The VOLTSWAGON

[Plasticman]

well no picks tonight but removed the tailgate ! seized fittings made life fun but its off so access after a fashion to the rear area of roof, been down to a mates to fabricate some cutters to help detach the rear vertical face, they seem to work so should have it cut open tommorow, i did find that with the first incision above the os hinge, a load of water poured out and i have seen there is a lack of ,,, well anything under the rear os corner so well rotted out in the back also this water, it stunk..am busy organising a full set of gutters via a body cut as i fear it will need the lot chopping of and the remnants de-spotting , all made more awkward by the fact its a dehler so glass/plaggy right up to the gutter area.....
mm

[halfbakedpixels]

Micks threads are the best for getting ideas and solutions for treating the rusty beast.

[AdrianC]

Micks threads are the best for getting ideas and solutions for treating the rusty beast.

But bloody depressing at the thought of what hidden bodges and scariness are in there...

[halfbakedpixels]

Micks threads are the best for getting ideas and solutions for treating the rusty beast.

But bloody depressing at the thought of what hidden bodges and scariness are in there...

That is true, i'm yet to embark on the intrepid voyage inside mine. eeeek Its bad on the outside, i'm sure the inside is no better.
On the plus side i scored a MIG welder off of ebay for £50 yesterday and i'm picking it up saturday. So look out for my thread starting soon when i'm going to be cutting mine open. Hope Mick will advise me. (hint hint)

[Plasticman]

well, mixed day, I ache
so many thanks to syncropatrick for the extra picks. and i start by removing the inner cab panal as this has to come down and out,
i start with the screws under the rubber trim above the cab doors. in my case this trim was part bonded on so fun started early in the game

i found that the 2 screws holding the visor were also screwed right through and into the van body

there is some aftermarket glassing done, probably to hold some shelving or bits?also bonded a bit here to the outer shell

i figure the sunroof acts as a mechanical bond of the inner and outer shells so beging removing it, 25 yr old ally and small steel screws= pain, but it came away/off to reveal the bonding also cant use normal heat anywhere on here as its all glass/plaggy etc and i think probably irreplacable

loads of it

anyhow several tedious hours later we have

100% intact and undamaged

here is the underside showing where the visor clips passed through

these are just general interest picks of the underside of the inner shell


dont know what was under here as its still got decent carpet over the under side and im not removing that

the bonding to the support x member is broken (not me) so will rebond this on refitting

i will post this up for now whilst i upload the next batch of picks so 20 mins
mm

[Plasticman]

well now to start unpicking the outer front of the shell

it was well sealed externally on this front edge so i can only conclude that the damage/rot has started from the outer gutters and travveled fwd. there is a possibility of it coming from above but as susequent picks will show, i think this is doubtfull

i have peeled open the front closure lip and this shows that a very VERY generouse ammount of mastic was applied in the form of long double cords,then a poly sealant on top after the roof was dropped in and then the front lip closed over it. or that sort of method anyway

this gives a better view/idea

adapted some old pliers to fit the outer of the lip and a spring steel tab to both cut into the sealant and also lever it up away from the glass roof. i have another tool that finnishes this bending

n/s edge !

no, the chisel is not used way too crude that would be, the chisel tip shows the glass roof with the black and blue mastic removed and the underlying non setting

stanley knife down into the void ,several cuts

and then pull out this

so i have now just about got the outer layer free, it will still need more work but getting there so here is what i spotted earlier after removing the inner shell
they have pumped it full of setting poly sealnant and daubed it over the cables in the osf corner so cutting is even more awkward

i have some light jacks in place and here you can see it just stretching the sealant (ihave already spent time with curved cutters on this area)

so the sides are free, and the rear is nearly there and likewise the front. the fibreglass is very thin and i have to take extreme care so as not to split or crack it, also as i havent had one of these roofs off before then i need to be sure there are no other hidden fixings, so tommorow should be the day its of as i have had enough today and my arms ache......................
mm

[Plasticman]

Well theres nearly free and nearly free. pig hung on till the last strand . the nearest i can describe this is blue sikaflex,
so
we have a bit of weight taken on the jack to stretch the bond a bit, note the cables are covered (battery earths disconnected) i think they just stuck the gun in the corners and pumped them full

gently up

b*ggers up

a few bits left,o/s above cab door

o/s above slider

now the rear !!! this was = pain
this is the osr corner see the loads of adhesive, i have cut the rear away as will become aparant later

and a couple of the centre,you can just see how i have got the cutter up from a few inches below, then with the roof jacked a bit i have enough access to cut the sealant here


this is whats left of the osr corner,,, note where the sealnt was applied

n/s rear corner as bad or good depending on your perpective

this is a good pick of the centre, they applied adhesive to the bottom and the top then when the roof was down , daubed it up on the inside
cutter worked really well now i see its result so happy there, roof is very thin and quite light

these next few are just to show the misery found under the top.it dont get any better sorry

front showing why it was a pig to do

hmmmmm

wires galore and not much else


and heres the length of it. other side is the same.....

so there you have it, comments?? ideas
mm

[AdrianC]

100% intact and undamaged

Is there a date/title/whatever visible on those newspapers...?

[Plasticman]

nah ,its dynamat
mm

[bluedirtydigit]

Looks fine to me pop it back with a bit of super glue it will be fine. You need to get a job MM one where you can sit down and put your feet up. Hats off to you for this I wouldn't know where to start but I love to see it done especially with the photo's keep them coming.

[Donwhscc]

Gulp! Love reading all these restorations and I don't even have a van! Reading them and seeing all this just makes me wonder am I thinking straight in looking for one! Suppose at least when we ever do, I will be going in with eyes wide open and know what I could expect to find. Well done MIckey, although feeling confident Incould tackle some of the work, a roof like that would have me beaten and searching for your contact deals!

[jamesandtheopenroad]

Holy "pooh"! That is incredible. Dread to think what is going on under my high top.

[Plasticman]

it will look loads better tomoz when a lot of the crud is removed and then we'll see whats left and proceed from there
mm

[jamesandtheopenroad]

Good luck

[DavidPallister]

I've been through the same with my factory high top, it was held on in just the same way.

Gotta say though, it was no where near as rusty as this one is, the OSF corner was non existent, 4 small patches along the OS, and the half the 'valley' above the tailgate.

The gutters had also gone through in a couple of places, but I've replaced the entire length of guttering with 30mm box cut in half lengthwise

Dave