Club 80-90 Forums

well, first bit of inner step roughed out

tweaked a bit to fit

you can just make out the swage i put in so it fits nice under the outer portion

other stuff is going to be cut away but make this whilst there is still something left to reference from

not quite happy with this area so more cutting out

my pencil points to the remnant of the lip, this is part of the wheel arch and the floor section just spots down onto it, i'm not happy here so i have peeled the floor back an inch and have made a new section to let in that also incorporates the front of the arch where the step fits, then its a simple matter to add a bit of floor and work back out .

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well,first thing is new extension to the inner arch

weve now got nice new steel where its needed

not my neatest but is good enough for this

light sand to be civilized and any hi-spots will interfere with the arch fit

now the new bit of cab floor let in and ready to spot to the inner arch

next comes the closure which forms part of the inner step, this ties all the cab floor to the step and arch

which sits like this

the scalloped out bit on the left replicates the OE which was to allow folding and turning at the same time
run of weld

quick sand

spot this on so it solid and wont move as i line up the inner step bottom

like this

mark it, note the pencil point, this area has to be swaged back to accommodate the arch profile

i have a diversion here as i cut the inset too small, on the OE it steps out here and i forgot
so add a bit

its needed else all the road crud splatters the drivers left arm,,,unless your fred johnson

here

anyhows, the inner step now welded in, i do these with the arch clamped in place to avoid silliness as in a bit of movement i dont want,

we can always penetrate in a controlled way with gas, i may run a bead round this side to nesaten it up a bit

tthis is the pick i meant

off with the arch and a quick sand, will go over it again later to make it neat

here its about there, ive filled in the step mat holes and just a few tweaks before welding it on, most important being another trial fit of the door to confirm gaps etc

not a good picky will try again tomoz but this is the B post to arch seam showing the new edge

and closer

the pointer here shows the B post lip and how its not welded to its closing fold , vw weld the arch to the B post on the bit behind the seal and use clag under .its not the way i like them so will weld it up and show what i mean

think these picks are in the right order............
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Well.arch clipped on and last trial of door

gap is good enough for me

small bead of weld here

the bit that is sort of unmovable is the arch to B post,so concentrate on getting this right, the rest will fall into place

past point of no return now

they never look tidy in raw weld

rear of step, i have some more welding to do here then brazing

this just ties it all in and its a high load area so this should do it

back the same

ive also ran a seam of braze right in and under along here

then blast some product right in there

underside of step

seam im very happy with and so far filler has been avoided



and the step/floor

it will be further treated and such but this protects it for now
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well a sunny morning.
upper front panel,
now theres a fine line between repair and replacement ,i have checked underside and no issues, this is one of the few areas that rust from the outside in.
I dont touch this with a disc yet as when you have very very small pinprick holes they tend to get filled over with adjacent metal when grin/sanding also your removing precious metal so i grit blast this strip and it shows all the pin holes which i then mark for work, heres a somewhat larger one

not the factory brazing here, ive explained in another thread why they did this and other areas
im not able to show the smallest pinholes as camera doesent pick them up but this area

is more obvious, its blasted and once im happy its clean from rust to the bottom i lightly tap it down a bit and then run a disc over it very quickly, this further highlights the area and helps with the brazing/leading

next the brazing

obviously there is a lot more of it than this, easy to flat back and done with zero filler,
next the 2 areas that had not gone through but were easier to do with lead given the area needed to cover,again this is pre finish as it was done last night


in no particular order

one of the other things with gassing is that when you apply heat you can tell instantly where and to what extent the hole/damage is as the metal heats from bright yellow to a black dot at the void/hole hard to explain but it takes less than a second on this thin stuff ,i would show it if i could think of a way to picky it as its fascinating to watch even though i must have done it a 1000 times
anyhows will clean and treat this today
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Well nearly sorted
lead filed off

corners are harder but its about near enough for me

a slight bit of unhappiness at the rear 1/4

but the main floor in there is remarkably good, the rear lower needs a small part making but those are the fun bits

arch cut down and inners all sorted,gap im happy with

another nice bit to make in decent steel

this is not my scabby welding but the reverse side of the weld i will run a cutting disc in there to neaten it

holes drilled for spotting and made a very tiny swage to both this and the wing so the weld will sit back from the face,less grinding etc

inner support for the arm and jp is near mint as is the C post itself

on with refitting the dash etc tonight as its away for paint next week
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Well,popped the new lower arch/wing in place

here its welded in the slight recess i made earlier, saves trying to grind flat and be left with a raised bit then a ton of pod... no

here a light sand and the remainder of the recess will take a smear of filler and job done
new bits made for the rear panel

this from the rear

trialing the lower rear, quickly add this and the lower part then tack the arch and its done this end as well

now the dash etc is all back in and out of the way, i have a small repair to the floor under the pedal area, no biggie so no problems
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Well this

will drop the skid plate off and clear the throttle cable and clutch line then a simple 2 piece repair
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How many hours go into a resto like this syncro Mike? It looks like it was a pretty typical one i.e. grot in all of the usual places and to a pretty severe degree.
I ask because I think that a lot of folks might consider taking their van to a akilled man over "having a go" if they had even the vaguest idea of what they could be getting into and can start putting £££ aside.

well i noticed a small iffy area under the ns sill so decided to cut it out and replace, not the easiest nor nicest jobs daft as it may seem, as you have to let it in and can only get to one side etc

again this has one of the cleasnest and most original sill/closure and side panel as ive come across in a while, even the factory seam is intact on the outside

so whilst the rot is typical in many ways, its better in some areas and extremely bad in others
so first off its remove/move cables and pipework, then cut away the sound/heat insulation which will save a small fire and me choking

then we do a small de-spot and cut

like this

then add a bit of 2mm plate to protect further

then make the first part of the floor itself and let it in, the bodgers rod is to hold it with one hand while i tack with the other, (gas not mig)

ive left the drain hole for now

twisted the rod of and ran a disc over ready for the tunnel to weld to it

which i have done here, ive not bothered showing the individual parts as made as its self explanatory

its neat enough and i will just run a disc over it lightly

like this.done

the underside in the raw

coat of product and the insulation glued back on

and top side

its back on its wheels now ready to prep for the the journey to paintshop
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oh hours ? i dont count but a few hundred i reckon

So at least 300 hours before paint goes on as a guide?

Dunno ,there's hours of thinking time to work out the best way to do stuff ,even repeat tasks differ enough to warrant a rethink and always the pursuit of a better neater way
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Of course every job is different but there must be some kind of ballpark figure for 2wd vs syncro, cut panel van vs caravelle, tintop vs hightop rustbucket etc?
No-one likes to discuss money in polite company but theres no point in anyone having unrealistic expectations...
5k? 8? 10?

were now on thread drift but a valid topic, so maybe you can start a new thread ref this and incorporate the re-manufacture of parts and also mechanical costs and services as supplied, it may be a useful thread especially for newer members
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Well,been delayed for a few reasons but glad to say back on it and looking have it shiny orange next week,

the filler is so thin as to be almost see through its only over minor depressions so not an issue


on this area there was what looked like it had a cut out for maybe an elec socket ?? and a patch had been 'let in' very nicely but caused a bit of distortion that i was unable to remove


same here,i think a lot was minor scuffs from offroading which is what all syncros should be doing rather than the designer center shopping

a ,little stopper over the brazed join


again its pretty good in many areas

tailgate is very rot free


rear arch let in nice and tight

it will get another seeing to with the vacuum blaster prior to treating the seems etc
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Hi mm , just looking at that last picture of the wheel arch, how do you finish off the seam ?
Am I right in thinking that you brush in the primer undercoat that you use, but then what. How do you close the seam from the outside.
Thanks Barry