Club 80-90 Forums

great work fellas

Good work as all ways and looks like your havin fun doing it !

Cheers guys.

Update!

Last time we had roughly trimmed the new panel to fit. First job was to do the last bits of trimming.

Leo checking the fit.


Trimmed, ready to weld.



Tacked in:






Then we started filling the gaps between the tacks.



Then cleaned up with the flap disc.





After that we thought we'd put the door back on. At last its looking more like a van again. It finally feels like we're winning the battle.



Just that lower rear corner to put in now and the same on the other side, and thats all the welding done!






Edd

Looking forward to seeing another T25 parked out back

Gunslinger wrote:Looking forward to seeing another T25 parked out back

Thanks mate Its shouldn't be too long now. Yours will put ours to shame though, the fit is awful on that black panel. When we put the door on we fell about laughing because the swage line is about 1/2" out

You're more than welcome to come on by and take a closer look next time you see it there.

You should be proud of what you have done on your van. I wouldnt even contemplate it so well done

Considering that last burst was in bliddy freezing weather, a round of applause is in order IMHO

Your welding will improve on the next one you do of course

but it looks structurally sound and good to go!

Nicola&Tony wrote:

jamesc76 wrote:good to see ya gettin on with it! Wish I had a lock up to do mine in im at the mercy of the weather !

Same here. Would've had some windows out by now if I had access to a nice big shed like that.

Thanks for the update, crazy dudes!

Tony

Same here!

The cold weather is hampering my restoration attempts a lock up be great, trying to vactan is this cold weather is pointless

Same here , but what a treat the last two days have been

Time for an update. We've got a lot of work done since the last one.

First up, we just had that lower rear corner to put in. I know the panel fit is awful, its about 10mm out somehow. When we spotted it after welding it in we fell about laughing. Oh well, its all good practice.
Taadaa!


Thats the drivers side done. Next was this bit on the passenger side.



Its pretty crusty, and the join that holds it onto the van is really fragile.
After a bit of careful trimming and cleaning up we were left with a nice lower rear panel shaped hole.



Time for a break. Thats Leos friend Racheal, who kindly made us EASTER CAKES!



There was a bit of a raggedy hole in the rear panel that we decide to fill up before we welded in that lower corner.
Heres a step-by-step picture guide:

Cut out worst rot.


Cut and shape patch to fit:


Clamp in:


Weld and clean up. Then admire. Remove earth clamp:


Then it was time to weld in the lower corner.


Done Its a lot better fit than the other side, so we're learning


Then we smeared a bit of filler in critical places.



Leo was seam sealing the welds here aswell.



We also bought a starter motor that was in a LOT better condition than our old one. We fitted it and all new terminals and new earth straps.


We changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, removed the extra fuel filter from the engine bay, changed the oil, new plugs, leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm. We also sealed all the exhaust joints. It starts on the button now and idles lovely. Its nice and quiet due to the sealed exhaust and power is up!

We were a little worried when we started it up, there was a bit of white smoke and there was liquid dripping from the exhaust. It wasn't petrol, well, it didn't smell like petrol. When it was upto temperature the smoke stopped and so did the liquid coming from the exhaust. Its probably because its been sitting so long.

I also have a question. Whats the difference between the limited and non-limited rotor arm? We had a limited one fitted, but we replaced it with a new, non-limited one. Is that ok to do?

Thats it for now. Going down tonight to sand down that filler and get some paint on the repairs. We're also gonna change the coolant. Not looking forward to that one

Edd

I think...

Unlimited GOOD; Limited BAD

Coolant really not so bad as peeps make out, just don't think its really done till its really is (a moderate length test drive and check and check again)

50/50 af/water, premixed is best, and good spout or hose on watering can help.

HarryMann wrote:I think...

Unlimited GOOD; Limited BAD

Coolant really not so bad as peeps make out, just don't think its really done till its really is (a moderate length test drive and check and check again)

50/50 af/water, premixed is best, and good spout or hose on watering can help.

Thanks mate. We did it last night. I think its done. We had no air coming out of the rad bleed screw by the end. The fan cut in when it should and it all seemed ok.........

Hello everyone. Abit of an update. We have been working hard and this is the fruit of our labour

We've been doing a bit of fillering and painting and now its all back together!



We used whatever paint we had laying around just to seal the repairs because as soon as we get an MOT on it we'll be painting the whole van anyway.

Time for a break!

Cheese and biscuits in the van


Then we gave it a wash, its first one in over 2.5 years! Looks better for it too.



Then we fitted the last bits of the interior.



So its all ready for the MOT. Only its not
Yesterday we had the van sat running and I was pottering around tidying the unit. I then jumped in the van to turn it around and put it in the unit. I drove up the drive and just as I changed from first to second gear, the oil pressure light came on and the buzzer started going off. We got it in the unit and started it again and its fine at idle, but when you rev it, the light and the buzzer come on.

I have read the wiki but what should be the first thing to check? I have an oil pressure guage, so should I check the pressure at the high-low switch? If so, what pressure should we have?

Cheers,
Edd

Well done anyway, getting that out for the warm spring weather, MOT man should be in a better mood now

What engine is it?

First check and clean all the oil sensor connections, sounds like high rpm (2000)one, which will be off filter on a diesel or down near pulley on a petrol WBX (I think).. check dash pod ribbon connections too... Follow Wiki basically, should be in there. You will need an extension to get an oil pressure gauge fitting down in the tight gap on the waterboxer

Cold pressures pretty irrelevant

Hot pressure should be about .9 bar + (12 psi +) at idle, at least 20 or so above 2000 rpm

Hot Idle 8-15 psi (8 getting a bit low!)
Hot 2000 15-35 psi
Hot 4000 30-45 psi

Very Hot 4000 Should be at least 25-30

This is where most people take oil pressure from.



iirc you need an M10 by 1mm male thread for the case, 60cm of hose and an m10 by 1mm female union to screw the gauge into.



The sender then mounts in the engine bay.



With a dual pole sender you can keep the buzzer of doom.

Epic welding, reminds me of my bay when that was 20 years old

another great thread chaps well done

Thanks Lance

We took the dash out and had a go at repairing the tracks with silver paint. When we put them back in, the buzzer was still going off when we revved it and now the dash lights don't work either!
Im going to pick up an oil pressure guage to see see what oil pressure we actually have and we're off to Big Bang at the weekend to see if we can pick up some clocks in the autojumble