So Tepper, do you want the minibus then?

[Fabergé Greggs]

This all looks great- nice work! 

[Tepper]

What's that? You wanted more updates on me snotting together a hopeless old van? Sure thing.

Bottom of closing panel made and welded in - not great but access for the torch/wire wheel is a bit crap:

Put in this strengthening thinghy on top of the previously repaired section:

Then onto the next area of rust, directly behind the strut. Choppy:

Weldy (inner skin):

Zinc primer:

Outer skin repaired and back on:

And finally one last mediocre patch:

So that's it, this wheelarch is finally done. It's a bit of a patchwork quilt under there but hey, there's a lot more metal in there than there used to be:

Will get it painted in the next few days and get cracking on the sill.

[Tepper]

Happy bank holiday 'shiters! In a turn of events that will surprise nobody, I have been welding this weekend. Actually I've been spending most of my free time trying to get this bodged up in time for the holiday on the 23rd, but I called in some mates to help and it's looking like we'll probably manage it. The welding is almost done, just a few bits left to go then painting and hopefully MOT... The following is a bit of a picture dump, I can't really be arsed to write up a description of everything but lots of welding has happened.

 

[Tepper]

Aside from the big metal glue gun, I did the timing belt/tensioners. After removing the belt, it turns out the crank seal was leaking so that was replaced as well. There was evidence that the belt has been replaced before, but was a little bit cracked so it's probably best it got changed.

[colino]

Great work, I suppose it's habit, but when I solidify anything remotely commercial, I use white or silver to show off my workings.

[Tepper]

That would be the correct colour, but I've got a big tin of chassis black that I can't see myself getting through within this lifetime so that's what it's getting!

[Back_For_More]

Just read this all the way through - excellent turnaround on it. Charity dnation price or not I'd have been weeping into my Weetabix finding that amount of rot to deal with..... (I did with the P6 downstairs and I knew that was rotten!) Also my welding is pants in comparison. I tend to see the welding gods showing how it's done and get more and more pissed off with my own efforts...... slows me down more than the actual work usually.

Hope you make the trip date and get out and about in it on time. Best of luck.......

Not been mentioned yet - but what state was the interior after all that time standing - was the van waterproof so not too bad?

[Tepper]

Yeah, I can't say it was a nice realisation finding out exactly how rusty this thing was - it confirms to the rule that there's always more rust than you think, even though you've already factored in there being more rust than you think. Then double it, just to be safe. Best thing to do with welding is just get on with it, I was a very hesitant welder to start with but what's worked for me is welding up stuff that would otherwise get scrapped. So if you fix it, great, but if you mess up or it's not brilliant then no love lost. Even if it only lasts a few years, you'll have gotten some practice and delayed the conversion of the car to bean tins. Also, full disclosure, my unit mate has quite a nice welder and that does make a huge difference...

On 4/17/2022 at 8:45 AM, Back_For_More said:

Not been mentioned yet - but what state was the interior after all that time standing - was the van waterproof so not too bad?

Strangely a window was left open but the interior appears to be fine - it's mostly wipe-clean surfaces apart from the seats and the headlining but it doesn't look/smell damp.

This has been a slog, not going to lie, but we're booked in for an MOT this afternoon so fingers crossed...

Bonus patch action further up the inner sill on the bad side:

Closing panel welded in for rear of inner sill, another panel went back in on top of this afterwards:

Most seats removed to leave room for bikes, bumper reassembled on top of fresh paintwork:

Sill in guide coat, ft. high tech extraction system for welding galv steel:

And the OSF corner reassembled, strut back in with new brake line and flexi. The nut was fused to the original steel brake pipe, so just twisted the pipe. I bought a tool that claimed to be able to flare steel in situ, so I was going to use a coupler but it broke so my long-suffering brother had to replace the whole line all the way over to the ABS pump on the other side:

[Tepper]

Spot the deliberate* error:

I used a repair panel that was meant for the middle of the sill, not for the section that goes into the arch. Therefore the shape isn't quite right, it should follow the line of the arch a bit better rather than going straight down. I fettled it as best I could, but figured it would probably be fine. I got a bit of a scare when I stuck the wheel on, but it does clear and is only about a centimetre closer than the other side if that. I was really worried that I was going to have to twat it in with a sledgehammer, ruining all my careful* filler work. So yeah, lucky escape.

I finished up at the workshop about 10 last night, I needed to get paint on yesterday and I needed to do it outside. I lost the light, so when people see the awful finish and ask 'did you paint that in the dark?!' I can honestly say yes.

Place your bets as to what it'll look like today, and for the MOT result.

[Rust Collector]

I've only just stumbled across your thread, but that's fantastic work mate - well done on getting that welding sorted. Fingers crossed for the MOT!

[Datsuncog]

Best of luck for the test today - rooting for you here.

Quote

I lost the light, so when people see the awful finish and ask 'did you paint that in the dark?!' I can honestly say yes.

Spirit of Autoshite, right there!

[N Dentressangle]

Hope you got a pass. Those welderating and fab skillz definitely deserve one - mine will never look that good!

[purplebargeken]

Missed this totally. You bloody mad hero. Hope it passes.

[High Jetter]

It's gone quiet, hope that means he's celebrating in the pub and not drowning failure sorrows.

[twosmoke300]

@Tepper

 

congratulations

 

[Tepper]

That'll do nicely. The tester asked me who had done the welding - I sheepishly admitted it was me, and he said it was some of the better welding he'd seen. Must see a lot of shit welding then! Here's the finished sill, I've left the side mouldings off as the paint's still soft. Not perfect, it's ended up a bit bumpy and concave but fuck it, I'd had enough of filler by that point:

I also changed the oil after the run to the test centre, check out how clean it is in there:

The picture doesn't show it too well but it's immaculate. I've been out and about in it today and it drives well, let's just hope it makes it to France.

 

[HaveACuppa]

Brilliant work on this. Projects like this give me a kick up the backside to learn how to weld to a half decent standard. 

Congratulations on the MOT pass too!

[320touring]

Congratulations! Top work and hope you enjoy the use of it now.

[Tepper]

France achieved!

The sliding door is a bit temperamental and it caused a degree of concern by shooting to the top of the temperature gauge and putting the temp warning light on, but it would appear the gauge is erratic and there's nothing actually wrong. So far so good 🙂

 

[High Jetter]

How are you getting home? 

[SiC]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:37 PM, Tepper said:

nasty upside down welding I've had to do

 

On 2/27/2022 at 9:37 PM, Tepper said:

The van won't fit on the 2 poster, hats off to those of you who do this on the regular.

Hats on when doing overhead welding! 🤣

I don't wear ear plug, I wear a welding hood. I've also had molten balls roll down the wrong side of the visor, hence the goggles! Also arc eye is caused by UV (UVC iirc) not the bright light. Most decent goggles block most UV and so if you do get a bit of flash around the visor, it should filter enough to not cause damage. 

[Tepper]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:18 PM, High Jetter said:

How are you getting home? 

The van, fortunately! After we made it to France I wasn't too fussed if it came back on a flatbed, but it didn't miss a beat on the way back. No further temperature gauge shenanigans, survived a good few hours near enough flat out to scrape onto an earlier ferry. Very pleased. Needs new door seals on the front doors, currently the wind noise is pretty bad. Will also need new speakers in the cab as the current ones are shot to bits.

[Datsuncog]

That's bloody impressive!

Congrats on making it there and back again in the kind of old nail that would otherwise be wearing Heinz branding if not for your intervention. Bravo!

[Jimbob McGregor]

Oh man - all that rust looked very familiar to me. I’ve got the drivers’ side upper wheelarch/inside the strut tower/NSF jacking point/both sills (much of inner and outer) plus some behind the rear bumper to do on my camper. 
not helped by the fact I need it to live in!

So very well done!

[Tepper]

Yikes, I don't think I'd have fancied trying to live in the van while I was welding it! Best of luck, seems like it's a pretty good van so hopefully worth doing for both of us.

[Tepper]

I was warned by my colleagues before I took ownership of the van that the stereo was a bit rubbish - it's got a decent bluetooth head unit but the speakers sounded horrendous. This was something of an annoyance on a 1200 mile journey, so I was pretty keen to get it sorted.

Oui, c'est bollocksed:

This van has speakers in the doors and tweeters in the dash, so I went all fancy and bought a set of component speakers with an eBay voucher. Tweeters fitted into the original housings/grilles so as not to spoil the cabin aesthetics*:

Door speakers to match:

Lovely. It certainly sounds a lot better, maybe not as much bass as I was hoping for but it'll do. Maybe I'll stick a small sub under one of the seats if I can be arsed. I also changed the door seals, I've got a trip to the Lake District coming up in a few weeks so hopefully they'll sort out the wind noise a bit.

[AnnoyingPentium]

This thread popped into my head randomly earlier today, so thought I'd catch up a bit. How goes it with this van? Presuming I haven't missed any updates elsewhere.

[Tepper]

Thanks for asking - still doing van things, I used it to help both my brother and sister move house and have done a few trips away. A little while back my brother stuck all the seats in and took it on a stag do. Also went to collect 400 litres of veg, it's a very useful thing.

The only issues recently were the handbrake stuck on and it wasn't getting up to temperature. The brakes were needing replacement anyway so I did discs, pads and handbrake shoes. All pistons and sliders were free and in good condition which is nice! It turns out the problem was a seized pivot on the handbrake linkage under the cab, but I'm glad the brakes are fully sorted now anyway. I also managed to score a gen-u-wine NOS Citroen thermostat on eBay, so that got fired in along with a coolant change. Oh and I found some loose boost hoses which were leaking oil, gave all the jubilee clips a nip up which will hopefully sort the oil leaks and maybe even lead to mo powah baby.

I didn't take any pictures of the work, but updates need pictures so this will have to do - it was taken from the cab of the van at least: