Club 80-90 Forums

No im not nor is it, its bent metal is all and you wont see it when its done....
sorry i missed your dad, next time we will strike lucky
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metalmick8y wrote: havent got the tooling sorted yet for these so set about doing it the long way,by hand

Only cause you aint told me what you want made yet

James

I will I will^^^^

Well back on with the nice stuff..but first
littler bit of work on the inn er, i first welded a small patch into the lower part, then let a piece in so it looks like the original

fully welded, the overlap join is inline with the remains of the original so it looks neat

this area rots out a lot, its wehere the factory arch joins the B post and is a little rust pocket, yes there is plenty sealant behind it but it still let moisture in somehow

made a silly little bit

and gassed it in and a little grind off with the dremel

this is now ready to meet its other half

yep theyre ready to be rejoined

and on it goes, quite happy with how its turned out

gassed it all as its neater, well for me anyhow

so this side is sorted ready for a final sand off and a tiny touch of filler etc

been quicker and easier to use a repair panal but for the reasons i gave earlier i think this is a better job, though there comes a point where it is not worth doing , i woulld have used a cut but didnt have a decent enough one to hand
so nearly there now but this is getting in the way

i will repair this in the usual way and not be using a rep step, to be honest I think its easier to make the parts and as its not that bad, be a different matter if it was shot all the way up the vertical part
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I shall look forward to the step fabricating

here's me trying to shift one

hah. well i will make it out of 1.4mm as it will have to be stretched a bit and also it takes loads of wear etc, cutting the holes is always fun
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watching with real interest. looks a bit worse than mine so i'm keen to see how it cleans up and how much of the old you salvage.

well all the rusty stuf will be cut out and then it will be cut back further to give me an easier straighter line to work from, then as the very oouter part that is seen when the door is shut is good, i will make the outer side of the step and let this in then fabricate the inner and overlap them as per the original ,
i have a template for the step rubber holes though at this stage it may be a better case of removing the bits of the mats and bonding them on as its a real bad design in my book,
any thoughts on this?
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Well took loads of picks of the step creation just for you james
I sort of do them this way and whilst this is the o/s t'other is the same
start with this then

and give it a tap and mark where i think Id like to work from and to , bear in mind Im intending to replicate as far as paractical


im saving a fair bit of the original as there is no need to scrap it all, its more conservation and restoration
I have started by cutting the bulk of the inner half of the step , this way you dont disturb the line and height of the complete item so you have a reference a;l the time

this little bit needs to come out so I can form a better part, bit hard to explain in a picky but its easier than leaving that bit in.

start to make good the remaining well ,

Now welded in and spotted through onto the btm of the A post

made the inside part of the step , had to make a new die for the joddler to deal with it, its not perfect but did the job, this part now gets trialed

tacked it on starting at the rear and as i work fwd it gets pushed in and towards the inner remnant , this keeps it from buckling or at least trying to
front welded


new post again

mike

the welding is looking lovely! very impressed with all the work around the petrol filler area and the o/s sill. looks great.

and welded at the rear

and tyhis is what it looks like in total, the swage is running in as near as dam it the same place the original was

I have given this a quick planish over to encourage myself...
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needs more work but its about there


So now to start on the outer part of it
sheet is first cut to the rough shape and then graduall trimmed down aas you go along , unlike that miserable wood which is the work of the devil at least with this I can add a bit if its easier than remaking, trouble is as the parts become more complex and nearer to fitting you need more care
the seam where they overlap is a fixed point and will not be changed so i start by working from there outwards

little bits at a time

disc cutter when its a sliver as opposed to a lump....
happy now so have drilled the spot holes

its now resting in place final checks before tacking it on

new page

Clamped down and off we go

spots done first as this sets the rest up

now welded round, the edge has a more of a roll than fold so important to keep this , it also curves in 2 planes as well so testing to do which keeps it interesting

welding of the side parts

first whip over with a planisher

looks good enough for me from the top it just has to follow the original lines else it would to me be a waste of time

the front here will be leaded also I dont want filler in the steps

which is also why i left it bare, it will also get the blaster on it, but i tend to do all that sort of work at the same time when the structure is done
quick coat of 'product'

this is the underside, it will also be sanded off and treated then seamsealed

sorry its abit long winded but that is my effort to show how i tackle the steps.
yes its a little quicker to fit a bought step and a cut if you ever find a mint one, trouble with a cut is you still have to unpick a bit to ensure you rejoin as built, well i do anyhows...
most enjoyable afternoon
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I've binned the Schofield cab step

keep it for me i will have it along with the moooooooo horn
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lovely!,
I'm with you on the holes, the only reason i can come up with for the holes is that one of their design engineers put a really high priority on removable mats for sweeping out purposes & that was the best method they could come up with to stop slippage. I need to find me some scrap & have a little practice on thin stuff once i've finished phase 1 to see if me and my cheapy mig are up to it. I'm a few days behind on my thread... Halfway through getting the bumper off today... rusty bolts grrr!!!

thin stuff???? may as well get the step of Kev as its thin.. 1.2 mm as a mi nimum for any metal added ever.
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