Would love to get the bus in a nice big workshop, but it's just not an option for me sadly, iv been looking at car ports and gazebos to offer it a bit more protection from the elements, a big tarp is all I have at the moment though
Nice project all of these vans are the same Gladys was no different i will watch with a big interest Dale
Nice to see another being saved, and you're going about it the right way by kicking the previous repair efforts off!
got myself a auto tinting welding mask, that came with the borrowed welder this is where im at today, managed to peel the floor away from the top hat section quite sucessfully and hacked away are the rotten remains of the top hat a new section arrived today but due to the redicilious wind iv been told to leave welding untill a calmer day when all the gas wont get blown away in the mean time iv been making some intergrips fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow
more cutting and grinding today, had to clean up the chassis where the outrigger joins up to it, the PO decided it was ok to weld over the top of the origional remains then using a photo kindly provided by whereuromnosecity strartd to work out a way to repair the inner seals, good news is i found some metal to stick a magnet on!! heres the plan, needs to be fettled and tweaked a little, then the rot cut out and replaced, moping for monday, weather permitted!
"moping for monday" was a typo, but is certianly apt for the way i feel today, the weather poo, dont think it has stopped raining since yesterday afternoon. so no progress on poor uggy today, on the plus i have managed to gain a nice compressor from the mother-in-laws partner, quite a big lump but free so im happy im also looking at gazebos / car ports for the van to live in and possiably work in space permitting, will 3M x 6M be ok?
actually managed to get some work done on uggy today, since its finally stopped raining, probably has something to do with me buying a gazebo lol today i have learned that 1 my overalls are fire proof but not molten metal proof 2 paper catches fire very easily 3 my welding is nasty still working on the drivers side front corner, ended up canning the parts i made up the other day and making simpler smaller parts my welding is very ugly - (same as uggy), but seems to be strong so that's half the battle i guess, and I'm sure i can rope my old man in to stick more metal together for me the offending photo told you my welding is horrible, i need to trim the lower part of the seal but ill wait until i have everything else in place because i don't know where it should end, and given a coat of galvanizing spray now im going to bed, on nights this week and Haven't seen my bed for over 26 hours, just really wanted to work on it while the sun was out
Welcome mate. I have been and I am still going through exactly the same thing. There are plenty on here that will glady give you free advice and help all the way! Well done so far and good luck with it. Try not to look at the whole project just the bit you are tackling today and before you know it you will have tackled several bits and you will be on your way. Just make sure everything you do is done to a good standard and you wont have to re go over it. My welding looks ugly too but is strong so I just grind it back which takes time but ultimatley I have a good solid van sofar with the bits I have done. good luck!
cheers physiopro, am itching to get onto other parts of the bus but i know this is probably the worse part of the bus so im trying to stay focused on that untill its done didnt get much sleep done this afternoon, but it did have its upside, dad poped round to "have a look" at how i was getting on and the result was this make the man who can weld, weld!! managed to get the top hat section replaced and the out rigger on too, so was well worth waking up for dads side my side :'( im saving the outrigger to chassis welding for dads next visit, he'll like that lol still a lot more welding practice for me i think
Good stuff fella i have to say replacin outriggers on ur back is awfull well done on learning to weld really satisfying innit
had the welder up on max today, had loads of nice frying bacon sounds too iv managed to get some spare sheets of steel to practice on aswell, just to try to get the hang of it. find limits ect got the inner wheel arch panel preped ready for welding tomorrow, once that is in i can start looking at getting the a front wheel arch in, trouble is no one seems to have them at the mo, just kampers, vwheritage and statusvw all have them on back order. i ideally want the genuine panel as i have not heard great things about the repo ones any other places that might have them in stock? my recently aquired door cards the fronts look in good shape, a few water marks on the rears but overall pretty nice and bargian basement seats finished nicley with ductape, adds a wipeable element to the seats the left one looks like it will fit with the runners that are already there, theres no runners in the pas side so i will have to look into that at a later date
Looking good,,, I had simular welds on my bug to start with... turned the welder up to make sure i was getting penertration. and then my welder blew up just before finishing most of the welding... NOTE TO ANYONE THINK ING OF BUYING A WELDER DONT BUY A COBEL WELDER OFF EBAY... i got myself a sealey mighty pro on offer at 550. and its brill. tidier welds by far...and using less gas... Just take your time markey... do little runs every now and then and then join them up till you get confidance to know what your doing...
