It should be tucked inside the B pillar (look at the B pillar further up and you’ll see what I mean). You may have problems fitting the Front Arch with your current arrangement. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It should be both tucked inside and level with at the same time - joggle the edge you're going to tuck in. Not mine but like this.
I made the mistake, that I fitted a new B post and the book shows the panel going over the top, didn’t realise they meant if the panel wasn’t already fitted .... I will learn, mistakes will happen.
Done some more on the van, corrected my error, hopefully got it right this time. Almost finish that area, just need to finish the top off, before continuing any further.
Got the welder sorted so tacked the panel from inside and seam sealed it. So it’s slowly getting back together.
Remove the rock and roll bed so I could repair the rear floor, just got to sort a replacement part of the floor and the inside part is done , next repair the back arch , then door step.
Haven’t done much to the dub for a while, but managed to get a few hours on it over the last couple of days. One side almost done now. Next job is too tackle the front wheel step/arch. Removed the front seat and carpets, omg the floor is such a mess, so that will all need doing too. Here the latest pic of the drivers side.. Getting there now
That b pillar sandwich caused me all kinds of grief. I had scabbed it all together years ago and when I repaired the wheel arch recently I had to pick it all apart and make it something like the original to restore the body lines. That little bump on the bulkhead in your photo is supposed to be there. I lost some of those details when I first did it and in this last go around, didn’t feel compelled to replicate some of the seams that didn’t have any function other than for the original manufacturing. Nice job though. Fudged body lines jump right out at me when I look at a bus. oops. Was referring to the wrong photo, but I think you’ve sorted it out.
Having done much on the Bay lately, but got a few hours on it today. Removed the door and started cutting of the drivers side door step. Front corner looks a mess, so think there is going to more to rebuild there. ( need to research what needs to be replaced there. ) Floor is going to need replacing also, once I have the arch in the right place. Really would like to see this back on the road this year.
isnt their a vw parts manual that somebody has as it shows all the diagrams of how the metal and frame all fits together
Got a little spare time today, so had a crack at sorting the drivers floor area ready for the new arch to be fitted. The floor itself was a patch on patch on patch over the top of rusty metal... omg So removed the patched to see what the damage was and to be honest, it’s not that bad underneath (part floor panel on order) The A post hinge pillar bottom is a mess, so going to have a go at prefabbing those parts ready to take the new arch. The lower corner area was made up of filler, no metal present and the deformation panel was found to be full of holes, so that will also need to be addressed. so that’s the next few days sorted while I await receipt of more new panels.
Got a few more hours on the camper. Starting removing the rot in the lower A panel , floor and Deformation Panel. Suggestion please: should I do a local repair on the defo panel and rebuilt the lower A panel or we you recommend a new defo panel and possible inner panel Can’t decide on the best approach for this.
I started off thinking .. repair but in the end I realised there were holes and un-weldable thin metal at the top and bottom of the inner panel, and the deformation panel was going to be a pain to reconstruct, as so much of it was awkward shapes, which I had lost in the rusty chaos. I also decided to put a time limit on my work, as I wanted the bus back on the road. Schofields lower A pillar repairs were quite good but the thicker metal is both good for lasting longer and a pain because it cant be easily tweaked into shape. At £50 each its a fair amount for three bits of metal . Also the visible part of the repair where it forms the door frame has a slightly different corner radius to the original pillar. The Brazilian inner panel was £220, the deformation panel about £80. But neither new panel is a perfect fit, despite coming from Brazil with the inner panel even being a VW part. The inner panel doesnt fit the chassis legs exactly - this didnt affect me as I took out the outer two ends of the legs as they were holed, so part of the new legs went into whatever sized gap was left. Where you have a "window" at the end of the chassis leg through the 2mm inner panel, this was a sign on mine that the sides of the chassis leg were also about to rot through - the outer legs have no drainage gaps where they meet the panel, the inner legs do have gaps so they dont rot as fast. The new deformation panel top flange is too tall, and really the whole panel is too tall - I could barely get the bottom edge of the inner panel against the flat part of the bottom edge of the deformation panel until I cut about a 10mm strip off the top of the deformation panel.
