded the front part of the sills well and truely into place as you can see in the pics above. I wanted to clean the sills up a bit and the ends of the floor supports, so the only way I could do this was to cut the inner and middle sills out just in front of the second floor support. That way I could get seperate the sills, and clean them up before welding them back into place. All welded back in. You can see where I cut next to the support. I plug welded the middle and inner together and then ground the welds down.
Yep that's better I did warn you my welding was rubbish ;-) especially when I am upside down... Keep it coming it's looking gooood!
Got some more done, sorry about the pic quality, for some reason they aren't that clear. I repaired the cargo floor where David had cut the rot out. Before. It took ages to repair, here it is finished. This is the front section, you can see the inside of the repaired B pillar here. The front of the cargo floor had been cut out, I've got some strips of cargo floor which are handy for making repair sections with so I used that for a couple of the holes. I'm guessing the square hole is a westie feature David? I've left it anyway, if it isn't I'll weld it up I used strips of steel to repair the cargo floor above the sills and drilled holes to plug weld them together and seam welded them to the floor either side. The section of cargo floor that extends out to the front of the rear arch was cut out, so I made a new bit and welded it in, then rejoined the reinforcer panel to the floor. From the outside, you can see the bit that extends out to the arch and also the repaired bottom of the C pillar. This bit is important because it sits above the jacking point. That's it for the time being. Rear arch and outer sill next.
Yep the square hole is a westy feature. Ventilation for the wardrobewhere the gas bottle sits Floor looks super duper Thanks Fletch!
Just read this from the start - fantastic job mate, just hope I have the stones to tackle half the jobs you've done. Well done, looks good.
Bit more done. I put some weldthru primer on the sill and arch repair. The front of the rear arch/rear quarter has been knocked and filled at some time, but the main part of the arch is perfect so there was no point in cutting the whole arch out. I pulled the dented bit out and used a cut down section of arch. Welded the arch repair to the repaired C pillar. Middle panel/outer sill cut away. and the inside of the inner sill/B pillar painted. New outer sill with the fake seam welded in. I love these panels I also ground out and treated the seams which are in pretty good condition. Finally, I put some bonda on everything, with the paint on you can see where the arch has been banged just above the repair, but it looks worse than it is. I also painted all the welding inside the van.
Yep, although the outer sill and arch are much less work than everything behind them, fitting them makes the van look like a proper van again
Popped over to see the bus and Fletch - a nice scenic drive Hes been busy with a few other jobs so no new metal to report - next week hes getting back to it so expect some porn pics It was great to catch up got a peek at Fletch's new book - which looked really good - tempted to buy and get the author to sign.. although now the master is working on the bus don't know how I'll pass that off with the wife... "why you need yet another book about vw's - esp one about welding now someone else is fixing it for you!"
got some more done over the last week. The sills on the other side had been patched. Someone had welded a strip right the way along from the front arch, over the B pillar, along the outer sill welded just below the door seal channel and then extended it up to cover the bottom of the rear arch, then sealed it all with silicone sealer. From underneath you can see the patches on the inner sills. And the industrial patch on the front jacking point. This shows the inner sill cut out, the middle sill cut back to just under the sliding door track and the front outrigger/jacking point cut out. The top hat support immediately above the outrigger is also cut away, but I've left the two knackered I beams in place to help with the new inner sill position at the mo. Once the sill is in place, these were replaced. Inner sill, outrigger and top hat replaced. Looking towards the rear of the van, the jacking point also needed to be replaced and some of the top hat above it. The top hat support at the top of the pic was the only floor support to survive intact. '73 was the last year of the I beam floor support(on kombis at least), they are stronger than top hats but flare up with rust and I guess VW realised they were over building vans and the cargo floor was strong enough with just top hats which were also cheaper. New I beams in place. Middle sill repaired below the door track.
Hehe dug out this pic of fletch modelling with his book ;-) Missing the rusty bus... Any updates Fletch? Heres a pic of the type4 heat boxes I have.. Do you still need some? Any use to you....? Need to start clearing my garage of my collection of oily rusty parts I have my front beam in there ... Wonder if it's worth more weighed in at the scrapyard...
Christ, thanks for that I've got some more pics, I'll try and upload some tomorrow. I need to give you a call early next week re. the front and rear ends, when's convenient for you?
Hi, apologies to David, I've promised him an update for a while and just haven't had time due to a long run of weekends away, friends around etc. Here's a few anyway. The N/S cab floor needed a smallish repair, the reinforcing plate under the floor was a bit pitted, but ok. I had to do the same on this side as the other and cut away the arch to repair the bulkhead/B pillar. Bulkhead and B pillar repaired. This is the Autocraft outer B pillar repair which I think is a bit longer than the other versions. I welded it from the inside to save having to grind the welds down so much. Then I repaired the arch/wheel housing. There was rust between the housing and the bit the seat runner sits on, so I cut part of it away to repair the housing, then cut a new bit to repair the seat runner mount.
Then I repaired the B pillar section which is hidden by the front arch box section. Then I welded the rear part of the arch back into place. Seat runner mount repaired. Of course as this is a RHD van, it doesn't have seat runners, but has the fixed mount, so I put a seat in place to make sure the mount was in the correct position before welding it in. Finished, with a new seat belt mount. Lastly, I replaced the section of arch next to the B pillar. Once the B pillar and arch were in place I welded the new outer sill in. If you ever wonder why your outer sill doesn't fit and sticks out the bottom to far and doesn't match the profile of the b pillar and rear arch, here's why. The sill on the left is a genuine VW item, the one on the right is a repro one. As you can see, the repro one is a good 5/6mm taller. The genuine one fits perfectly. Next up is the rear end.
