Decided that for the £16 i might as well replace it as there was nothing really solid left enough to weld too. Chopped it out with the grinder with the safety guard removed. Just needs the edges grinding back. Quite suprised how solid the chassis is behind it. Shame about the bit under the reinforcement bit that welds to the underside of the chassis rail as i butchered it with a chisel getting the remains off.
New outrigger arrived in the post today. Too wet and windy to go and lie under the bus to see how well it does or doesn't fit though. Took me ages to work out why the flange that meets up with the main chassis rail was not in the same place on both sides. Forgot the chassis rails taper out slighly after the rear jacking point. Made a replacement section of outer sill from an offcut of beetle door skin.
Made a bit of inner sill. Its a bit oversize as i couldn't be doing with going under the bus in the rain to measure its height. Bit of tophat folded up to replace the bit i've had to cut out to get to a rust hole behind it in the inner sill.
Got the inner sill welded up and looking sort of OK. Middle had a wee strip welded along the bottom. Before i welded the outer sill section i made into place. Lost part of the seam between the sill and side panel as it has come apart so i had to weld it back together again. Not got any paint left for it so it's gonna have to stay in Bonda primer for the time being.
Removed the end of the tophat to get to a section of rot in the end of the inner sill. Gave stuff a coat of vactan rust convertor. Found some original green paint under the underseal. Don't think this mudflap is gonna last much longer. Always fancied a set with Yosemite Sam on them though.
Bit of sill behind the tophat welded up and painted with bonda primer. Painted inside the tophat too then gave it a quick spray of matt black. Outrigger welded in. Need to grind down the welds if i can get the grinder in. I gave up using the finger grinder as i kept snapping the belts on it. Just the two little bits i chopped out to slip the outrigger over the handbrake conduit to weld back in.
Found a small hole in the bottom of the inner arch which corresponds with the level of the floor under the back seat. I've just filled it with seam sealer and undersealed over it at the moment as i don't have time to strip out the interior to get to the corner of the floor.
Repairs to rear inner valance finished, a new engine bay seal fitted and some new R9 fuel lines as the last set only lasted 2 years before cracking. Off to Wooler in Northumberland for a few nights soon and the weather has been pants up here. Hopefully it'll be a little dryer over the East side of the pennines.
It looks mostly dry according to the 10 day forcast but it pretty much changes on a daily basis so who knows what it'll do. I think cumbria has got a bit of hurricane harvey on its way which will hopefully die out before crossing the pennines.
Beat the side cover back into shape after catching it on a post and flattening it a few months back. Bolted back on it looks nearly the right shape again.
Started working on the old bus today. Little bit of welding required here: Had a poke around underneath with a big screwdriver and created a 50p sized hole in the drivers inner door step. Not too bad to repair. The sills and outriggers are all solid and so is the inner front valance and arches. I did find this though. I'd repaired the other side a few years back so I suppose it's not too surprising it's rotted this side too. Blocked drain holes and full of water.
