The GASWAGON (act III)

[lloydy]

The bent outrigger was me No factory jack, although i think the vans to high for one to work... Should use the Hi-lift more, promise i will when i get it back...

[kevtherev]

this is my favourite thread!

[Plasticman]

whilst lunch is in the oven......need a slurp smilie
this is the final marking of the rear of the inner, prior to sanding of and drilling out etc

next the front outrigger that some careless chap bent

last bit of scrap and choddies removed

mm

[Plasticman]

Well.rear is now a better fit and im happy with it

you dont want gaps as this would mean its not going to be in the correct place and so outer sill and all the rest will be out of line
ive cut the necessary holes in the rear part of the sill and also cut the lip off that the wing fits to

the spot holes at the rear are for fixing through to the outrigger as per OE

here we can confirm the alignment, also if you look underneath you will see the marks where the old one was removed, i will add that this will only apply with genuine item

and

front in place , note the sill has a depression to fit into the top of the outrigger and so be flush to better fit under the floor plate

all small items in themselves but collectively give great strength and rigidity
now 4 good welds

now welded onto the arm / jp mount

inner now welded and ground over

and a coat of weldthru

likewise the rear,

placing the front end roughly, i will tack a strip of steel to the wheel arch end to hold it here whilst i then cut out the inner B post bottom and that way i wont have to worry about positioning

this crap will soon be gone

outer held to confirm line up

happy now its all coated and ready for the nice part, building the strength back in,knowing i have good steel all round

ive unpeeled the loom as im not going to de-wire the dash etc, so will cut these and rejoin and shrinkwrap.

mm

[ZsZ]

Nice progress here!
I think in the end, after all that work finished you should dip that van in Fluidfilm and Mike Sanders grease

[lloydy]

Blimey, do all those wires go to the front?
Looking great with the sill in place, gives a real sense of it coming together. Made me smile
Out of interest, what exactly is weldthru? is it like zinc primer?

[Plasticman]

yeah its a paint that is semi passive to lecky, secret is to let it dry thoroughly
yes those are the wires , so im no way going to undo them , i will cut and rejoin
mm

[lloydy]

I don't blame you on the wire front, much easier to cut. I think they are soldered at the dash end as well, meaning you'd have to cut somewhere anyway? Are they routed the wrong side of something due to the ECU going under the seat then?

Ooo, and i got a delivery of green door glass today

[Plasticman]

yes, i dont fancy trying to stuff the ecu stuff through to the cab area so all the rest to disconnect, would have been nice if it was here first time round but there may have been reasons for where it was ?
mm
greeeeeeeeeeeeen , any update on the other big bit of glass
hehe

[lloydy]

Kinda my idea on the location of ECU, well I originally wanted it fitted under the wardrobe bolted to the floor. But I was reminded that would make it hard to access, so it ended up where it did, shame as that's dead space. I didn't want it under the seat due to loosing storage. Seeing the actual size of it though, it won't take up to much space. The relays don't have to go back in that box do they? As that would cut down on the bulkyness of it. I'm scratching my head trying to think of a metal fabricator who could make up a little protective cover for the ecu/relays as that's where our shoes get chucked
Heard nothing on the windscreen front, other than it's been ordered. I've also ordered the 'missing' green 1/4 light glass from heritage

[Plasticman]

Well.onwards with the fron jp area,
first thing is to remove alol the crap stuff

back shows the extent of it

next to position the front of the inner sill correctly, the rear is easy but the front only has thin air as a reference so

measure the rear
then place the front after doing the same

brazed a brace in

same from the inside

made a lower inner part for the B post, its not straight (that would be simple ) its curved and as you can maybe see its not a straight continuation of the post . it has a definate edge where it will exit under the floor, so thats how its going back..

you can just see I have made a very small lip on the bottom ,this will give strength and help with a nice juicy weld
i have welded it inside and outside so its as good as i can get it

this sort of shows the shape of it etc

now its secured i can build the rest of the corner up and bob the rear plates on and happy days,hard part over

mm

[lloydy]

Glad to hear the hard parts over Some great work on that inner B post, lot of angles there.

[waltraud]

Pure, unadulterated genius! That is skilled work...or art perhaps.

[lloydy]

Pure, unadulterated genius! That is skilled work...or art perhaps.

I'm glad it's my van it's being done to, a lot of this work would probably just been left at other places

[Plasticman]

Well i will take some better/clearer picks of this area as most vans will need it doing ,like it or not
so for sustenance im having my favorite

and fairy cakes are on their way and will be helped with more thick custard in 20 mins.....
ah yes back to the job , the rear will be simpler in many respects but i think i will be dropping the trailing arm out of the way as there is weakness on the rear face of the outrigger in for a penny in for..........
mm