Woody my 72/73 bay window resto project .......an epic tale of rust.......

feb 26th 2011......

got the hole in the chassis done today, had painted inside through the week but gave it a spray of galvo just for extra measure



made up some other repair pieces for the near side wheel arch, along with the bit for the chassis



all welded in and holes from the oil filter stand welded up



chopped out rotten bits of rear arch





then welded in bit at a time





next was the side bit, I was quite pleased with the bit I made, even put a fold over the edge the same as the old bit



then welded it on





I got a bit more painting of the underside done through the week after spending time with the wire brush first





still got a long way to go, got a bit more wire brushing done today. Not had time to paint it all though so if the weather holds off maybee get a bit more done tomorrow.

I might start the repairs to the floor of the tank bay next, also got to make a 6inch repair for the off side chassis as it looks past its best





then the rear inner valance can go back on

 

Feb 28th 2011

I was asked what the black stuff I was using was called......

the black stuff is epoxy mastic 121

http://www.rust.co.uk/epoxy-mastic.cfm

I love it, doesnt dry and crack like the sticky underseal, it is a 2 pack paint which doesnt contain the isocyanatesnormal 2pack stuff has so you can use it at home , its not quite as fussy about preping as POR15 is

its won a few product tests by practical classic magazine, stands up to road grit well. I think it is used on oil rigs so it cant be too bad.

I love it

its sort of like a cross between stone chip, paint and rubber but it sets quite hard

 

March 8th 2011.......

I thought I'd start the weekend by washing woody ;D

a little premature maybee, its got to be done before paint so I thought I'd get rid of the worst to give me an easier time later, spured on by the fact I couldnt see much through the green algee which had collected on the windows.

heres some before shots................





you just cant buy pattina like this....









I quite liked the aged look really but it had to go.





I did give up a bit on the roof :-[ ...normal car wash was not cutting through all the growth.....





I tried petrol, white spirit, solvent cleaner, panel prep. Non of then made much of a dent, didnt want to use a scouring pad as it may have ground it into the paint work so I used some POR15 marine clean, still needed a bit of elbow grease but it was the best at shifting it.....





more pics to come..........

 

march 8th 2011......

I'll go back and finish the roof cleaning at a later date

next I degreased a few areas using panel prep, then flatted down with 600 grit paper, wet flatted it all also ground out some rust spots.





did some on the sliding door too



masked off and sprayed with etch primer........





after a couple of hours I wet flatted the primer with 600grit paper, wiped over and degreased area. I then got some of the bottom colour on. That took all of Saturday, I can see why the paint prep takes so long now for a good finish.
Sunday I masked off the bottom colour and sprayed the top....



ok so it wasnt the whole bus but it is a bit of a moral boost to see how shiny it could become.....



I got quite a good finish with just using a rattle can....did rush towards the end and got a few runs :-[ . I was also a bit impatient as the masking tape left a few marks on the bottom colour , it also reacted on the sliding door and sort of melted the green .........also using decorators masking tape was probably not a good idea as the paint leaced under the edge slightly and the edge of the tape is not nice and smooth.

When I come to do it properly I will by some proper automotive masking tape. So this has been quite a good learning experience.

still not finished posting......

 

Still march 8th 2011.....

ok so I was a little bit annoyed with myself for rushing a bit after spending all that time preping, should have left a few more days before making up to do the top colour etc, heres some more pics....



Me and Mrs Diddymen cant decide if the "new" top colour is too grey, I left some of the existing white to compare and I think this is too white





I also forgot to tape shut one edge of news paper and got some top colour on the green. You can also see where the masking tape reacted/melted



Not settled on either of these colours 100% yet, I'm going to try a few more whites next to the green, possibly a bit more cream than grey. I might also get some very light blue to try. I think light blue looks really good but there are a few people doing it at the moment so I want something slightly different. Might just have a good look through the paint shop colour books and choose something else :

might post the rest of the pics tomorrow.....

 

From March 15th 2011......

.....anyway, where was I ???? ah yes the welding I did in between painting......

Started up by bending some 2mm steel to shape



then cut off the end of the chassis leg





was a bit pitted but may have lasted a few years....thought I'd do it now rather than having to do it later though

next transfered all the holes into the new bit, welded in the nut and cut it down to size



roughly in place......looks good to me ;D



so welded it in




then painted it all inside and out and made a few bits for inside the petrol tank area....just waiting to upload the pics to photo bucket and will post the rest

 

15th March 2011.........

heres the repair bits I made for the fuel tank area



simple enough to make but a bugger to get welded in. They are to go into these holes I made earlier ....well the tin worm made them I only straightened the edges ....... :





same holes from underneath.....





and then welded in ....not easy place to weld. Half way through the weld was getting really blobby until I realised a bit of weld spatter was blocking the nozle resticting wire feed .....couldnt get the grinder in to grind it back so finished all the welding from inside the tank area.....blew a few holes through which needed pluging up too





same repairs from underneath.....





chassis repair all painted

 

cut back a bit of the rear post which was intact but past keeping



so I could also get some paint into the chassis leg on this side...which is in ok condition



so wire brushed as best as I could then painted it inside.

then got the inner rear valance on ;D ;D no real dramas, the chassis legs had moved together by about 5mm when I cut off the chassis end on the drivers side. I sat in the engine bay and pushed the chassis leg with my feet to open it enough to get the valance in...sat nice and snug. Then it was just a case of welding it in place





there was a bit of a gap around the rear post though



might be able to see it better on the other side



the gap was bigger than just a seam of weld would fill so I made some tiny filler bits and welded them in, then ground smooth so I could weld the seam between each of the posts and the inner valance....if you know what I mean







not quite as neat as original but Im pretty happy with it ;D

............any way, Im getting kicked off the computer so the rest will have to be posted tomorrow

 

last few bits I got done over the week end then..........

gave a good wire brushing on the grinder to the chassis top panels to see what condition they were in

first the near side with the chassis No stamped on....



needs a bit replacing here



and here





and the off side (drivers)







made a cardboard template, cut out the rot, and made a new bit





clamped the original bit in place for the back bit as its a bit more critical to make sure this bit all lines up...then made a bit up to suit





welded the front bit in



I then tacked the back bits together whilst it was all clamed in place, took it off and welded it all up



test fitted it in place and clamped up again



looks good so off it comes for the last bit which is the fixing tab under the chassis number



time was getting on so I've left this bit for next week end and got every thing that I did this weekend protected with a coat of epoxy mastic.....the bottom of the chassis top panel now looks really good with a coat of paint.

hope fully get the N/S chassis top finished this week end and possibly the other side as well, I want them both to have at least 2 coats of epoxy before they get welded in, if I've got time I might do some of the rear post repairs to so fingers crossed for good weather

 

24th March 2011....

here we go then, didnt seem like much really but some week ends are like that I suppose. :

First was to repair the tab on the N/S chassis top panel





then repaired the O/S chassis top panel .....got carried away so only took the photo of the finished thing



then checked to see if it still fitted





....which it did , I had to make some new "tabs" for the wiring loom which I weded on....forgot to weld up the old spot weld holes along the back lip - Im going to weld from inside the wheel arch so I can grind down the welds on this bit easier..which is why I was going to weld up the old spot weld holes.

next I made some repair bits for the rear posts





then sat in place to check





still needs a little adjustment

 

Typical! I go out and do a run to the tip, come back and its raining!!! grrrrr. Hopefully it will clear up soon and I can get out and crack on with the bus.

in the mean time heres a post from March 24th 2011.......

....next I bolted the bumper irons on using the rear bolt to hold it in place,

carefully marked and drilled the holes for the other bolts on both sides.

re fitted bumper irons using both bolts - rear one and one through the new hole........they were a bit off :-[ so I had to elongate the holes :-[





then I marked the new repair piece for the rear posts and drilled the hole for the bumper iron bolt. Then bolted the bumper irons in place so I could weld the nuts to the repairs off the bus, welded a bit more around them then etch primed them





looking at them with nuts welded on, it looks like the nuts are too far towards the sides of the bus ???

I decided to put the irons back on tonight and hold the bumper on to check......it does look as if they are 4mm out .....they should be out towards the sides of the van more looking at the bumper ???

as Im probably going to be fitting Brazilian style bumers or early then I will probably have to modify the bumper mounts at some point so the nuts will be staying put and the adjustment will be made to the bumper or mounts
I then decided to chop off the hinge panel and the top corner of the rear post.......and guess what.....more rust, this bus is fighting me all the way

heres some pics after wire brushing







at least ther are no holes.........well other than the ones I've made
I did a bit more wire brushing and got some paint on it tonight
lastly, as I was running out of time and gas for the welder on Sunday afternoon I decided to make a little repair bit for the top of the rear post....to use up the last bit of gas





was a bit of a rush job so is a bit rough....it fits ok but not that pretty, decided not to try to re produce the "pressing" in the original as I would end up taking a whole week end ......and no one but me and you will know about it anyway ;D

.......I'm going to tweek it a bit more at the week end and hopefully weld it on

 

March 27th 2011.........

my next post will be a sort of "how to" of how I make some repair bits using basic tools.....hope you like it

...........had a little fiddle around with the top of the rear post repair, much better





I flattened out the recess on the post a little to accept this repair bit, would have liked to replicate the recess into the repair but it would have taken a while .......

welded in and ground down



welded in the bottom repairs both sides.....added some plug welds from underneath too





then added the hole - had to use a 20mm hole cutter, a little bigger than the original which was about 16mm....but didnt have a 16mm cutter



that was Fridays work

going to post the next bit separatly as its going to have a bit more detail......

 

before I get to the how to bit heres a little of what I did today.....

made up the outer repair for the lower rear posts on both sides



and roughly in place



looks pretty good, the other side is the subject of my "how to".

There are loads of different ways to make bits like this and loads of different tools you can use. I have access to a metal folder at work but some times you want to do a repair "there and then" so taking it to work would mean waiting for the end of the weekend, also its good to "offer up" your repairs as your making them so you can spot any mistakes before its too late.......

ok, heres how I make my basic repairs using only simple tools

I started off with a flat sheet of steel (approx 1.2mm thick size to suit repair being made), I then folded a lip on to 2 edges using a vice and hammer....you'll see this in a bit.

So this is what I've got



you can see I've scribed a line where my next bend will be and a cut I have made in the bottom flange

and this is where it has got to fit



using the scribed line as a guide I can now make my next bend by clamping it into my vice......oh no, the first lip I made is getting in the way....I cant clamp it in - dont worry heres how to get round that problem.

To compensate I have clamped a bit of wood in the vice to hold the jaws open enough to avoid the lip whilst keeping the metal secure



clamped up I can start to bend using a combination of pushing at the top with my hand and tapping the lower bit over with a hammer....



to tighten up the bend you can hammer it down against the vice along the bend you have just made



and this is what we've got now......



checking it up to the bus..



oops....sticks out a bit much :-[ its ok I can flatten it out slightly to re bend.

You can use your vice to help flatten it back out by claming and squeezing like this...



and this



bit by bit, I didnt want to compleatly flatten it back out as I would have probably ended up with a nasty crease, ok clamped up again and re bend, much better (you can probably get away with flattening out the metal after bending in the wrong place about 2 times before the metal will start to be damaged)



next using a template I made to match the shape of the post I could mark where I want the next bend



double check by measuring



if its all ok the scribe a line for bending

 

.......ok so I've marked the next line.......but dont go bending yet!!!!!

the mark I have made is the measurement between the outside edges, if I bend along this line then the repair will be wider than I want by approx 1.2mm (thickness of the metal)....so I scribe another parallel line about 1.2mm in from the first line and clamp it in my vice to the new line





then start to bend as before using hand pressure and hammer at the same time, obviously I cant photograph my self doing both as I'd have no hands for the camera...but just so you know what I mean.......





and heres what we've got now.........



checking using the template



its held in by friction so I know its not too small and not too wide, next using the template I mark for the next bend



and double check with a ruler



cut a slit and scribe the line, this line is fine to bend along as Im folding the metal in on its self

 

ok, so I've clamped it in the vice but theres a problem.

The metal has to be bent towards me (the front of the vice) but doing this will cause the lips at the bottom to collide with each other as I bend the metal....



Its ok I dont need a lip on the last bit so out of the vice and chop that bit off, I then decided to transfer my bend line to the other side of the metal so I could turn it around in my vice and bend it away from me which will be easier.

It is obviously going to be tricky to bend this last bit.....so, I use a combination of bending a bit by hand and also by using a bit of wood which I hold against the metal and hit the other end using a hammer......like this.......



not easy but it is achievable with a bit of patience.

I can then rotate the repair bit in my vice to finish off tidying it



this is what we've ended up with



and holding it in place



not sure if you can see in that photo but the repair bit is not sitting comfortably over the rear post............thats fine, it would mean you have made it too wide if it can sit over the top.

next I have to trim it down and then I will really be able to see if all that work has paid off

so trimming away little by little I can get it fitting the hole





not bad even if I say so my self

 

27th March 2011......

lastly then, I drilled out the holes which were there originally......and which I will be using to pump plenty of cavity wax into at a later date.....also as it was bare steel gave it a coat of etch primer (after cleaning and roughing up the surface)



with any luck I'll get them welded in tomorrow.

next I decided to chop part of the rear O/S arch





.....will need some work there then

and painted up all my work thus far (including another coat to the chassis top panels)

 

go diddey go diddey owen nw :

 

;D thanks Owen ;D

March 31st 2011......

last little update from the week end

decided to do the mud guard bit before I do too much else in this area as access will be easier

before



also this little bit needs some attention too



the new mud gaurd bit is not great, it should fold around like the original bit does (hopefully make sense in the pics). luckilly the bit on the original was not too bad - it will need some work but at least I can use part of it.....so I saved the bit that "curves round" and chopped off the rest of the mud guard





also had to cut out a couple of bits above it that were really thin
next made a repair bit for the corner section ....err.....bit



and grafted it in



then welded on the mud guard and the little bits above it



you can see a bit of the new panel has not been trimmed - Im going to bend that round to match the existing bit I saved so it will be like the original....hopefully. Just got to make a template from the other side first



painted the inside of the rear post repairs with epoxy mastic on Saturday then gave a coat of zinc spray on Sunday





and lastly painted the bits I welded it ......glad I did as its raining now ......and probably will be at the week end





and thats it

 

4th April 2011....

only did a few hours on Saturday

drilled some holes in the rear post panels and cleaned off the paint where Im going to weld



then clamped them in place and welded on











and with a coat of paint.....





that should be the last bit of structrual repairs to the rear now

also, I noticed some of the spot welds for the foam seal lip on the inner valance wern't properly welded ....in fact the end of the seal lip was loose. So I drilled them out and re welded them properly



next bit I'm going to tackle is the rear inner arch ....which I should have done when I did the sill on the O/S ....I'd chopped up the repair panel to replace only the front lower section of the outer arch....now I've decided to replace a bit more I'm going to try to used the remains of the outer arch and graft it on rather than replacing the lot again and buying a new panel, If it doesnt work then I will have to chop it all off and do the lot

heres the bit I did when I did the sills



and this is the bit I now need to work on



got a few other bits done too but I might post them tomorrow as it is the start of another "how to"

 

Sooooo pleased you've reposted your resto on here Diddyman. You're my Haynes manual for restoration and your self made repair panels are awesome. Keep it up.