Breaking tools on a rusty front end.

I thought I had better document this as a resto rather than posting pictures on the general chat forum.

When I bought Bouncy Bus over 10 years ago, I had a partial resto done by some guys near Hedge End in Hampshire, I think I nearly lost the bus as the business nearly went under, as the boss's son was dipping his hand in the till to impress girlfriends.
When the big day came, the paint done, I got over there paid the remainder of the bill and set off with no door seals, and the bus in a bit of a mess. At least I got two new front doors, and didnt have holes in the front wheel arches any more.

One thing they did point out was that the front end needed work done too, and they offered to do it. Me, I just wanted my bus back. So it has always had a rusty front end.

Early on I picked rubbery paint off the deformation panel, and ended up with a sort of rusty tinsel above it. So I filled it.
Over the years, it would fail its MOT as bits rusted through over by the steering box, the two outer chassis rails and the deformation panel and the inner panel kept on being welded to pass.

Recently it basically gave up the ghost when the closing panels on the deformation panel bulged off and rain started seriously going behind the panel, also the water that got into the chassis rails would run forward through holes rotted in the inner panel.

I had to get out the Schofields A pillar bottom repair so I could understand what was missing from the bottom of the A pillar. As all that I could see was rusty panels.

Which leaves the bus like this, after some picking.



So the outer wheel arch skin has gone through, theres a load of filler going back along the bottom of the step, the metal is about 0.8mm thick and has rotted through with all that water swilling around.

You can also see how the bottom of the deformation panel is missing at this end. Its worse the other end.


This is inside - top left is water running down from the headlamp bowl. To the right is the road.

 

So today I started the unpicking. I decided to chop off the deformation panel.

One angle grinder later - if I had just put it to one side when it got hot it probably would have survived. As I was wearing gloves it was only when the cloud of smoke came out I realised that it was too hot.

You can see here a few rusty holes in the inner panel, some parts are actually patched on the other side.. Hate Hate Hate.


What this did was give me access to the lower inner panel, behind the front panel of the bus - my aim is to replace the inner panel, so the first thing I did this time was to get out the 1050W mains powered sabre saw and cut just behind the seam connecting the deformation panel to the inner panel. Given the state of the inner panel, that is going too, so this way I dont need to unpick the spot welds on the deformation panel, instead I am cutting out the join.

I used some Makita wood/metal blades as they seem to be thicker and tougher than the hacksaw blades that are provided with the saw. Which lasted maybe 5 seconds before catching and snapping. The Makita blades tend to bend if they snag, so instead the lower hand gets whacked into the ground by the kick back from the saw.


I also have a new bottom part of the front panel, and there are small holes along the bottom so I decided to chase the rust worms up the A pillar, removing the door as I went to gain access. ..


And I scratched the paint on the door as I put it back on when it started raining. You can see how thin the inner panel has become at the bottom behind the section where it was joined to the deformation panel.

I will try and get the A pillar reconstructed before moving on, so that the corner of the bus is stiffer again, as the bottom of the A pillar and the door step are floating where I hacked through metal and welds to release the A pillar wreckage.

I have to clear up the A pillar closing panel wreckage, then use the other side to get the correct distances - although that side is also confetti in places, there is more of the A pillar metal still visible ..

 

Currently my stock of metalware is

Lower front panel from below air box.
Deformation panel
Lower inner panel
A pillar repair nearside
A pillar repair offside.
Outer chassis rail end nearside.
Outer chassis rail end offside.
Closing plates.

A sheet of fresh 1mm steel.

I am thinking about how to better support the spare tyre - the previous rivnuts holding on a fairly thin and springy bracket seem to have lasted without the front deforming, sheets of rubber stopped the edge of the tyre from rubbing through the paint.
I might weld some vertical ribs on the back of the front panel, to support the bracket better.

 

Looks like your getting stuck in and cutting all the rot out
will be solid when youve finished
too cold for me at moment even in the garage

 

Well done Mike for taking up the challenge.
I know you will get it sorted and feel a lot happier when it's done.
I remember your words of encouragement when I discovered rot above the right hand A pillar on my van that had been pointed out by a passing Dutch visitor ar VolksWorld.....
All tickety boo now but dreaded the first move.
Will be following with interest..Best wishes and good luck with the weather.

 

I knew it was coming I had put a fair amount of filler in little holes over the years.

 

About the last thing that happened yesterday was that the Bosch angle grinder stopped as well as the Draper that smoked.
The cord grip on the Bosch had cut through the mains cable for the second time in its life. The first time it tripped the mains. This time was a silent death.
A bit of trimming and it was back on the road.

Today I decided to put something back. But first I had to go further up the A pillar on the inside where the floor was rusty and the pillar matched it.

I decided to call it a day after inserting just one piece of the bottom of the A pillar, at this stage I decided to paint it in primer once I had finished as it was getting a bit late, the sun was about to set over the houses opposite.

I will do some grinding, eventually to clean it up, but with the weather changing this is going to be a while before I can get back to it. The welds were varied as I tried the different wire speed settings on the welder- its driven by wire speed, current is adjusted to match loading.



Todays tool busting score was increased by catching a polytarp with the angle grinder. It made a mess of the polytarp and the cutting disc.

 

I might as well record the costs of DIY, it scares me how much a garage might charge for this one.
Already in stock - welder £220, gas regulator £35, cheap auto darkening mask £40. Angle grinder £60, Sabre saw £60 (bought to cut fence panels.. ). .. Many other tools like rechargeable drill , hammers etc.
Panels : £520.
Welding gas bottle refill £75
Saw blades £15
Pack of cutting discs £22 - to go on with, had some already
Pack of 6mm drill bits £15 - decentish quality.
Seam sealant, primer, sanding discs , other sundries £80
Pair of decent spot weld cutter bits (only used in places I abandoned and have chopped off :-( ) £28.

 

Ahh Look I see you have sum vust !

 

For a garage, despite the expense you can ignore the tools, if say you got a year out of a grinder what is that per hour? Naff all. The same goes for the lot - your list is about 3p/hour over a year. 3x as much gear is still only 10p/hour on the bill.
Disposables then leap forward as the real tool cost.

Your repairs look oh so familiar. It's good to see you have the chassis ends intact, they mostly don't have a flange on the end, just a wee curl like in your photo.

 

Crikey ! Good luck Mike


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

But as a private person only doing a job or 2 , it’s quite expensive, maybe cheaper to get the garage to do it

 

At least you'll know the welding is your welding and not Marmite welding done by a bloke who has stolen your money and taken longer than he said he would.

 

The chassis rail ends were OK, the outer two were a bit thin on the way ..
This is what rust under heavy Waxoyl looks like.



I decided I was going to chop off the worst bits where the rails were welded in the past, the outer edges both nearside and offside are plated over.



Its still a bit thin in the "window" , on the right hand side I might cut back a bit further. I wont go further back because its all welded to a plate on top, and I am trying to avoid having to redo that this time round.

I will probably have to remove the brake pedal mechanism to get at the rail properly.

The funny round tag by the bottom of the steering column is a temperature sender for the dashboard temperature gauge.

I stopped because it started getting cold and windy, and I ran out of cutting discs - its too easy to catch one on a hidden edge. While the sabre saw is fast, it also tries to cut everything across a 15cm depth of cut.. It also doesnt like weld beads or thick layers of metal, helping it with the cutting disc speeds things up.

 

We all believe ours is " not too bad " on ours bought just arch inner and outer steps then ended buying complete arches so original purchases were spare. Whereas a garage would hide this extra purchase in their cost. But the likes of people on here simply put it down to experience and place parts in tlb classifieds.

Sent from my SM-A405FN using Tapatalk

 

I would say it’s the complete opposite looking at some of the welding on this site ..

 

Today it was extremely cold and windy, chill factor about -5 degrees C out by the bus, so I limited myself to hiding in the garage, welding up the new bumper fixing threaded inserts on the deformation panel, tidying up some of the hole-filling welds, and then putting zinc primer inside the panel.

 

nah the garage would have bought the right one first time

 

I used to have people turn up with those steps and ask me to fit them. Hahaha.