Gertie the 72 crossdresser. Full resto....and it needs it!

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by exuptoy, Jul 5, 2012.

  1. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Barely leaves a mark either, just tiny bits where the welds wer, then you can go over again same way and clean those off too. Best tool I ever bought. :lol: Well actually already had it from when I used to fit/repair shop fronts.

    I don't enjoy spot weld drilling, it gets a bit tedious.
     
  2. Cheers Zed. Means a lot coming from a VW old hand like yourself. :D

    I do use an old wood chisel with a blunt end but I like using the spot weld drill as it's neater. I usually end up going through the chassis or tearing it. I am really made up with my welding since changing my welder.
     
  3. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I spotted your chisel in a picture. I have wood chisels too, but the bolster works far better and being wider, mines about 3", it doesn't dig in easily. 2 whacks max per weld and almost sharp seems best. An air chisel would be better, but I need the excercise.
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  4. Looks awesome! Keep up the good work! :)
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  5. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Less of the old. ;) Paul Weedings the real old lag, he used to come and weld my bus 10 years ago when I had a proper job, that's how I met him.
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  6. :lol:

    Taught you everything you know huh ;)

    I was a young lad back then... early 20s :lol:
     
  7. In fact, another 3 years, and I've been working on these old beasts for 20 years :eek: now that is a scary thought :(


    :lol:
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  8. Yeah, but there's not much you ain't seen before or that puts you off I bet?
     
  9. Not too much dude, everything is fixable in my book, just a matter of time at the end of the day!! :) Plus I get people coming to me to do stuff that other people walk away from...
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  10. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Hmm, I get that too and used to end up just doing nothing but Marmitee jobs, but I've had to put my foot down a bit for the sake of keeping the wolf from the door and my sanity.
     
    exuptoy likes this.
  11. I know what you mean m8. When I originally got this, I got a quote from a VW specialist in Cardiff who wanted a weekly wage of £500 to sort this. He was talking of around £4K just to complete all chassis work. He advised me to scrap it first!!! The wife was distraught. Tears and everything. There's not much that would faze me now though.:D I'm loving it!
     
    Paul Weeding and womball like this.
  12. Got about 8 hours in today.

    Cleaned up the front part of the chassis rail and found 2 small holes where the front jacking point will sit, so cut out the bad and put a plate in there as it is going to be a high stress area. No pics as it wasn't worth it.

    Started cutting out the sill area as I need the sill in place to get my jacking points and floor support correct.

    Looks bad! Some muppet had fitted a new inner sill and instead of drilling out the spot welds and unpicking everything, they just stuck it inboard of the old sill, leaving the rot inside!!! Worse part is the inner sill is fitted about 40mm further in than was needed so they filled in around the top hat and ibeam floor supports to make it look nice. This meant a lot of work trying to dig out all the crap.

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    Thankfully the runner is in good nick with minor repairs reauired.

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    The front of the floor had suffered a little and you can also just about see the weld line from the inner sill, around 40mm further down than the spotweld row I had taken out!

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    Had a piece of the old floor left so I made a repair out of that. I made a schoolboy error though where I had to flatted the profile where it sits inside the floor area where i had to plug weld it and I should have flattened the next profile across too as the new sill will need to be modified with a slight 6mm offset to account for the ridge I left in!

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    Painted with etch primer.

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    Got all the rubbish removed and offered up the new sill.
    I assume it sits here?

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    Just the odd plug weld holding it in place for the moment.

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    Not happy with the fit of the outer sill though! Is this correct? I know I still have to trim back the upper seam where the sill attaches but it doesn't look like it can go up much further. Should it be offset like this or flush along the bottom?

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  13. Managed 3 hours today.

    Started extending the lower runner vertical riser down to the lower sill with 2mm plate but running low on stock to I need to source some more. Welded the 2 skins together as well.

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    Decided to concentrate on the jacking points now I have the sill in the right place. Before I can fit the jacking points, I needed to put a cable entry into the chassis section. I used a piece of 20mm conduit cut at an angle and drilled a pair of 18mm holes joined by 2 straight cuts.

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    This is what it'll look like when finished. I also welded the jacking point together as I now have the dimensions from the chassis to the sill.

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    Thats it for today!
     
  14. Spent around 3-4 hours in the garage today.

    TBH I think todays work has been in vain! I purchased a second hand rear crossmember from Ash on here for £20 inc post, not wanting to use the crap ones like I already have here which don't even reach the chassis sides!!

    Anyway, when I bought my sills etc last week I purchased a front crossmember which was totally different to what I already have here, and was of real good quality.

    So I decided to repair and tidy up the OG one from Ash for nothing more than a little practice at welding to rust ridden paper thin metal.

    This is how far I have got but there is obviously still going to be rust in this piece however much work I put into cleaning it up. I honestly think I had better purchase a proper one as I already have the front one and the heater tube in brand new metal.

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    I still have a few minor repairs left and I will finish it off but I may still buy new!
     
  15. Nicely done :thumbsup:
     
  16. Cheers Paul. Would you repair OG stuff and refit it or purchase new?
     
  17. I generally go for repair over replacement, but it really depends on what you're trying to repair and the quality of available replacements...
     
  18. Just concerned that they won't be rotted out in another 2-3 years. I can paint kurust etc on them and paint them then waxoil them but they are still rusty bits of metal at the end of the day. (Admittedly not too rusty now though).
     
  19. Kruger

    Kruger Sponsor

    Looking good, welding looks nice and neat. Regarding repairing stuff, if its paper thin all over - cut it out and replace, as most of these vans have lost metal thickness on the insides of panels (unless well cavity waxed years ago) that often alot of people overlook.
     
  20. Cheers Kruger. I have already made a few repairs to it (spent 4 hours on it!!!). A couple of minor ones left and it'll be solid. I'll have a look tomorrow and if it seems acceptable I'll give it a coat or epoxy mastic and offer it up. That'll keep the tinworm at bay for a few years I hope.
     

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