Ajitvagon

[Plasticman]

yep me too, Ive never done one in flip flop orange before
tipped the os cab door upside down prior to rehanging and loads of glass fell out the inner plastic moisture membrane was cut and crudely stuck back togewther with 2" masking tape , they had hoovered most out, no sign of any other damage.wasnt that recent either.
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[DustyBiscuit]

Bloomin' heck!!! The things people will try to get away with! Flip flop orange? You know what... I'd be well up for that! It'd be Ange that'd need a sit down & a cup of tea to deal with the shock!

[Plasticman]

we could pickout the sides above and below the side windows in 'dusty chartcoal',you can laugh too long ago to divulge i was having a weekend party and a mate over consumed and we rushed his old mini into the shop and thinners ragged it and taped it up , an hour later it was yep orange. looked quite good and he wasnt bothered much.
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[LittleMissSunshine]

Can't wait to see pics from far away - to see extent of all the work. Are you really going orange? Sounds brilliant.

[DustyBiscuit]

I think if we went orange at this stage... I'd be living in the shed until Christmas!!!

[Plasticman]

no I wouldnt dare paint that colour, i somehow think the shed would be the least of my woe's
Well.forgot these picks and work, well it gets all a bit samey but here it is.
ns step spot whats wrong

step is sort of proud of the rubber

so we peel the rubber away



some well meaning personage at some time in the past decided to cover up the rot, a total bodge they stuck a bit of plate over the lot .
they also gas welded it , well welding is stretching the meaning of the word but they used the wrong jet and also used 1/8 rod which is part of the reason its this bad, 1/16 rod as a max (2mm for some jobs)

so I get the cutting disc out and start to peel it away

so the rotten stuff cut back, sometimes it makes sense to remove entire areas and on others we just want to remove back to a given area to aid making back up, i do like to retain as much of the original metal as possible,

reply box full so will start again.....

[Plasticman]

most of the inner half of the step was good so just let a bit in

sorry some of the picks are carp but batteries went in the camera so used the phone.
this is the view from the top, the small plate i added can be seen towards the rear, if you look you will see the first upright part of the step is curved upwards and out a bit, sort of flaired towards the arch

so this is the first part sat in rough place, i have added a very slight roll to the top this will become apparant later

this is now lightly tacked in place and the upper part is made and trial fitted to ensure the step will have the correct profile. and slope wher it should ...I hope.

I could have made this in one piece but it would have taken another hour due to the double curves so i have done it the lazy way
happy that it will come together right i run the weld right along

ive tried to keep the weld neat and tight into the bottom of the turn up, to the right of the picky you can just see the start of the taper/flair towards the arch

start yet another box

[Plasticman]

now for the 3rd pair of mits, I digress but i wish i had a sprog to help out! years back when i was 14 i think , i went unpaid part time to a garage near where i lived and helped out , i ended up with the welding guy and it was all gas then and if you dont know but as ita a bit slower in some areas than mig, the heat tends to warp the meatl, my job was to always anticipate what it was going to do and keep it held in place with a screwdriver or what ever, it was a good parnnership as i learned how it moved and he warned me what to watcg for, the idea being he could weld continually and i held it and supplied rods and never got in the way , save when i got burned, teaches you quick that does, any how after a few weeks of this he taught me to weld and ended up paying me for the hours i was there, learned really bwell from a tin basher from jaguar that came up on weekend or strike day etc....
anyway lees of that waffle back to topic.


happy with how its sitting so welding we will go


just needs a run over with the flexipad and a touch with the hammer,

I dont want filler in here, so its come out quite nicely , the reason for the slight turn in ,on the edges otf the 2 panals is the help form the radius of the 2 together it also help prevent warping , well more acutrately it causes it to warp in a sopecific way that i want ,

another box to start.

[Plasticman]

now with a quick coat of paint to last while it gets painted propper


front panal is sorted

and a coat on it as well

spot welds show up nicely so im pleased with it.
you no i dont show full shots from a distance during works, only prior and after completion


and as for filler, well i used a third of a tin, picky to follow
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[Plasticman]

and no its not a 5 ltr tin

if you have depth to fill then this is no use to you
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[Plasticman]

Well after refitting the tank I added some fuel to find the low mark,this is with 8 ltr added


and this is with all that came out back in hence the odd figure 16ltrs

me. i just like to know where empty really is, on the first picky , when I put 4 ltrs in the needle covered the white line on the empty side of the red
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[Plasticman]

Well paint is progressing ok , will post picks on it later in the week forgot the slider, it had a touch of rust on the bottom but was otherwise sound , the inside we removed the seaer of the bottom and this also got blasted

outer side of the bottom has now got a little lead added

and sanded back

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[Plasticman]

Well a few picks of the van in paint . well primers etc ready for flatting and stopping, and the seams finnishing prior to next stage

this is thankfully looking a lot more wholesome


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[evilnoodle]

Oooooh.....it's getting to the exciting bit

[Plasticman]

nah,this is the boring bit , the good bit is the start and recontruction....
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