Rear Arch Removal?

[ropeman23]

I'm just abouts to replace both my rear arches and drivers side sill + the rear bumper corner sections. I am a very compitant metal worker / welder, but are there any big do's or dont's in regards to replacing these panels? I take it none of them are structural?

Cheers.

[Fritz]

Dear Sir,
I think you may find the sill section is regarded as structural as far as the MOT is concerned.
The rear arches are simple enough to remove with care BUT as with any aged vehicle you may have to be creative with you welder if the seam lip is past its best. Also repo panels fit where they touch so you may also have to use your metal work skills to re work them before fitting.


Note,,,I'd be tempted to use panel adhesive as an alternative to welding as this will give you better results when you come to the painting stage.


Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,,,,

PS, Don't forget to remove all the coating on your replacement panels for the simple reason it is just a protective coating ( not etch primer) which is also porus.

[ropeman23]

Nearside arch is off I was quite suprised how much good metal was still under there. You're right though I'm going to have to create some interesting patches where I've found some rot. Taking lots of photo's so when I've done one side I'll start a little photo diary.

When I said stuctural I meant do I need to brace the sill? Used to working on minis which tend to fold in half when you remove a sill, I'm guessing not as all the bodywork seems to sit on top of a fairly robust chassis.

Another thing the inside of my arches seem to be a 1/4" thick with a rubber type compound it's a nightmare to remove and is hidding lots of rotten metal! Was this standard? Or a bodge attempt to hide some crap? Might try some heat on it tomorrow to try and shift it.

[Bert2]

I have just replaced both rear arches both sills and half drivers front arch and you will need lots of patches as the rust is always worse than it seems. The rubber under seal is standard as its on my van too and heat will remove it, I got a blow torch and an old wood chisel heated the under seal then scraped it off with the chisel, it does come off but smell a bit, catches fire easily when welding so look out. Good luck

[oldiguana]

any pics would be most useful owducks....im pluckin up the courage to do the sliding door sill and inner section....certainly not goin to rush tho....quite interested to see pics of rear arch removal tho.................

[dugcati]

http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h101/dugcati/t25/ password of club8090

lots of pics of the rot in the sills on mine - should give you an idea of what/where you find it

[oldiguana]

nice pics there owduck......i take it you have a good background in that sort of job........there were some very big holes there............did you use second hand panels...o/s lower panel and o/s arch repair..........

[Jon o]

I have just done the front arches and cab steps on mine, and it wasn't as hard as i expected. But im not at all looking forward to doing the rears it looks tricky to cut along the seam line and get a nice seam back in, good luck! i know ill need it Jon

[ropeman23]

http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h101/dugcati/t25/ password of club8090

lots of pics of the rot in the sills on mine - should give you an idea of what/where you find it

Wow! there's some rot there.

Pics to follow after thee weekend.

[dugcati]

hehe - yes mine was headed for the scrappers!

[ropeman23]

Right here goes, photo's at last!

A couple of bits stripped off and in my very spacious work area, unfortunately I only have this space for a limited time



Sliding door is off a bit of investigation work



You can't really see it here, but there's a good 8 - 10mm of filler hiding a hole!



Careful cutting





And it's off



This is what was causing my seam rash









I always think it's best to cut out a lot more than less. Welding clean metal is so much easier than trying to weld to stuff that's slightly brown. Note the huge amounts of rubbery underseal. Is that normal?





Just checking the new arch



Lower repair tacked into place





Inner arch repair



And then I found a bit more tin worm. Note the fire I had on the go! I realised just after I'd taken the photo.



All patched in, ready to start on the arch next week



More to follow soon.

[dugcati]

top stuff keep up the good worka nd the pics too

[Nicola&Tony]

Nicely done, it's always helpful to see step-by-step pics, especially for bodywork stuff

Looking forward to your updates.

Tony

[kevtherev]

pictures like this...



and your other detailed pictures are invaluable
Especially to me as this work is due on my bus

thanks

[oldiguana]

aaaah....top pics theer owduck!!!