Kevtherevagon

[kevtherev]

mikew was showing us the use of the sealant/glue elswhere .. like here on the rear wing, suggesting the repairs were all done together perhaps?

[1664]

Yes that's where I thought the pictures were of, which is why I couldn't see the roof relevance. Easily confused y'see. Why does this suggest the roof is second hand as we've already discovered the rear wing was replaced at some point? Are we saying this has had Autosleeper top and furniture retro fitted into a van by others?

[billybigspud]

the roofs off another van as there are signs of previouse riviting and I doubt any converter would bodge one down in this miserable way.

[kevtherev]

indeed billy
the roof could have been totalled and a second hand one fitted. As they are bespoke fitted that's why the rivet holes don't match
I'm going to trawl the book of of history that came with the van to see if this shows up

[Martin]

Then what did the front bed board or whatever you would call it rest on or wasnt this there. aqlso the white sealant in the front of the ht is also over the carpet so definate afterthought on s/h top
mm

in the front of the roof it had 4 blocks glued to the board,
at the back under bed was fixed to what was left of the roof metal.

[Plasticman]

Well thats a revelation Martin, must have been a friday conversion...
1664, , I do digress I suppose but as Kev says its me trying to pin down what and why, it tells me a lot about a van and helps in making it right again, In my real life it is critical to do this and its a habit I carry on with this work.

So the van. Well we'll start with the roof, the regular rust patches on the N/side are the result of dormant rivits from its previous fitmment being left in place and rubbing on the metalwork as the top was never secured correctly and allowing movement and rain to get in, these pickies show the outline of the rivit

and below this the rust hole

note sealant doing nothing, I also no that when this roof was removed from the previous van the rivits were chiseled off from inside as you can see this from the cut remains still affixed, aslo scrape /cut marks on the inside of the h top .
not many at all on the O/S.
well there were so many nasty rotten bits and holes in the front of the roof and whilst it doesnt have to be 100% cosmeticaly correct there is the matter of the of the 1/2" that is seen and also there is rot where the screen rubber sits so if this isnt a perfect profile then its asking for trouble and water ingress which will then find its way donw and then we start all over again.
long and short of it is well its shortened

one hole from previous rivit

and lots more holes,
I have the spots to drill out and make good this front lip then cut the rear line straight and swage it . got a big hole here so could use exp foam and silicone, ah that didnt work before so did a 50 miles round trip to the v.a.g. roof shop, kev, this is your donor

good innit
But this bit is 100% mint perfect

so will remove,derivit etc and fit this to yours, I have done the cut in the van roof further back than needed as it is now in an area that affords good access with grips, if it was a tintop van then it would have been done different again.
Im running out of page so will start again.

[Plasticman]

Well pg2
A stupid thing but worth thinking about, I tape the heater vents over before doing anything near the dash area as it would be typical to loose stuff down there....

nsr wing cut off, was an original wing complete with inner arch, very nice but I think unobtainable, anyhow this was fitted to what was there and not much other effort put in , the hole in the loadbed near the arch is a bit of badly mig'd sheet that has rotted.
this will need cutting out

from other side

C post lower just going a touch, but jp looks ok

this shows renewed arch etc not welded to the rear 1/4. lazy as its not that hard to get to it.

and lower down

now we go back to whats happened, I hold that it has had a bit of a bump of some sort, I would also think the slider has been changed and the nsr wing certainly for accident damage rather than rot, this show the brazing repair to the C post, not easy to see in a picky but its well creased

same white sealant as roof, so maybe had a bit of non structural damage been maybe bought, . slider and wing replaced for starters and the same folk did work to the hitop , so ??
and lastly all good things come to an end, O/S sill top

think thats about it for now.
mm

[jed the spread]

This is the best thread on the internet

jed

[Martin]

i think your right jed!

just shows how ruff a tidy looking motor can be,
i've seen it b4 when pullin apart old cars and van for restro. all the bodges that other people have done
filler sealent and paint cover up all sorts of grott. you never really know.

[kevtherev]

just shows how ruff a tidy looking motor can be,

So you CAN polish a turd..
Utterly fascinating.. I agree too Jed

and the donor, what luck the roof was in tact and mint!

50 miles round trip to the v.a.g. roof shop

Thanks mike.

[lloydy]

Amazing stuff!
Mike, will Have to Change your name to Gil Grissom. Suits you beter
It's certainly amazing how much rot can be hidden away.
Kev, do you reckon the garage you bought it from might have done the work?

[kevtherev]

I don't know lloyd.
I will say this... We've had the van nearly 8 years now, when I saw it on the forcourt it was advertised at £6000, I offered £5000 cash and he took it..
The van was in a state I was expecting, with a few dings and the odd stone chip scab and a little seam rash here and there. But on the whole a solid working van with no sign of a respray , that was plug and play from the off
Since that day Carol has never had an advisory, or a failure.

So I can say that the showroom I bought it from was not responsible as the repaired area that Mike has uncovered had stone chip scabs and a tiny touch of rash
I am still trawling the vast book of history for some clues.

I can see that this was done (badly) in it's recent past.

[Silky]

If a van like Kev's is hiding all of this lot, I dread to think what's behind the shiny exterior of many lesser vans...

Silky

[kevtherev]

lesser van

..that implies mine is better than other vans, which it clearly isn't
Someone has took the trouble to repair it, but the repair was shoddy and whether it was knowingly asked for, I guess we'll never know Christine.

[Plasticman]

Well busy day running round and such, removed the rear bed base as it will hinder work in days to come, what a reacvh to this row of screws at the rear

anyhow spotwelds removed with the right size bit so just a wipe over with the flexidisc,you can use an ordinary drillbit ,but you will most likely drill right through and then have a hole to either fill or as luck would have it, it would line up with a hole in the donor part and you are going to have a void to fill

on the donor part I used a conventional drill as I want smaller holes right through and see no need to wear out costly de-rivit bits

the corners have again been brazed at manufacture,which is the proper way and nice to see, you will note that they have gone to a fair bit of trouble to ensure the area you cant see is perfect and seamless. this has to be to do with maintaining a good seal with the screen rubber

we or I can confirm that the slider is the original one and has had some accident repair, there are a few waves in the filler but the bottom is sound, here is where theyve had a bar and such in

and to confirm the same folks work we have the same sealnt/adhesive

the black lines are Kevs black paint running down.....
more later I have to go out.lol
mm