NewtoVW/tinworm - Slow restoration thread.

Hows the progress on your sills?

 

Painfully slow..
I had a few hours down the unit today and the air was blue.. I don't think I have ever said so many four letter words in such a short space of time.. At one point I threw my BFH across the unit. I didn't even bother to check what damage it had caused.

The middle sill/strengthener has been on/off/on/off/on/off trying to get it positioned right.. When I was fairly happy with it the inner sill was a bitch to get in place so I removed the middle sill and put the inner in place just to see what was stopping it sitting straight. Apparently nothing.

Just one of those days when FA goes right and progress is nought, nothing, nill. A day wasted.


Chances are the next time I try to sort this it will all fall into place.. Hopefully

 

Chin up, every day's a school day.... at least it's not sat on a driveway rotting!

 

No worries. I'm wanted to get more done today but stuff happens.. I'm chilled about it now It's my first resto so ..it's going to happen

 

It's been a while but I had another go at the sills today.. Not had a lot of time lately, working full time and training for a new job as well Excuses

Anyway I've been struggling with the PO's bodges.. The front right outrigger had two plates of steel welded to the chassis, both 4mm thick so I thought I'd better remove them as the new proper outrigger would not fit between the chassis and the sill.
As expected there was a hole in the chassis underneath the 8mm's of steel plate.

 

lovely work going on there

 

I had a good day today working on the bus today and everything seems to have fallen into place.
I didn't want to weld anything until it all fitted together so it is all screwed and clamped.
Sill strengthener screwed into place. Ready for welding.
Inner sill clamped into position. Ready for welding.
Three top hat ends cut to fit, ends spread ready to weld to the sill and the other end Joggled to slide inside the good center pieces of the old top hats. Ready for welding.
Jacking points/outriggers clamped into place. Ready for welding.
Started removing the scrap metal used for jacking points/outriggers from the other side of the bus.



Brilliant what can happen when you get some time off work.. Another day off tomorrow so I'll continue removing the scrap from the other sill and might even do a bit more blasting

 

All welded in now



I've rolled it back upright, just got to turn the bus round to face the other way and roll it over to do the other sill..
Hopefully the second one will be quicker now I have one under my belt. Needs to be quicker to, @art b is waiting for the jig. Sorry Art it's taken a bit longer than I thought

 

Looking great John .
I was wondering how you were getting on ..
@NewtoVW
It looks like your a professional restorer from those piccys..
I've seen pros do a lot worse..
Don't worry there's no rush..
I'm on front arches on mine...inc A and B post repairs..
Then replace out riggers and other stuff underneath in the summer..

 

Thanks for the kind words Art, they mean a lot and thanks for taking the jig time pressure off

 

fitting lhd wheel arch is a little challenging ,

there are so many bodges to work with/remove ...




out riggers were plated and rotten

 

@art b From those pictures above it looks like you have the same issues as I had.. Wheel arch was a bitch to get right.

I nipped down the unit again today and finished removing the jig, replaced the wheels and turned the bus to face the oposite direction.. I had to do this because the unit has a central steel post to support the roof and because of the post the jig will only fit one way in the unit. I only had a 15x26 foot space to turn the bus so I used some axel stands bolted to some dolly wheels... Started fitting the jig, here we go again

 

That's where a rotisserie would be an advantage..

 

Trust me , I'm not complaining.. This jig is the business It's just that center post, it gets in the way of a lot of things

 

Hi @art b
I had another thread on here talking about a friend that welds for me.. I thought everyone knew about this.. I'd love to take credit for the welding but I cant.
He works as a welder fabricator and has done for 40 years.. He doesn't want any more work, he's just helping out while his wife is at work.. He pops down once every three weeks to weld up the panels that I have prepared.
I do all the prep work, picking the old panels/rot and rust away, I fit the panels and clamp them in place.. Sounds easy. Before the rollover jig I spent 12 hours lying under the bus removing the PO bodges/rust and rot to the right hand sill alone. Steve walked in and a couple of hours later I had a sill welded in.
I thought I would re- post this up as I don't want you thinking I'm the clever one.

He is the genius and without him I would be in trouble.

I guess I've been trying to get a move on with the underside so I could get the jig back to you so it's been prep and weld, prep and weld but now you have taken the pressure off I'm hoping that Steve can teach me some of the things he knows then the next project will be welded by me

 

next project ...


i do remember your wandering welder...

could he wander down this way ...

 

Next project.. Turbo Subaru Beetle. If I live that long and get this bus up and running

Wandering welder ? I'll mention it when he comes next.. Don't hold your breath.. He's not looking for work, just enjoying himself

Small resto update.. Rolled the bus the other way today and removed most of the rotten outriggers/jacking points/top hat ends. Small patch to weld in the chassis behind the front outrigger.. Not as bad as the other side.. This side should be easier ( I hope ) because the rear arch isn't fitted yet

 

The other side sill strengthener/inner sill/top hat ends/outriggers and jacking points now welded in as well as two small holes in the chassis repaired

I want to make a repair for the bottom of the C post and a small patch to the inner rear arch and then the outer sill and the rear arch can be fitted and welded..
Lots more sand blasting to do, maybe a bit of seam sealing, paint the underside... We are getting there slowly

@art b I spoke to Steve about wandering welding.. He's not after any more work, sorry.. I think he might be after a project of his own.

 

Little bit more done today to the underside.. Getting there slowly

 

Looking great, I really wish I had the opportunity to do this