Club 80-90 Forums

I think I am about ready to start putting some new metal on my van https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=141327 and thought I would put up a post to see if my proposed repair method makes sense.

Plesae feel free to comment - I'm working all this stuff out for the first time with some help from threads & people on the forum, thanks.

This is what it looks like now. I have not cut away the section which contains an extra bracing piece in place. I also need to cut away the rusty piece above the Schofields repair piece that forms part of the outer skin but don't want to cut any more metal away until I know where I am going.



I already have a Schofield B post repair panel and have realised that the front flange should simply butt weld onto the forward part of the B post, I think. What;'s the best way to join it to the rest of the panel and is it simply butt welded or is one of the panels joggled to make a flange to puddle weld ?



That's the easy bit, on the inside of the van I have had to cut away part of the B post, so that needs replacing and the rear of the battery box / wheelarch also needs to fit into place.

I think I need to make a plate for the inside face of the B post, which extends forward and can then be puddle welded onto the replacement lower B post from Schofields and the outside of the B post above that which I am going to fabricate myself. Here's a sketch of what I am thinking. Essentially a flat plate of 1.5mm steel for the inside of the van, and then a half swastika piece (sorry best description I could think of) for the outer edge and front of the B post, with a flange for joining to the piece fabricated for the inside.

The battery box rear should then simply slot into place for some puddle welding, I hope.

My visualisation skills have deserted me, can’t make head or tail of that drawing! Maybe when I’ve dismantled mine...

It's late, and there's no music playing

For next time you look, the drawing is a representation of what can be seen in the photo, while the B post repair panel is shown by the dotted line on the left and hard line on the right at the bottom of the picture. That's what i was trying to do anyway.

Butt weld the outer skin or it'll warp. And don't try to do it on the swage line it'll be a bugger to weld grind and fill.
The inside of the arch should sit like a biscuit tin lid, you can plug weld that, it's narrow, on a bend and out of sight. That's your last diagram with the line that say butt weld or juggler, it should sit over top like a biscuit tin lid viewed from the side

https://www.flickr.com/gp/22734691@N03/3R0d50
Sorry I didn't take a pic of inside the arch but after this i slipped in an L shaped plate in the hole the plug welded the inner and outer B pillar together then the outer skin to the L piece
Hopefully you can at least use the link, having a bother putting in pictures

Thanks for that advice, really helpful.

I managed to get a link to display the picture too which is also very clear how I need to fit the fridge panel.

I've cut a bit close to the swage line on mine, but I think I can get away with it.