The MALLYVAGON

[Plasticman]

yes,there are some awfull rumours about
well, pick of the rep

and with a coat on

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[the_mitchells]

The amount of work you've put into Mally is astounding Mike, as is the attention to detail! So glad i have a photographic record of this for the future! I cannot wait to get him back with the interior in he is going to look stunning and its all coming together now! Bring on summer and some shows

[silverbullet]

This is getting me inspired to have a go at re-bottoming both sliders on the syncro, but I'm a little concerned about the fact that Mr Nice and friends made such a proper shonky (I do like that word!) job of replacing the n/s/r wing that the bodyline is all wrong. At least the rear quarters are in the correct place...
Any advice on the correct order to proceed Mike? I've never done a door skin or frame repair before

I've got a pair of pattern rear wings too but they are the rather "soft" pressing from that German company (white and burgundy sticker), the arch isn't crisp at all and they feel too light gauge. Best to go to Schofields for everything?

I have the privilege of my own spot welder, so that will help me fix the panels out of place even quicker

[Plasticman]

hmm well, i cant speak for the panels you have the schoey ones are klocker, not brilliant but usable , they ALL have deformation on the upper fwd part , this is done during pressing amnd the last dozen or so have had this..
spoon it out and it will be ok
the order eh, well you must gap the sliders as good as you can to match the rear wing, then i unhook the centre roller of the guide and swing the door onto a stand out the way then fit you wing, you will i beleive find that the wing appear a bit too long they are, but you can sort of shrink the rear fold a touch and the front9slider) end will a touch. dont think a spotter will be a lot of use for all of it as you need clean and no gaps, so to rear 1/4 i dont think so , access again. if you have the arms then the upper horizontal join will be doable.
anyhow you seen how in perep and do the wings so follow this and keep hooking the door back on to check alignment
be care full that you dont flare the arch . i fix at the top (tack) and sort of bow them down to give a bit of tension to the thin metal,
when happy get at it, now when you do the skin you will have a good reference at each end. B post and rear wing.

now show maybe time to start a thread on your own van and post a picky of the door insides and i can take it from there if you like.

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[Plasticman]

Ah ms Mally i have a few hundred more than posted which you will get in full res on a dvd.to paint this w'end....
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[Plasticman]

Well ,more care should be taken

i could add a bit more weld but a smear of filler will suffice

trial fit

this is the last of the welding i think
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[silverbullet]

now show maybe time to start a thread on your own van and post a picky of the door insides and i can take it from there if you like.

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Thanks. The crappy wing is solid, but the sliders are getting desperate, especially the left one. Need to fix those while I still have the corners as ref points.
Time to start a body thread.

[Plasticman]

been a longish day for some reason any hows finnished building the fillerarch and drilled ready to weld .
so a tack first to confirm its ok and then welding away, unsusal view through the filler

and to cut
long story short its welded in and fist touch with a disc

been a lot of effort but pleased with the seam gap.tight and even

done

door shut and a bit more product applied

where i can i split the seams but in polaces like the join between the b post and middle panel i have a methoid of opening the seam evenly and then i can get in with variouse tools and finaly blasting it

fridge exhaust is on the left

this is what J Blast superfine does at 8bar

will braze this up from the inside and also flow the outer, be fine then
lower down same seam

i then redid all the seams and stuff Mem card full so will take a few more tomoz but treated now.and gave the front arches a good seeing to, so on with filling , got a big tin of the stuff, its done 3 vans and will do at least another 3 joking aside , i dont mind filler for regaining a suface shape but i do like to try get real metal back to where it should be,but thats just a hangup i have
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[the_mitchells]

Is that a glass of wine????

[Plasticman]

a rather nice cava actually
oh and a nice cut xstall glass,got a set in a charity shop
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[Plasticman]

well,bits and bats,nothing of great interest, nice to have heat, removed rear flap and freed this off

need to remove everything to get at the crud behind then no paint edge to cause probs in future
slider channel .i drilled the old spots out to 10mm so i could wind thre mig up a touch and get a good bite

left the ss screw in place.well.why not

this made it very solid feeling and the new backing panels im mmaking are well up to the job but there was stiull a slight twist noticable hence why vw did what i have also done
a few good tacks along the top edge

now it dont move....
just the cover channel to fit and im done.
had a little supprise the other lunch, a pool of coollant on the shop floor, van had been jacked on an angle and then i lket it down and the lower os of the rad is rotten and fallen to bits. suppose better here and now that after paint of worse when its on its inagural hols
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[Plasticman]

well.chasing bits
tiny hole after blasting so a dab of brass

also welded up 2 redundant holes
slider cover mount sat and ready to fix

no particular reason to braze rather than mig except that the brass wont ever rust and i wont have to grind away with the dremel and its a touch tricky bgetting a neat mig weld every time

the lower fridge vent cutout, well when i made the lower panel i made it to suit the hole i created which was usefull as the cut out had a bit of rot at the top so i have removed about 3/8" and also a little from the bottom so in effect the vent is raised by 3/8 and were rot free, so win win

there was a tiny hole here, blastde it and poked about and it wasnt ewnough to justify a weld in so leaded it up , quicker anyhow, less than 5

buckets frozen so im posting now to save this.onkly took me 35 mins.

[Plasticman]

hmm, lower front panel spet a bit of time and ground off the tops of the spots ready for pt 2.

i have brazed this seam up on both sides, its very vulnerable and not easy to get a good closure so whilst tacked at the rear, this seals it nicely will chase it out with the dremel

also braze these ends as they too cause seam flexture and start the opening process

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[Plasticman]

Well,filed the lead off,it will need a mustard spoon of top filler

this bit at the top of the rad i did with my finger,the copper foils have deteriorated
but the leaking is from here

and this arrived, a nice SA rad

well it will help keep the engine happy
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[Plasticman]

Well, wiping an old card and found a few picks, knew i had taken them but maybe the wine played an effect......
new rad installed ,i had clamped the pipes so not all the coolant had leaked out but still added a gallon of pink

found these 2 of the inner front arches done.sealed and coated

and

no 1 painter is on hols for a week so took the oportunity to do all the mech stuff that was needed and needed for the test as well, fitted new springs and shocks all round, front upper ball joints, osr handbrake was duff, so took the drum off and the shoes were worn out and the h'brake had pulled through the rotten back plate ,so........
rear hub off, strip brakes off, fit new very nice quality bbackplate, and change shoes out , made a new brakepipe and all happy, so after paint and minor refit it will be new wheels and tyres fitted then a testing, so happy really
oh and there was the roof. well i was informed that a certain passenger got wet from a roof leak.
not suprising as this roof was not realy sealed on
this is a typical area,i have as you can see taken the gutter back to factory coat/bare metal and also got in behind and to the back of the fibreglass with a hooked deburrer

here you can see how the adhesive has progessed into the area behind the roor and in so doing has woked up and into the gap between the fibreglass and the van body so a good bond is formed

then smothed out, you could be tempted to try neaten it a touch more but this would be messy so less fkceing the better

its not coming of ,nor will it leak.....
anyhow i will take a few picks later when there is primer on and something worth seeing
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