1989 t25 resurrection thread.

[Cobblers_uk]

hello everyone ive recently bought my first vw van, it hasnt been on the road for 10 years and it seems to have spent alot of that time parked in a hedgerow as ive been pulling long bits of brambles out of the body in a few places. its currently a panel van but i want to convert it into a camper as well as sort the body and do a subaru conversion so it should keep me busy for a little while. her she is when i picked her up.


i had a quick look over and ordered a few bit from jk to get me started. i bought 2 tall rear arches, 2 lower rear corners and 2 cab steps. im going to tackle the drivers side first. i finished work at early enough today to make a start and more importantly as im working outside it wasnt raining. i took the cover off below the rear window and attacked it with a flap disk.


also went over the seams as they were plenty of bubbles


i managed to get the old wheel arch panel cut out and the new one test fitted in place




so the side panel is in pretty poor condition it looks like the little channel that holds the removable cover on has been holding water behind it which has rusted the panel. is this a common sort of issue? what is the best way for me to tackle this? is it possible to get a new rail to hold the removable panel on at the top or is it the sort of thing i should have a go a making myself?

[tforturton]

Hello and welcome to the club. Looks like you've taken on a big project there! Look in the Bodywork forums for lots of posts regarding rebuilds (anything by metalmick8y is well worth a read). Also, check on here regarding panels/parts suppliers, as JK's are usually regarded as budget items - there's better stuff out there.

[restoman]

Best of luck!
You can get rail from Schofields:

http://www.alanhschofield.com/ourparts/ ... 43818.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cobblers_uk]

Best of luck!
You can get rail from Schofields:

http://www.alanhschofield.com/ourparts/ ... 43818.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers, it seems they make a nice sill panel too not too much more expensive than the just campers one i think ill get one of them.

[Cobblers_uk]

Well i managed to have most the day on it today i got a little bit done but to be honest it was a bit of a struggle.

Since ive had my welder then only stuff ive done is a bit of fabrication of parts out of heavy box section and welding the chassis on my terrano.

Its a sip super mig 215 turbo and its set up with .8mm wire and pure c02.

In the past ive been ok with this but that was welding 4mm plus steel. I just couldnt get it to weld smoothly at lower settings. After some reading today it seems c02 is not good at lower voltages.

I still managed to get a bit done but its definatly not as neat as i would like. Hopefully it wont look too bad after some filler and seam sealer. My gas ran out today so now i need to decide what mix i should go for. I want to get rent free Large size bottle.

Anyway so when i cut away at the box on the drivers side if the engine bay i found the chassis has rusted in between the 2 pieces. I cut the top part out of the chassis i then welded a new piece in then sprayed it with weld through zinc primer then welded peices in to finish the box off


I had also had to weld a repair panel into the upper corner where the seam had rusted out where it meets the box. I made the panel out of a offcut from the quarter panel so i could use the swage line. It did warp a fair bit while welding but hopefully it will fill ok.

I managed to get the lower corner tacked on before i ran out of gas so and with the quarter panel sat in the gap im fairly happy with it. Will definatly need a little tweak as im welding it in but its not to far away

[Cobblers_uk]

So i managed to do some more work on my van today.
I bought some hobby weld 5 shielding gas, i had a little practice and it definatly seems to weld better than it did with just co2.

I cut the outer 30mm off my rear inner arch the made a new piece to to bring it back out to where it should be.

Next i decided to try and repair the upper part of the rear panel. The bit below the window where the metal cover normally fits. I struggled had to use a black and decker work mate to clamp the new piece of metal and try to get a bend in it.

Once i cut the rust out the thin bit beneath the window seemed really flexible and week. I was sure it would warp badly when welding it up.

I tacked it in place and it looked ok but when welding it up it really warped alot. Hopefully once the window is out ill be able to straighten it up and fill it all.


Tomorrow im going to fix the area where the front mounting bracket for the cover was then try to tackle the front seat belt mounting and cab step

[Cobblers_uk]

so ive had a bit more of a poke around and stripped out the back completely. i have found plenty more work that needs doing. im going to try and get all the offside stuff done first then ill move onto the nearside. once ive done the sides ill get all the glass out and sort the window surrounds and the roof and gutters.

its slow progress as i only really have time to do stuff at weekends. i managed to replace drivers side seatbelt mount area. it wasnt really that bad and also the area around the expansion bottles seems pretty solid.


the step and front floor around the throttle pedal needs some work though


the inner and outer sill, outrigger b piller and front jacking point all need work.




the floor also needs looking at. ive seen a few on here though and mine dont seem as bad as some ive seen.




i think im going to have to either make or buy some metal working tools to help with bending and shaping. i think i also need a good spot weld drill bit.

[boatbuilder]

Yep just tackle one area at a time. I'm on year six.