Rotten VW T4

[Screwdriver]

For completeness sake and to make operation easier, I tigged a fitting on.

And that was enough to allow me to stamp, stamp, stamp all the way along the strip. Once you have a ding in it, it sort of self aligns.

Bent to match.

Tiggedy tig.

Dressed up the inside but didn't bother too much on the outside, then primered.

Might just be dry enough for me to fit this evening in case the rains come. Once the tank is in place, it becomes a van again and I may need to move it to do the other side anyway.

S.

 

[KimB]

What a brilliant job you're making of that, I sometimes think how id love to do a car with more steel bodywork like that, then I remember how much I hated doing my Land Rovers bulkhead good job though

 

[Screwdriver]

Thanks KimB, to be honest it doesn't feel that brilliant when I'm doing it. But it's great when a section is finished. One more update later tonight when the photos are up and I've had a bath!

S.

 

[Screwdriver]

I gave the straps a quick once over with matt black.

This is the penetration side, I didn't bother smoothing it off, just the inside where it meets the tank.

HOURS later I got it in. Devil of a job pushing the tank up, lining the holes up and getting a bolt in there AND tightening it up. I had to start making up new swearwords when a cloud of mozzies turned up...

I thought I'D never get out of there.

Refitted seat and carpet.

Loosely refitted gubbins.

Done.

Next side should be easier not only because there's just the sill and arch to do but now I know what I'm doing.

He says... lol

S.

 

[p0689109]

Nice to see somebody honest enough to show their "miscalculations" and set about correcting them. Makes me feel normal!

 

[Screwdriver]

Drivers door side...

Inner wheel arch has rotted out too.

Taking the wing support with it.

If you look at the first picture you can see a tiny lump of rust under the sound deadening. Got to take a look really.

Started chopping out the lower sill.

Didn't think Id see my first ever weld again so soon. Good penetration!

Just keep hacking back to good metal

That was one days worth, just a few hours really before the rains came. Gave it a quick blast of weld through primer.

S.

 

[Screwdriver]

So then today, more CAD templates...

I think I'm getting better at this.

Floor plate

Then work out where the welds go, dress the surface and punch some holes in the patches.

All done.

Ground off any high spots and paint in primer.

The wheel arch where it meets the sill piece is more tricky. Where to cut it?

Can't really tell how well (or how badly!) they actually line up until you do it. I think I'll just cut the sill off in line with the existing cut and get rid of that awkward pillar.

And the arch is just going to get a small patch repair. I know I really ought to replace the lot but thats too much work. I'd have to take the door off (in this weather) and I'm not even sure if I have the strength to lift it, so it stays on. This will get all of the inner rot but crucially, gives me better access to the inner arch repair. The rest gets rust treated and fillered!

Getting even that small section off was a nightmare. There's one obvious spot weld left, see if you can see it. I have to brush, grind and dremel until I can see it, then use a chisel to try and remove it without damaging too much of the remaining "good" bodywork.

more...

 

[Screwdriver]

That reveals the inner arch which isn't too bad in terms of cutting back to good solid land.

I cut it off in one piece because I need to re-fabricate this piece!

But what's left behind looks very doable and a whole lot better already if you ask me.

 

[Screwdriver]

Had a crack at a template to make up the inner arch piece.

But its a lot trickier than it looks. There are multiple compound curves to deal with.

Clearly the arch has to follow the curve of the arch, but the back piece is also curved along its length. Added to that, the flare comes out from that compound curve at an angle of about 45 degrees. So I thought I could angle the back piece and weld on a long tab at a 45 degree angle. I did that by halving the curve (if it's dead straight it's at 90 degrees, if it's the same curve of course it's flat).

But it didn't really work, I doubt if I'd even get close. I considered the idea of repairing that piece (!) but I rather doubt if it's worth the effort. Instead, tomorrow I'll try just cutting a load of slits in the tab and bending them over twice iyswim.

It's all hidden behind the outer wheel arch and just acts as a bracket to hold it in place and I will smother it in PU40 to seal it up fully. Gonna need a fair bit of luck with it tbh.

S.

 

[Mark E]

I love this work.

 

[Screwdriver]

Meantime been busy making up the new patch. Cut out the tabs to allow for a slight bend in the piece and of course to bend over the tabs with the flypress.

Tacked up the joins before bending over the top half of the tabs.

Not too far off already.

Most important part is to maintain the curve. The tabs can be bent in/out to line up with the arch.

Drilled out for plug welds and zinc primer on the rear.

Tacked and tested

Seam welded and ground back.

Finally a coat of primer and a cup of coffee. I can see where it needs some slight adjustment to follow the curve but I am very happy with the result. You can see where I used the flypress to make gradual increments to the main curve on the piece.

S.

 

[Screwdriver]

Last few bits and bobs. Finally decided to chop the end off the sill and then cut the arch to match.

Bit fiddly to cut into the van at that point.

Then try to line up the other end. I think the piece was about 3mm too short but change the height or the level or the angle it sits on the van and the gaps change dramatically.

Chopped up my brand new wheel arch!

Then I nibbled away at it until it fitted. Seriously, I marked it out with the old piece and gave myself a good 5mm spare as a rough cut line. And it only just fitted!! Took ages to get it in like that, even then it's not as good a fit as I would have liked. Needed to get it done though.
Had a HUGE problem with the waxoyl melting and contaminating the weld. Completely forgot to clean it out and it was pouring all over the place during welding.

Once that was in, it was pretty easy to fit the sill, nibble it to fit.

And that's it. Pretty much done. Just the bottom forwards joint to weld, I'll do that tomorrow weather permitting. Then it gets a red oxide primer and off to the MOT man on Monday...

S.

 

[eternal optimist]

Looking good! Good luck with the MoT

 

[p0689109]

Top work again.

 

[vw1]

Love the work on making your own repair panels ..

 

[Screwdriver]

Now is not the time for cosmetic issues but I gave it a quick once over with a blob of filler.

Before protecting the new metalwork with primer.

There's also a thick bead of PU40 along the lower sill edge.

More PU40 along all the welds under the arches with some Halfords underseal to finish it off.

Took quite a while to reassemble. Tricky to find all the right fixtures and those bolt on wings were problematic to get straight. Plus there's another bead of PU40 under each wing which sort of glues them in place.

It is a handsome machine I think. I really like the look of these vans. Next step it to refit the engine bash plate, double check everything and book the MOT.

S.

 

[KimB]

Now is not the time for cosmetic issues but I gave it a quick once over with a blob of filler.

Before protecting the new metalwork with primer.

There's also a thick bead of PU40 along the lower sill edge.

More PU40 along all the welds under the arches with some Halfords underseal to finish it off.

Took quite a while to reassemble. Tricky to find all the right fixtures and those bolt on wings were problematic to get straight. Plus there's another bead of PU40 under each wing which sort of glues them in place.

It is a handsome machine I think. I really like the look of these vans. Next step it to refit the engine bash plate, double check everything and book the MOT.

S.

Well done excellent job you've made

 

[Wendelspanswick]

That last pic reminds me of me and my T4 driving through the floods we had here in Somerset a few years ago, the vent just above the bumper on the drivers side wing is the air intake and on a couple of occasions the water was so deep it was halfway up the vent!
Talk about squeaky bum time!

 

[Coo]

Great fabrication, good pics showing us how its done....

Like the simple ridge maker for the press

 

[HughF]

Filler onto bare steel with just rattle can primer over the top??? Get some epoxy on there or you'll be doing it again in a year.