Second attempt on my van.....

[smoggyrich]

i hope you have somebody fire watching the inside for you too many bits to set fire to on a camper your welding is a lot better than when you first started on the front end
that's one of the problems with the lifting top it traps water also never put the roof away wet if you can avoid
i would renew the edge seal on the roof too that's the only bit that stops the rain etc getting in
looking good have you got to do the whole side or is it just the front end that's bad

I have been working alone so I've been working with a fire extinguisher handy at all times.

I have a new seal to go on and new hinges (stainless).

It's bad the whole length of the hinge side of the roof.

I know what you mean about the roof being a water trap. It's required attention for a few years. Wish I hadn't left it so long but it gives me something to keep me out of trouble!!!

 

[smoggyrich]

First panel fully welded in. Quite pleased at how straight I managed to keep it.....

 

[zardoz]

Nice job mate. i like those little clamps are they home made ?

 

[Flapdisk]

Yes I noticed them and wondered where you got them? Good job on the van mate, keep going, these jobs always turn out to take longer than expected, are you painting the underside of those panels before fitting them with weld through primer or something?

 

[smoggyrich]

Cheers fellas.

The little clamps are actually pipe clamps that we use at work. You see them used to fix pipe work to girders.

I've been painting the back of the panels with zinc primer.

I might get a few hours on it tomorrow so I'll update how I get on.

 

[Flapdisk]

Excellent, well done mate, keep the pictures coming. I can't work on my car at the moment as I had an op on my shoulder and following you guys keeps me motivated

 

[katbloke]

Brilliant work another inspirational thread annoyingly

 

[smoggyrich]

A little update...

Starting on the next section.

This area is going to need a bit more patching in as the rust has spread a bit further up, past where my repair panel will cover...



But firstly I needed to patch up the internal area shown here...



The 2 holes on the left are where the rivets for the roof hinge go through. the cavity underneath was a bit pitted so I ground back as best as I could and treated it with some rust converter and zinc primer. This whole area needed to come out...









Tacked in...



Welded...





Finished...

 

[Flapdisk]

Good work mate, thattle hold it

 

[smoggyrich]

More progress

Next job is to fill in the gap with a couple of patches.

Got some new steel and joggled the edge with my homemade Joggler/Flanger.....




Clamped in then tacked and welded...








Trimmed to correct length...





Gutter repair panel offered in and began welding...










And then bad light stopped play. I must get my self an inspection lamp or something rigged up in my shelter so I can carry on a bit later.

 

[marlinspike]

Are you using the thin metal technique on that run? ie. lots of small tack welds. It actually looks like a run, but if so how do you manage without blowing through or heat warping the metal? Super neat whichever it is.

 

[smoggyrich]

Are you using the thin metal technique on that run? ie. lots of small tack welds. It actually looks like a run, but if so how do you manage without blowing through or heat warping the metal? Super neat whichever it is.

Thanks for your comment.

I'm using the thin metal technique just trying to do five or six tacks in a row overlapping by about a half and trying to get one tack to melt into the previous tack.

 

[smoggyrich]

fully welded in...

Second repair panel fully welded in...








Then I started cutting out rust for the next section. I've cleaned up all the internal area with a flap disc and treated it with rust convertor...




There is a couple of holes in this internal section so I will need to patch up one or two areas with repair patches.




And then I could hear the pub in the distance calling my name....

 

[smoggyrich]

Patch cut to size...



Welded in...





Fill-in patches for above repair panel...



Cut to correct size then strip welded underneath to allow repair section to weld up to...



Repair panel welded in.





The side sections now fully welded in...

 

[smoggyrich]

And then for my next trick I will attempt to fashion a corner section out of this donor roof cut....



The gutter is rotten so I will need to try and graft a corner repair section to the roof cut.

 

[smoggyrich]

Had a go at fabbing up a section for the front part. I think it should be ok....

 

[smoggyrich]

Then I had a go at patching the rear corner.












Needs tidying up a bit but should be ok.

 

[keith19]

That looks quite neat, Smoggy. You need a nice light touch for that. I've seen blokes blow great holes in jobs like that, because they didn't take the care and the time.

 

[smoggyrich]

I've been flattening down the spot welds along the gutter.

What a pain in the **** that was




Then I've gave the whole lot a coat of Zinc primer to protect it until I get chance to finish off...





The rear corner still needs some work but it's getting there...

 

[timbaker]

I've lurking on here for a while, and I have to say this thread has given me so much motivation for my project (the reason I have been lurking). Great work smoggyrich