Offside sill

[pmulcahy]

I managed to order the sill from classic vw. Its on its way , ive had a few probs getting it here cos its 1.7m long! which is great cos the more the better. Schofields are gonna make me a b pillar lower part for 30 Quid.

[Cruz]

Thank god I decided to source them now , VW part # 252-809-294 theouter sill and floor panel bit , VW comercial had one in stock in the UK and as said earlier now obsolete , they said as it is only one left

So I now have the last part of this available ( so VW say ?) Should I take it to China ( along with other obsolete panels )and get some quality ones made ? Well If I win the lottery I'll make and supply free of charge to any 80-90 er

TBH this part is not a complicated item and I'm sure Shcofields could whack one up in no time if they could be arsed.

Maybe one day when more and more people ditch their rotting tin foil bays

[AngeloEvs]

Do panel vans suffer this level of rust attack on the O/S, or is it mostly campers because of the fridge and vents?

[Cruz]

I reckon it's due to the amount of condensation whilst camping i.e, cooking when it's cold outside, condensation from fridge getting warm and maybe overflow water from fridge icebox.

Either way after 25 years it's takes it's toll. Especially thanks to the handy (porous) insulation some converters used

[AngeloEvs]

Just repaired mine and after a wet night found water in the area that is prone to corrosion. The lower vent has been permenently blocked off and I was a bit mystified as to the source. I removed the cosmetic panel (seen in the picture) as it is only pop rivetted so that I could check the window seal but found that the design of the sliding window frame was the problem. The sliding window has a plate on the lower inner edge which isn't bonded at the ends and leaks water whenever it rains. Any window condensation will also run along this channel and onto the floor. Hopefully the application of bonding sealer at each corner of the frame should cure the problem as will the extra drain hole in the frame to help water escape............to the outside!

E D I T: It peed down today and no more water leaking from the frame..........

[CovKid]

Scratching my head on this on AngeloEVS. I've got gaping holes in the floor down there, and the side panel and whats left of the sill is becoming detached. Did you have to make up pieces? No fridge in mine (nor has there ever been) but I think the source of water ingress you have identified correctly - that and that side being more exposed to salt/grit spray etc.

[dugcati]

true and daft as it sounds the camber of the UK roads means that moisture/water will sit in the joints on that side and capillary along them...

[CovKid]

Ok, looks like I'll have to do this. Schofield very helpful and says sill has generous extra steel up to next rib. Hadrians Panels are nearest me (don't have a credit card) but no idea how big theirs is. Anyone bought a sill from them? If it stops at the sill line it won't be much good to me

[AngeloEvs]

I fabricated the panels/section so nothing special bought other than mild steel sheet and galvanised right angle sections. You can see from the pics that the corrosion was pretty much what others have found. My Sill was largely intact except for a short section of the sill seam that needed removing and right angle sections were used to replace it. I had to cut back to the floor ribs and used a section of right angle to create a new load supporting cross member (picture below) which allowed me to attack the repair in two stages, from mid point of cross member to sill and then from crossmember to floor. You can see in the final picture that I punched holes in the sections before welding them to enable Tereton Terotex (which is far superior to waxoil) to be injected (needs to be injected with a compressor though). This was also repeated from under the sills using drain holes in the sill section.

[CovKid]

Ok this is what I've got. In the last pic, the uppermost gap is the void between sill and side panel. If van was outside you'd be seeing daylight through it!

[CovKid]

[dugcati]

providing the sill underneath is OK I'd say that can be patched up

[AngeloEvs]

Same as Dugcati, I would probably cut the 'seam' out completely and see how far the corrosion has eaten into the lowerr sill panel and upper bodypanel. If its mainly either sdide of the seam you could fabricate a seam section using two lengths of right angle sections, adjust the angles to suit the sill and upper panel and stitch it in. You would have a flange then onto which you can add the floor sections. Without that flange your stuffed otherwise.........

[CovKid]

Good thinking. It was the lack of a ledge that worried me but now you've described it, it seems dooable. Guess I'll have to do loads of tack welds to keep everything straight first. Its getting in to do that floor that'll be harder with less cut away. Angle grinder I guess, or temporarily remove that piece of angle on the floor to give me more room.

[AngeloEvs]

Chop it out, its in the way, grind though the spot welds afterwards to get the rest off. Use right angle section again after its all done or use a section like I did and invert it to provide a flat surface on which to weld yet maintain the structaral rigidity. I do most of the cutting with a mini grinder (3 inch cutting wheel or may be less) as it has a finer cut and allows you to remove very small sections away, better control too. I think Stanley do them but mine is a Rotozip. I would puddle weld it from the inside and then again on the outside, A joggler/hole punch is ideal for these repairs. Gasless welder fine too for 'puddling'.....