Ajitvagon

[Plasticman]

Well, onwards with something i have atleast a bit of a clue, computers , evil they are
so in this small corner i start by adding a small plate butt welded to make up the floor as original , all else will be worked back from this

this was my moment of sillines as i also re-gas welded it through the rear light aperature for fun, see below, not the neatest but
then the next part is the vertical bit, this finishes here on the original so i have choosen to remake it the same

and now from the arch side ready for spotting through, the original seam continues along from this

ikewise this is how vw do it so may as well follow, its very important to make it correctly and align it with the other component parts.all will become clear,, maybe

here it is resting in place,

this is now tacked/spotted as original , its still raw and i will run a disc over it

and from the inside

now i have held the lower 1/4 in place and you can see how it fits against the new part, it must NOT sit on top of it as is often the case as it will result in a large unsightly seam gap, also in the future if someone has to replace it, then it will be easier to do and be a better job

rear arch holding itself in place, its had a bit of work and the upper left corner needs defining more but its nearly there

rear is near enough ready now

seam gap on rest or arch is passable now but will tighten up a bit prior to welding

this is the inside of the front of the arch showing the new metal tucked behind the remnant that has been blasted, simple respotting and its done

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[DustyBiscuit]

Mike, this is looking great! It's really exciting seeing what and how you're doing. Still feels a bit weird that these pictures are of our bus... A good sort of weird though

[kevtherev]

here we go again..now that's what I'm talking about



your so modest Mike .... second bag of popcorn started.

[Plasticman]

well how else am i supposed to do it,( this one int too bad , at least i didnt cut the bottom of the 1/4 panal of for access like on yours though that was well rotten as i been asked if its neccesary to do this ,hopefully this shows that you can get at it if you do it thisway .. i suppose ? )stick a big bit of plate over the lot then try to mate the lower bit to it and find it wont fit as i want cos some lazy numpty dagged a bit in then also wonder why the arch dont quite line up cos the aforesaid panal is 3mm too low , every thing is compounded so the way i do it is in my opinion the easy way
having a couple of days off as we have an extention to build by the weekend so several hundred blocks and a load of bricks to handball at 06.00
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[Mickyfin]

Awesome fabrication work Mickey mate as usual, well impressed.

Good luck with your house extension too.

[Plasticman]

Well had a bit of stuff to attend to so been away anyhow, finnished fitting the rear arch, its now fully secured to the rest of the van..
the gapping is quite nice and i will beforcing/spraying "product" into the void and it will with luck come right though to the inside

manged to allign the swage and the rest is about there,the inner lip of the arch will require reforming as its not spot on but thats a relativly simple matter and I will post a pick of before and after when i do it .
will replace this pick with a better focussed one anyhow the rear lower panal has gone on a treat

onto the sill. made a new lower lip piece from 1.4mm so about the same as the original and will be very nice to weld to , ,I turned a very small fold olong the lower part, just about 3mm which will look like original when the outer sill is sat in place, yes there are a few grips fitted, the more the merrier, saves stopping to add/move a pair

then i had a really enjoyable 10 minutes gassing it,

wont need to grind it as its not seen nor is it too intrusive,. from the underside you cant tell which is how i like it

now a little relieving at each end and then fit the lower outer sill
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[DustyBiscuit]

Mike, this is looking ace! I'm getting wriggly with excitement every time there're new piccies up Hope your extension went well!

[Plasticman]

it did extend nicely thankyou.
sent ange a longish pm
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[Plasticman]

Well back from a few days round the bottom of the lakes , well really eating our way round, if anyone wants the detail.....
so decided to sort out the alternator bracket first. removed it which was easy as it wern't held on.

left hand bolt had sheared and the front one was too short and had stripped and was missing.
the bracket you can see the shiny area where the left hand bolt had been securing it ,then worked loose, the rht hand one was oily and hence no bolt fitted

what is really sad is this van had very recently had a new waterpump,,new bottom steel coolant pipe plus fan belt and loads of water hoses, all very nice , but why did they then bodge the alternator on ?
migged the sunken stud and withdrew it

then tapped them both out .luckily the rht hand one had too short a bolt fitted so only the first few threads were iffy.

here its all secured back on, i have used studloc on the mounting brkt as this needs to stay put,
the bolt holding the stay bar and adjusting arm was also very short and only hanging on by 2 threads

so i tapped it out and wound a nice long stud in and same agfain dab of loctite

happy with it now
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[Plasticman]

well sorted tyhe ns arch this aft, off the normal way and then hit with the first gritblast

tiny little hole on an otherwise good rear on this side
even the usual inner here is good


this is all that I fit when doing them this way

needs trimming and some work yet, if the inner is gone then i prefere to remake in good steel rather than this stuff, unless of course factory arches are going on
now in the past some well meaning fool decided to fit a lap belt in the rear

just a bolt through the floor without so much as a by your leave

itys a repeat of the other side so i havent posted up all the picks as it gets mundane and theres nothing different with it
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[Plasticman]

well reblasted the ns arch after sanding off some carp, the grit has gone right to the inside (i taped it off ) then weld through

arch is now sat in place with no fixings and alignment is good so happy to weld it

this may show it better, its a schofield panal and seems a reasonable pressing

i take these always on this area as its easier to picture but if you want to split hairs then i can take them further round but its the same principle

now welded at the rear and whilst still warm have blasted some "product" into the seam, its come right through and no doubt helped by the encouragemennt of a windy gun, appearance is not importannt, i just want it coating inside
have now got acceptable seams, so as this goes to paint stage these will be further treated and seamed etc and we should have nice crisp well defined lines

kitchen side window frame was iffy so cut it out and added a 30" strip. this time i have migged it on the inside for a change

gone for a bit of overkill on the weld but i wanted full ppenetration to the outside like this

so i could just run a lanishing pad over it and it will be right

then on the inside a quick run over with a flap disc and its there

happy so far will prob wiz in the lower fridge panal and sill then its just leaves the front arches and front panaal
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[Plasticman]

site is haveing trouble determining the size of the images !! tried twice to do those 2, will have a go later when someone here has fed the meter.
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I done nothing and the picks are there.

[DustyBiscuit]

This is brilliant the window looks great! So nice to see it without all the rot as it was well and truly chewed. Any idea when it's going to be at ready to paint stage? I'm not pushing... I'm just excited!

[Plasticman]

Well
nsf arch

yes probably a lot easier to get an aftermarket monkey metal one but.... ive run out of cuts so the long way it is

thats sort of done it, committed now
looks a simple part but it does have a gentle curve which adds to the fun

i cheat as ive had rollers made so I can do the swage but its not a problem on short lengths just not so easy on longer runs

now tacked in position

this shows the gap I try to keep to ,so allowing for expansion and less warpage, though not such a problem on this area as its bounded by folds and such which does help prevent things going off on one, but old habits and all that

upper part fitted next, this also has a curve but not as pronounced as the lower

this from the inside

bottom is as normal shot

so new bit made in 2 parts and welded in

this has all been lanished off, you will see some marks that if i hammered it out and kept at it they would all go , but not needed really, the main thing is its true and flat and will only need a tiny bit of filler to surface it

nice new metal here

so all in all im fairly happy with it and the new steel is 1.4mm so its of the right gauge for an arch and should be a better job than an aftermarket one. will sort the b post in the morning and put it together
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[weldore]

you sir are an artist