Replacing inner sills

[fidget]

Had a spare hour so thought id add some bling to me doors.

Over the years the door cards and inner skin have been hacked about , so to try and cover some of this up and to get a solid mount for some speakers I knocked these up . Also these push the speakers out as the door check mechanism is behind the hole so actually fitting speakers without destroying them first time the door shut is now a possibility



I also made up a 3 mm thick ring that mounts in the door. I drilled and taped some m6 holes in the ali spacer, put some m6 studding in em.

It was a bit hit and miss finding some metal left to drill into but once the ring inside the door was tightened up its nice and solid. I just put the grills on to see what it looks like. Pleased with the results even if i do say so me self





James

[Plasticman]

Bu**er it shows the rest up
nice bling, get them anodised now, he he
mike

[fidget]

your not wrong there mike might have to tone them down abit .

By the time I get me van back on the road they will have tarnished nicely

James

[dugcati]

TURN THAT STEREO DOWN - SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP UP HERE IN DERBY!

[fidget]

Hi all,

slow progress again !!

Spent all last saturday getting the rearwing/short sill into something that resembles a fit, I shortened it and welded on a new flange so i could keep the seam line.

After some trial fitting I decided to join the new bit of rear arch and wing bit first then weld it in place, seemed the easiest way

first up heres the hole



heres the two panels welded together



it was a nice good fit so got it welded in





one for metalmickey



before you say it mike yes the were to close

the end of the days work



Although it was sunny in the south east today was struggling with the wind so had a couple of mishaps, probably not the best way to join the top of the panel to the existing panel . But its not called a learning curve for nowt, managed to get minimul distortion so am happy , just a skim of filler.

James

[Plasticman]

Did they melt a bit buggers work well dont they.
Theres nothing wrong with the way yopuve done it, makes sense to do the join first in this instance, and as you have a nice solid bit of inner wing then nothing nicer nor easier then a good puddle weld., keeping the join under the swage is the way to go, you could have used a few 'fasteners ' here as well to hold stuff together.
Bet youd never have thought you would get so far and so well when you started, bus is looking the part.
mike

[fidget]

Youre not wrong there mike , Its a good feeling to know the end is in site

To be honest I didnt need to use any fastners along the top of the panel , It was such a good fit it sat in place with no gaps what so ever. On one hand its good but being obsessive about fits is taking me twice as long to do things .

So as I get get me hands on a 10mm bar of ali Ill knock up some new bushes for the fastners cant find any knocking about.

I had a go at another pair of rolls this morning at work still not right Ill pm you a picture later for your views as I did em different this time just need to know if they will work .

James

[fidget]

It doesnt look to hard a job

Just re-read me first post in this thread

James

[mm289]

Coming along nicely mate - long way from where you started eh

Did you joggle/lap the top of that last panel or butt weld?

MM

[fidget]

mm

I drilled the original panel, and puddle welded that to the new one which I also joggled and welded along that seam if that makes sense. Not up on me terminology.

Im not to happy with the gap thats left between the two panels and might run another bead of weld along them as I think thats got to be better than ppiling in the filler??

James

[Plasticman]

James, youve puddle welded through which is fine, the gap is not a gap between the panals but more a reccess, just do a few short tacks along the bottom edge, you will not get any flexing as its welded all around, its not going anywhere, its not a problem with water/weather as its to the inside so use some davids p40 which works nicely and fills well and is better than the p38.
have youygot a pot of brushable seam sealer? if not get some and apply this to all the welds/joins inside.
mike
lots happened since the 24 nov

[fidget]

Got to get some seam sealer as me old tube has dryed out. I had a brand new can of weld thro primer fall over today. Pierced it self on god nows what . Whole can wasted

Heres another question whish Im sure has been done to death, what can I use to replace the underseal/soundproofing stuff that vw used?

James

[Plasticman]

something like this is good
http://www.qpaints.co.uk/brushable-seam-sealer-1kg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
you want the ones that dont leave strings trails as the brush comes out the tin, if you want to be neat then tape either side of the weld and then brush it on and leave it to part cure and remaove the tape, looks rreal good, brush larger areas as vw did ( well they sprayed it but we aint got th e money for that....)
mike

[fidget]

Well another day and more rust and holes. , this from the ouside was rust along the seam at the back of the filler hole. After the bit of arch has gone Ive got this



Rain has stopped play for now not sure to do with this one , thinking maybe a body cut from another van might be the way to go.

open to suggestions

James

suns come out again so back to it

[fidget]

Well despite the weathers best efforts I managed to get something done

B-post repair panel trimmed to fit



It looks nice when it turns up in the post but thats as a close a fit as it gets, had to flatten out the bottom flange and move the fold up 4mm to get a good fit.

Jacking point strengthing plate drilled and folded to fit



welded in



Lots of heaving , swearing , hammering , and trolley jack and blokes of wood the jacking is point is all welded solid



Needs a bit more tiding up once the outer panel is in place but seems solid, Jacked the van up on the jacking point a couple of times and there were no scary incidents so another job is done. Finished off welding the front crossmember around the back of the jacking point in place so thats another job ticked off the list.

Im guessing its going to be better to sort the hole and rust at the arch/b-post section before I close off the base of the b-post

beer time

James