The VOLTSWAGON

[Plasticman]

sikaflex equivalent, it will be held down and not move nnor will it leak
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[Plasticman]

Well got the gutters on okdid the os on friday and been away the w'end,so rattled of the ns tonight 11pm, well i was bored,nowt on the box as usual,had a beer handy and some apple and blackberry pie that needed eating so
this is welded on,

the white edge you can see is the 14g base to the mount and the colour is weldthru, it was well clamped so nice snug fit

the mass of sealant is gone
loads of spots

wound it up to abbout 180A so a good grab and penetration
quick wizz over with a disc and now we have a bright new surface to build up from

the upper closure plates i made a tiny bit wrong as i didnt allow enough for the curvature of the roof so going to nip to y mates first thing and attend to them
happy so far and tomoz should see the welding well advanced
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[Plasticman]

Onwards....well after a bit of

sort of looks a bit rough in the picky ,anyhows its solid and whilst not an exact copy of the original it still does the job, had it been a visible item then it would have been replicated

and together it goes, so nice with good steel, this cut out is above the B post as per original .at least services can access it


you can just see the curvature, i remade these this morning so the first upstand is as good as equal along its length

i made the series of holes a touch too far rearward but i dont think it matters, there is large rivnut which i had half sliced through so i have brazed this to the new panal, it will also prevent it ever spinning

so the odd shaped front closer to add then terminate the gutter to front lip,then i can attend to neatening the joins and seams and getting it a bit tidier then trot the other side in the same
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[scottbott]

you are a magician,hope mine is not that bad

[Plasticman]

Well N/S done all new


first coat applied



will give it another in the morning,
got most of the O/S done so will nip it off in the morning and coat it as well
the heavy visqueen is great for protection from hot mig bits and flying choddies etc

again it could be A bit neater but it will be fine for the purpose its for
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[b-f-c]

Amazing work MM

[Cableguy]

Great stuff. Strange how the last photo has vanished, gremlins in p bucket?
Btw, the big riv nuts secure the tilting back end of the pull out bed.

[Plasticman]

Ok,will run atap down them,so. No nasty surprises later on

[Plasticman]

Well ,welding finnished
just the o/s to run a disc over then product to apply will take picks tomoz,
when dry i will lower the roof down again and make up some spacers and such to align the roof, one of the many many probs with these are that the roof skin is very very thin and has little rigidity when off like now, a downside being when you try to bond it down it can end up waving about and bonding horribly, so i will temp fix some brackets for it to sit up to and then make some to fit in the gutters to keep it all there while the adh sets.
im pretty sure it still has a few supprises left, then its back together and the hard work of rebuilding the interior begins,thankfully not by me
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oh and i dont see any missing picks ?

[Plasticman]

Just to go back a touch,
i get asked about this stuff so its more to help folk that are starting out welding but when spotting/puddlewelding heres what may make life easier.
i will assume the metal on the underside is clean ,if your using weldthru then please leave it to fully cure
next,hole size, there is a point at which the hole is so smallm that you will not get sufficient heat into the base part quick enough and a puddle will form that may look like a weld but is onlly adhering to the sides of the ypper part(the hole)
with the right nozzle and amperage etc i will go down to 5mm as a minimum but prefere7-8mm.
next you need to ensure stuff is clamped

on the gutter runs for instance, i clamp 4 times to do 4 tacks and hold the item in the correct place then inbetween them again and again so im spreading the heat out along the length (10' will expand and cause a curve which is in this case what i wanted)


the weld on the left is acceptable, the aim here is to get full penetration into the lower metal which is 14g and as the pool is expanding you allow it to encroach on the edge of the upper piece and so weld to it stopping when it is flush,anymore means work with a disc (x 100's of spots !)
the weld on the right is too full also invest in a tin of tipdip it will help keep the biz end happier
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[Plasticman]

hehe




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[300CE]

Amazing job as usual Mike

[Plasticman]

Ta
its a pain waiting for stuff to dry but if these coats dont adhere correctly then the roof aint gonna stick on that well
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[300CE]

Ta
its a pain waiting for stuff to dry but if these coats dont adhere correctly then the roof aint gonna stick on that well
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Will keep the old fingers crossed for you mate!

[Plasticman]

hehe,ta but no need, it wont being going anyplace save down sarf
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