heheh hes a strange one till you get to know him, I knew him through the monkeybike world before I even knew he was into the marinas, but ive always found him amicable, but thats just MY opinion.. anyways really do like the van a lot. You keeping it stock as its rare or are you going to give it some leyland style love with a o-series etc
- Thread starter rottie007
- Start date
yeah and tis getting worse as it tries to get better...
made some new panels at work for the cill areas, plan is to get cills and floors and the mani tub sound as I can before I hvae to change the front chassis rails as im dreading that bit..
il get some pics up sunday if the weathers any good and the sparky stick has been out
made some new panels at work for the cill areas, plan is to get cills and floors and the mani tub sound as I can before I hvae to change the front chassis rails as im dreading that bit..
il get some pics up sunday if the weathers any good and the sparky stick has been out
afternoon all, well this thread hasnt seen any action for a while, apologies for that, did sit and type a massive reply the other night but that seems to have disappeared somewhere (maybe I hit preview instead of post) so I will try again...
First job with the van was to get as much stripped out as was feasibly possible so as to prevent fires and damage to stuff that by now is probably unreplacable.
As you guys might remember I had the van looking like this after a clean (almost hard to believe how bad it is looking at that picture)
I set to work and started pulling the interior out, countless hidden brackets and screws and god knows what had to be found and undone, most of them not touched since the van was converted back when it was newish
amazingly only a couple of the screws refused to come undone and before long I had the van looking like this.
and the back of my poor 106 was getting to look very full
I then decided to get a proper idea of what I was letting myself into the wings had to come off to allow a decent assessment of the bulkhead (this is to be my starting point as this is where front and back come together and what will define the height of the chassis rails one day. The wings were held on by some "comedy" spot welds, they jumped at the chacne to escape the van though and were soon hiding behind it.
which left me with this mess.
Passenger side of scuttle/footwell area
Drivers side wasnt much better either
this WAS some structural filler lol
.
First job with the van was to get as much stripped out as was feasibly possible so as to prevent fires and damage to stuff that by now is probably unreplacable.
As you guys might remember I had the van looking like this after a clean (almost hard to believe how bad it is looking at that picture)
I set to work and started pulling the interior out, countless hidden brackets and screws and god knows what had to be found and undone, most of them not touched since the van was converted back when it was newish
amazingly only a couple of the screws refused to come undone and before long I had the van looking like this.
and the back of my poor 106 was getting to look very full
I then decided to get a proper idea of what I was letting myself into the wings had to come off to allow a decent assessment of the bulkhead (this is to be my starting point as this is where front and back come together and what will define the height of the chassis rails one day. The wings were held on by some "comedy" spot welds, they jumped at the chacne to escape the van though and were soon hiding behind it.
which left me with this mess.
Passenger side of scuttle/footwell area
Drivers side wasnt much better either
this WAS some structural filler lol
.
My good friend Paul had popped over and ebtween us we had whipped the engine and box out to empty the engine bay (just as well as the weight was causing the front to dip alarmingly. I had been reading about miracles of solutions that remove rust but the thought of the van going to SPL or something left me with visions of THIS returning
so I set about trying to lose some of the holes
I had folded up some repair sections at work using the pan folder and these were my first job to fit
first new metal in 12 years, bottom edge of flitch
top cut back to clean metal
and patched
front edge added on
my bottom patch that incorporated the curve up from teh floor will meet this one eventually so thats why this one didnt go all the way to the bottom,
I then made a hard decision, the drivers side was a lot worse and seeing as I had to re-use my inner wings I figured it would be easier to fix it as seperate panels so out came the spot weld drill again....
This....
rapidly became this (and believe me there was very little holding it on)
want to see what I found ??? really really???
ok, so what niceties did I find on removing the front end, well THIS
was my chassis rails, but ive got a replacement set of these from a donor vehicle so thats not too scary. What was scary was the "work" I found that had been done to where the subframe bolts in, now bear in mind this is a major structural part of one of these cars.
THIS WAS AS FOUND
I didnt fold this bit of metal in, all I did was flick a large lump of p38 out of it.
Of course the other side was no better
MMMM crispy
With that out of the way I started back onto the drivers side of the bulkhead.
Chop chop chop... (gettin to be fun now)
New steel going back in
then top
then front edge again
not entirely happy with this bit though so it might be coming off again as the profile is a bit naff
bit of protection for now as its getting too dark to work in evenings and am working weekends
did get back on the folder though and made some more bits
chassis rails !
Inner cills, will be trying to replace these in one piece in their entirety
also braced up the tub using a lot of inch box
thats it for now ! ! weathers getting warmer though so I plan to get cracking again real soon ! !
so I set about trying to lose some of the holes
I had folded up some repair sections at work using the pan folder and these were my first job to fit
first new metal in 12 years, bottom edge of flitch
top cut back to clean metal
and patched
front edge added on
my bottom patch that incorporated the curve up from teh floor will meet this one eventually so thats why this one didnt go all the way to the bottom,
I then made a hard decision, the drivers side was a lot worse and seeing as I had to re-use my inner wings I figured it would be easier to fix it as seperate panels so out came the spot weld drill again....
This....
rapidly became this (and believe me there was very little holding it on)
want to see what I found ??? really really???
ok, so what niceties did I find on removing the front end, well THIS
was my chassis rails, but ive got a replacement set of these from a donor vehicle so thats not too scary. What was scary was the "work" I found that had been done to where the subframe bolts in, now bear in mind this is a major structural part of one of these cars.
THIS WAS AS FOUND
I didnt fold this bit of metal in, all I did was flick a large lump of p38 out of it.
Of course the other side was no better
MMMM crispy
With that out of the way I started back onto the drivers side of the bulkhead.
Chop chop chop... (gettin to be fun now)
New steel going back in
then top
then front edge again
not entirely happy with this bit though so it might be coming off again as the profile is a bit naff
bit of protection for now as its getting too dark to work in evenings and am working weekends
did get back on the folder though and made some more bits
chassis rails !
Inner cills, will be trying to replace these in one piece in their entirety
also braced up the tub using a lot of inch box
thats it for now ! ! weathers getting warmer though so I plan to get cracking again real soon ! !
Mick - Ford Focus
Front Street Fixer
- Messages
- 541
rottie007
WOW
That's Some Work You Got There. Just Proves What Can Be Done To Keep Things Alive.
Makes Me More Determined To Learn To Weld On Car Tin So It Never Gets That Bad On Mr Car.
Good Luck And Keep Us Updated With Your Progress.
Mick
WOW
That's Some Work You Got There. Just Proves What Can Be Done To Keep Things Alive.Makes Me More Determined To Learn To Weld On Car Tin So It Never Gets That Bad On Mr Car.
Good Luck And Keep Us Updated With Your Progress.
Mick
Mick - Ford Focus
Front Street Fixer
- Messages
- 541
Having Read Through All the Thread v5 And SORN Is A Result - Well Done You.
Mick
Mick
metalspanner
Member
- Messages
- 316
You have understanding natives down your way I only have to get a spanner out fo the car and they are ringing the housing association and council, god your SOOOOO lucky.
metalspanner
Member
- Messages
- 316
ps, you have taken on a challenge there, but you have it sorted though, nice to see old relics getting done. nice one.
Just been reading through your thread.I reckon you're a hero.I've seen some rusty cars in my time but nothing that bad. Vauxhall & bedford had a real bad reputation for rust in the 60s,justly deserved too.The HA was the first model that they attempted to put that right on.(seems they failed). Youre restoration is coming on well by the look of it.Keep up the good work! You should end up with a rare vehicle.
Randall977
Member
- Messages
- 197
- Location
- Oxfordshire
Inspirational work - well done, makes me feel a bit better about the one I'm doing...
Randall... I remember reading the story of that beauty in practical classics, also nice to hear your getting on with it, cant wait to see some pics..
as to rarity factor the dormobile owners club have only 1 other DL Roma on their books and it is NEVER going to be back on the road so in effect Bert could be the only one... my other motor is also one of 2 in the UK.. christ I do know how to pick em lol
as to rarity factor the dormobile owners club have only 1 other DL Roma on their books and it is NEVER going to be back on the road so in effect Bert could be the only one... my other motor is also one of 2 in the UK.. christ I do know how to pick em lol
KemppiFrog
Member
- Messages
- 4,262
- Location
- Aquitaine
Brave man Rottie.
The old man bought a new Bedford HA van when they were new in 65(?) as a business runabout. I was learning to drive at the time and remember it as having light steering and a nice gearchange. We kept it for several years, then sold it to a friend. He used it for even more. Odd bit. It was delivered reversed polarity. We only found out when we tried to jump-start a genset. The battery blew its caps out and the guy with the clamps had to wash his eyes out.
Oh, and when was the last time when a car/van had the heater as an EXTRA?
The early mini vans were the other. Still at £250 new, they had to save somewhere....
KF
Also remember it had a slightly odd rear suspension set up. The axle had some sort of hinge connection to the springs. Seemed to work fine, but left one with a feeling of 'walking on egg shells' not sure of the limits of grip.
The old man bought a new Bedford HA van when they were new in 65(?) as a business runabout. I was learning to drive at the time and remember it as having light steering and a nice gearchange. We kept it for several years, then sold it to a friend. He used it for even more. Odd bit. It was delivered reversed polarity. We only found out when we tried to jump-start a genset. The battery blew its caps out and the guy with the clamps had to wash his eyes out.
Oh, and when was the last time when a car/van had the heater as an EXTRA?
The early mini vans were the other. Still at £250 new, they had to save somewhere....
KF
Also remember it had a slightly odd rear suspension set up. The axle had some sort of hinge connection to the springs. Seemed to work fine, but left one with a feeling of 'walking on egg shells' not sure of the limits of grip.
rtbcomp
Moderator
- Messages
- 18,574
- Location
- Sheffield UK
Sounds like a "Torque Tube" setup. Has it got leaf springs with swinging shackles in the front & rear eyes, rather than swinging in the rear eye and fixed at the front?
The early post-war Rileys had this setup, the front end of the torque tube (a long extension of the diff. nose) was connected to the chassis about 2ft behind the gearbox with rubber bushes.
The early post-war Rileys had this setup, the front end of the torque tube (a long extension of the diff. nose) was connected to the chassis about 2ft behind the gearbox with rubber bushes.
