When I started cutting out the rotten panels, there was a serious under estimation of how long it would take! Started with the nearside as the middle sill has to be left in place and repaired so tried to carefully remove the inner sill whilst trying not to damage the floor and the top hats any more than necessary . No David Bailey , but you get the idea. The middle section seemed pretty solid except for the ends. The outriggers and jacking points were also cut out and initially it looked as though the front top hat would just need repairing at the ends, however as I started seeing more of it as the outrigger was being cut out, there was a realisation that it needed replacing. Because the floor was in good condition, getting the top hat out took the whole of one weekend and having destroyed the cross member to get to the top hat, this also needed replacing Back to the sills, I welded in some captive nuts so the belly pans can be removed in future The middle section was repaired in situ. Strong welds but not particularly pretty as they wont be seen. A previous replacement of the rear panels didn't address the rot on the C pillar so new sections were fabricated and welded to the middle section. The top hat was slotted into place and welded in, then the inner sills could be fitted, followed by the cross member, outrigger and jacking points. And the offside sill in place. At each point where the outriggers met the chassis rails, there was rot which needed cutting out and new sections welded in Then the cross member, outriggers and jacking points were welded in- at last there was some visible progress!
Thanks @Zebedee I'm planning to grind some of the welds down a bit more before applying raptor but don't want to compromise the strength. Main thing was to get paint on bare metal before condensation caused rust.
Now the underneath is solid, it's time to start on the bodywork and the first area is the passenger side rear arched and rear corner.... fun time! At some point a replacement panel had been tack welded over the original rust and therefore the whole lot has gone rusty again. 1st stage was to undo the repairs to find out what the original condition was like but it quickly became evident that the original panels had been hammered to try and get the joins to blend in better so I would need to cut back to beyond where the original repairs started. So the panel was cut out and this exposed the wheel arch which had metal tacked in place that fell off when the outer arch was removed. Some repairs needed here.
Hello, I quite like the pink, tjo not sure I will be spraying mine just yet are you putting the fab flooring back in? good luck with the resto
The shape is quite complex and I also used the repair sections available which closed off the front inner arch, then cut back to good metal and fabricated the remaining pieces. Now time to tackle the window area which seems to have a fair amount of rot. Drilled out the slider for the door and it really isn't solid so will have to use the majority of the repair section available from the excellent Schofields.
Hi @Merlin Cat keep the pink paint pot away from your van! There is getting less and less of it as I'm sweeping most the van into the wheelie bin and the retro flooring went the same way (thankfully).
Wheel arch sections welded into position after numerous trial fits of the outer panel and then found another repair section had been added to the rear quarter so had to cut back to good. Battery tray is in really good condition and helps as a reference point for the rear panel. You can just see here on the right there is some rot at the bottom of the chassis leg closing panel. Is this just flat or is there a design to it which stops the water from collecting at the edges? If anyone has any pictures I would be grateful if they could post.
The chassis leg closing panel seemed to take ages to repair, first cutting back to good metal and then replacing the nut plate. I'm planning to tow a small boat and my understanding it that the towbar utilises the bumper bracket mountings so it's especially important tthat this is solid This was then painted and the repair sections welded in place and painted. The section under the window was cut out and the new section welded in place. I made lots of cardboard templates to try and ensure the curved sections on the window surround remained the same so hopefully the glass will fit and the sliding door runner reinstated. Then onto the wheel arch and rear corner panels which have been on and off the van so many times to try and ensure the best fit. Because of the size of the panels this is quite satisfying to see, although it does take time with the short welding runs at large intervals to try and avoid distortion. As you can see from the photo, there is still more welding needed on the rear quarter. And then the long bracket underneath the window which holds the cover panel in place was welded in and it starts to look a bit better Now to do it all again on the other side- the windows are the same but obviously no sliding door and the wheel arch looks more solid.
So now to the offside and I really didn't know what to expect. There is a rust hole in the roof and this coupled with the very rusty area around and below the window made me fear that the water would have caused all manner of problems with the inner panels Anyway, it wasn't going to get better by itself so out came the trusty angle grinder and I started gently cutting out the rot. .....and the result was so much better than expected, no damage to the inner frames just good solid metal and all the corners in tact. The seat belt reinforcement plate was retrieved from the cut out panel and retained for the final fitting, high tech cardboard corner templates had already been made and the new panel was offered up and adjusted to fit. The corner sections were then cut out of the repair section supplied by Schofield's and adjusted. Next, holes need to be drilled horizontally at the base so it is fixed to the inner panel, the same around the window surrounds and in the middle for the seatbelt mounts.
Seem to have spent weeks stuck in the engine bay and sorting out issues at the rear. First job was to understand the purpose of the of the paint lid stuck on the inside of the engine bay (thanks to everyone who responded with the answer) turns out it is access for the fuel filler tube. There were repairs done with rust sandwiched in the joins of the filler tube fire wall and every bit I cut seemed to expose more rusty metal. Lots of fabricating to make it look something like how it was before Then it became evident the chassis rails had some rot and a not so great previous repair, so the air cleaner bracket had to be removed, more repairs of the firewall and 2mm thick metal welded in to make the chassis strong again And the other side had rotted in exactly the same place so the same process of cutting back to good and welding on new Skirts are now on order from Schofield's to go over the top and finish the job At some point the offside the battery tray had been replaced and was only tack welded on 4 places, that after the lip for the skirt of the corresponding part had been ground off! In the end I chopped out the battery tray and will start again with a new one (and lots more welds). Whilst working inside the engine bay I noticed there was some deformation of the D pillar and could see why the corner had been replaced in the past. As the D pillar was not repaired, the wing has had to be removed (pop riveted on the outer seam!) and the extent of the accident damage is clearly visible. No deformation on the chassis but the D pillar is not well. At this point I'm not sure on the best way to repair it- ideally I want a section from a donor vehicle as the main impact was just below top of the engine bay lid but they seem to be in short supply, there are some repair sections available but they don't look long enough or I can take out the flattened sections and fabricate new sides. Any advice would be welcome. Having felt around the inside of the panel it would appear the join is just below the window line..... but feels like more pop rivets! so I'm going to replace the whole rear corner once the D panel is sorted. Looking forward to getting it all clamped together with the wheel arch panel and window surround in place for a solid day of welding so I can see progress.
FBI VW have / had some corner sections listed http://www.fbivw.com/page_3580120.html they may have some other body cuts
Did you make the door runner sections beneath the window apertures or buy them in.. Looks great.. I've got to do mine on the bus
Thanks @leflipflop the sections come from Schofield's and are a good fit and the runner is the original, carefully taken from the remains of the section chopped out. Be careful you don't damage the seatbelt bracket when cutting out the rust.
