This Is going to keep me busy for a little while.....

Mid section....

 

Front section.

This was a bit of a pain in the arse trying to get the lip to curve around the front edge and keep the same profile of the roof.

I think it’s turned ok...

 

Fantastic job!
Mine needs doing, I’ve got a mig and am teaching myself to weld as you did but you’re at a whole different skill level!
How long do you think it took to get skilled enough and confident enough to tackle that?
Don’t fancy doing mine do you?

 

Stunning job mate! Them contours flow spot on!

 

Thanks fellas.

Uncle Nick. Before tackling the first gutter the only welding I’d done on the van before was the seatbelt anchor points. At first I was set up with gasless flux cored wire which I quickly found was too fierce for thin metal. Once set up with gas (I’ve been using Co2 pub gas) I found it much more forgiving and easier to control.

With the gutter I just bit the bullet and went for it. I thought I might as well have a go. If I messed it up it can always be cut back out and started again.

The welding isn’t really the hard part, for me, it’s the prep work getting everything cut and fitted correctly first.

The mig welding forum is a great place to start. Lots of videos for beginners etc.

Just go for it, what’s the worst that can happen?

 

Skimmed with a bit of filler, flattened back and a spray of zinc primer...

 

That looks bang on mate! Nice one.

 

This next bit is not going to be pretty. The purists may want to look away now....

 

I haven’t been able to get a roof cut/donor section and I don’t want to pay for the full rear roof available from Schofields.

Initially I was going to try and patch this corner using 3 plates but I soon found I couldn’t get them to bend around keeping the dome shape of the roof profile.

I ended up using 5 sections welded together.
This isn’t pretty...

 

I’ve tried my best to keep the roof profile and keep the step/angle in tact.

Anyone handy with filler?

 

Looks alright to me @smoggyrich watch some filler how to’s on YouTube, that’ll look fine with a skim over

 

This ^^^^^^

You've done the hard bit keeping the profile so well.

Great job mate!

 

Doesn’t look too bad now the corner gutter is welded in...

 

Well, I’ve had a go at tidying this corner with a skim of filler. It’s far from perfect and I will need to return to this with another go of filler before finishing off so I’ve sprayed a bit of zinc primer to protect it for now.