Andy Tats Hinklevagon

[Plasticman]

And sod you, I wont do no jack test, you can do it when you get a flat and the vans all nice and shiny,,, creak creak crack CRUNCH
m

[toolsntat]

Did have the long thread inside a vw jack snap clean through once but luckily it remained "captive"
Luckily I had 2 jacks
Guess which jacking point lifted both front and back enough to get it out

Andy

[Plasticman]

Well an entertaing day it was, I passed most of my mot at the doc's.
Now Its funny what you find in folks houses and cars, on removing the pass seat from the hinkle , this/these were discovered

now is it masonic, closet gardening , I darent ask
It was reported that there might be a touch of light rust on the drivers floor so had a better look

and from under

on the face of it not dire but as is the case I find ,' 1 thing leads to another' so

and the step got worse too, if your planning doing your step then dont forget to remove throttle cable inner and outer as it passes right by the hot bit!!

De spotted the area around the arch and step so it will look nice when done and made a new bit of floor out of decent guage steel, stepped the edge and set it in fron the underside and the arch area as per original, this from underneath prior to welding

this the top lot welded,there was a depression in the old bit, I contemplated putting this back in but it would serve no purpose and also it would be liable to collect water and start all over again, I welded the holes up in the step (as requested) and have also made the step to slope to the outer rear to aid water draining.

Need to grind it up to tidy it and hammer it up to make it clean on the edges, will treat it and seam sealer the joins first and second coat the whole lot.
Step got gassed as I retained the original outer and wanted to have a clean seam and at the same time add a little extra metal.

One slight problem, my dearest small makita grinder died the death, beateb by a Hinkle so to speak , ah well it was good for 20 + years of abuse dragged round the shop , one good reason to buy quality for something that gets lots of use.
mike

[toolsntat]

Yikes!!, you've found the the "cow pat removal from under the display awning" disposal tool and alas there is nowt sinister about me cab sweeping out brush Did you look in the bubble wrap (short piece of greasy broom stick)? To stop slider opening fully by inserting in bottom track when awning attached
You said most of you passed your mot Hope the rest ain't too serious

You made that floor/step job look easy. Well done thanks

One slight problem, my dearest small makita grinder died the death, beaten by a Hinkle so to speak , ah well it was good for 20 + years of abuse dragged round the shop , one good reason to buy quality for something that gets lots of use.

Ooooops Hope you gave it a decent burial after all those years of abuse and dedicated service

Cheers Mike

Andy

[Plasticman]

Burial be dammed, just put new bearings in it,£6 !and brushes, its the switch and I will get a new bit and keep it with say a cutting disc on saves changing,
Throw away, more coin then sense you midlanders
mike

[Plasticman]

Well contrary to earlier looks and how one thing always leads to another I decided that the ns seatbelt anchor was suspect, so cut it out


welded the original nut to some 2mm plate and back on the underside with a few puddle welds and seaming the top

quick gind over and done.
ns front arches are out of stock till end of the week (at least from my supplier) also only the bottom was gone so not worth ripping it off so cut the lower bit off

there was a very small hole in the side of the B post,so let a piece in and welded up, this edge also forms part of the visisble seam so had to be flush etc

just a gentle touch with the grinder , made a new wing bottom out of same guage steel as original

gassed this in, the seam at the rear where it buts up to the upper part and B post I brazed the rest of the rear lip spotted to the B post, the very bottom brazed so its not stood proud,

rear all treated and a very liberal coat of seam sealer brushed on
Mike

[Plasticman]

Well had a joyous morning, finnished of the repairs to the front and set about refitting the petrol tank, replaced a couple of breather pipes as these had perished well not perished as much as gone hard and horrible, then refitted spare carrier and reconnected the throttle cable.

jacked the rear up and stuck it on stands to attent to the minor blemishes on the rear arches, well one thing led to another again and decided to cut the bottom of the nsr wing to get access to this

and of course this

poke about enough and rot will be found, not that bad but just about the same amount of work to get at it, heres closer showing the bottom of pillar and the rear of slider track

will have to remake this lot as cant leave it open to the world and the rubber needs someplace to affix to
chopped out so will make up some pieces and weld it up in the morning,this pick is the inside view which was covered with a big dollop of vw sealant,,

Beer and feet up now
mike

[toolsntat]

Crikey Mikey, that's where that hammer I lost went to then

Well done for getting in to the rot there as this was the bit the MOTer picked up on and could have been far worse due to the carpet and base ply in that area rotting out from under the internal water tank ....
Mind you the 3 or 4 clothes pegs and dusters that I found in the void hadn't helped

Enjoy that beer

[Plasticman]

No doubt the other side will be the same, good fun innit, on another thread somewhere it was stated that the lower rear wings can be sorted in a day for £100
If goes to show that whilst much of your van is very good and many of the seams are as good as you will find but the rot is nearly always there in the usual places.
So looking forward to a productive day.
mike

[Plasticman]

Well decent progress today,set about making up the bottom of the pillar, not much room for leeway as part is shown and the bit that isnt has to support the rear wing

Hole drilled to refit the stop rubber shown.

Made new lips to hold the door seal and let in a piece of 2mm at the rear which is part of the suspension mount and jackpoint, quick grind off,treat and paint


The lower front of the rear wing is good appart from the very bottom, better to repair this and refit than weld in an inferior pattern bit, cut the lower fold of where it welds to the inner sill , shaped up a new bit and seam welded it on

Now when I say one thing leads to another and as painter jim rightly says keep hitting it till no more rot is found! well we now have the engine bay side floor and associated area well shot


I was going to repair the arch but on closer inspection it is just too bad, well more to the point I dont think it will last long enough so having to resort to fitting a pattern one tommorow.
mike

[Plasticman]

Well the plot thickened today, poke about with a sharp stick at your peril, I poked and found!

Usual place , important as well as it gives loads of support to the rear of chassis leg/upper shock mount etc, any how cut a bit out and will let in a nice piece of decent steel

Rear inner arch etc horrid so chopped it all out, removed the lower rear 1/4 panal as in the way and also a bit suspect, halfpence of tar and all that

it had been repaired badly before so no great loss to the world.
the seam was really good externally, and I mean really good but on removing the lower wing this was behind

and

All we can ever do is sandblast dig cut whatever and treat as best we can but short of splitting the seams it will never cure it, salutary thought.
mike

[kevtherev]

Another spellbinding rebuild post mike

thanks for recording it

[toolsntat]

Eeeeek!!!! and hide

Andy

[Plasticman]

There's no bliddy hiding place left
Kev, not forgotten will pm you later tonight
Mike

[kevtherev]

No rush mike, no rush at all.