I've changed a few beams and believe me it's much easier to fit them before you build them up, and much easier to build them up when they're fitted.
Yesterday started loosening the bolts for the gearbox readying it for removal, I want it put of the way so I have unrestricted access to the rusty areas... Removed an engine mount and the starter here's the before picture for later ;-) Been buying up the world supply of strip and clean discs Ready to do battle with the crusty stuff next Also splashed out on epoxy mastic and 121 primer I know this is a popular choice
Ok no more excuses not to weld! For the moment I am going to try the disposables and see how I get on welding (if it is up to scratch) All being well I will upgrade to refillable bottles when I can justify the investment Still plugging away at the gearbox can't shift the clutch wing nut.. Left it alone to soak in wd40 and pulled the tow bar and bumper off Now I have a better view of this So heard back from Owlesbury cranks - the case and crank is ready for pickup! Yippee ... My heads aren't though I need to find somewhere to put it together now. The garage is way to dusty and grubby.. And very breezy..
great thread mate looks like a nice project nice job with all the pics and the buckets of enthusiasm ....it will be finished in no time
Thanks Diddy - still plucking up the courage to begin welding .... Was rereading some of your early posts as a booster to the confidence Have been scrapeing the black stuff today - to reveal some lovely orange a nice surprise
Hehe might have made some progress on that front.. This morning I was chewing her ear about it when I mentioned using the utility she didn't blink or draw blood so that must mean its ok to use! Another picture of the other wheel arch mid degunking like new underneath wish the rest of it was like that Here's a repair by the PO using just a bit of glue!!
Took the fuel tank out today after cleaning up underneath I found lots of rust by the strengthening bars It started out like this I poked it and it got real big... Anyone repaired this area before, how to fabricate new strengthening bars as mine have disintegrated..
Mine was really bad so replaced the entire fuel tank support panel with a body cut I think a few people like Diddy have repaired in situ but that must be pretty claustrophobic!
Ahh yes just looked - wowser yours was pretty gone, ill post some pics tomorrow of mine it's pretty similar to what diddy had to repair. I wonders whether he replaced the strengthers below... Mine have pretty much rotted away. Trying to wire brush the rear underside to assess the damage - then will paint up with the epoxy mastic and start cutting out the bad ...
yep, I repaired mine .....it was a bit of a fiddle but not too bad and it came out looking well in the end.......the grinder sparks hitting the back wall and bouncing back in your face a pain so I'd reccomend a full face visor....which makes it even tighter getting in there to see what your doing a bit hard to tell from your pics but it looks like you can save it rather than having to go for a body cut.....body cut would probably be easier to replace....but a lot more chopping out and probably cost quite a bit for the body cut I had to remove the petrol tank straps to weld in the repair....then replace the straps which was another fiddle! (loads of pics on my thread ) I'm guessing the strengthener you mean is the bit under the bus where your rust is - a very flat 'Z' shape with a lip on either side? I thought long and hard about the strengtheners, I even made an AutoCad drawing from the remains of the old ones I carefully removed, so I could make a new one......but in the end it was a tricky part to make well.....and I think it is the cause of the rot in the first place being a bit of a moisture trap so I decided not to refit it. Looking at a few vans, it seems this bit is not fitted to panel vans only to microbusses from memory, I believe this is just an extra bit stiffining to the fuel tank bay because of the seat belt mountings fixed above it. I decided it was probably a bit of over engineering which wasnt essential if the rest of the area is solid, and the seat belt mounts fitted in the petrol bay are pretty substantial anyway!!....probably a lot more so than a few that have been retro fitted to panel vans If you really wanted a strengthener there you could probably make a simplified version from some angle bar, cut, bent and rewelded back up to suit the profile. keep at it mate .....you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel soon enough .....but then it might just be more rust holes or poorly fitted repairs by the PO
Thanks Diddy, that's such a relief to hear you say that It's great to have all the feedback, esp from the epic resto crew on here not to get all gushy but if it wasn't for these tlb resto threads I wouldn't have dreamt (or mares) of tackling all this stuff. My guess is there a good few vans have tlb to thank for rescue from the arms of the scrap yard I'll get some progress pics up this evening. My plan is to continue the cleanup in the rear lower of the van, the bits that you can't get to when the gearbox and engine are in. Fix the holes, paint up with epoxy mastic. Few questions about epoxy mastic - do you still need to use seam sealer? If yes should I apply before of after painting epoxy.. Also stone chip - do I need to do that if I have a few coats of mastic?
Always use seam sealer after paint. In between coats is good. I wouldn't use stonechip, it's used for covering dodgy repairs normally and doesn't do anything to prevent corrosion. If you're using epoxy mastic 121, that's good enough unless you're going body colour on the underside?
Magic! Cheers Andy, that's good I really like the clean look of just paint. I went for the grey colour and will see how it looks before deciding on whether to body colour the underside
I always epoxy mastic first so I can push it into all the nooks and crannies first .....then seam seal .....and if the fancy takes me, I paint over the seam sealer you can always put a colour coat of paint over the epoxy mastic if you like ....I will eventually get my wheel arch tub underside painted in top colour (and it is currently coated in epoxy mastic ) stone chip - depands what you mean by stone chip, propper stone chip is a rubber type spray on product that you then coat with paint, it is rubberised to absorb impact from road debris......it can some times react, and cause reactions with other paints though .....not really needed if your using epoxy IMO, but has its uses if you mean the black sticky stuff....then that is really an under seal, depending on what sort you use can be good or bad. I dont like it personally. messy, difficult to get off when welding, can get road dirt sticking to it and can crack over time holding moisture against metal .....but if you use good quality stuff over well prepared surfaces then it can definatly give you some protection against road salt ....but then, so does a good underbody paint (like epoxy mastic) and an extra coat of good quality cavity/underbody wax for added corrosion protection on top of the epoxy
Not much to report the black gunk be it underseal antique stone chip is proving difficult to shift. Been battling it with everything wire brush / wool, white spirit, scrapers, wire cup, twisted wire cups... Ho hum At least this bit is now degunked That daylight is where I started cutting for some welding - had to stop as the angle grinder wasn't delicate enough. Waiting for a cut off tool I won offfa eBay to arrive so I can finish that off.. Found a whole in the chasis see below, you can also see where I removed the patch on the arch too...
