Decided to have a go at fabricating a repair panel for the top right hand rear corner. So far so good for such a complex piece I’m pretty pleased with it. A lot more to do on it but slow and steady wins the day so they say.
There must be piles of these knocking about peoples garages from when a whole corner was £80 and if you wanted more than the lower 9" it was the best thing to buy. I used to have a few myself, cut off just below the swage to fix things like this. Anything welded where there would have been a fold is tricky, I wouldn't expect it to last, but maybe that's more a reflection of my skills. I'd try a wanted add, you'd get a better end result...or is that the inner part? Nice compound curves BTW, very difficult.
I have tried a wanted ad. Thought I would give it ago in the mean time. This is the outer I’m removing the bad section tomorrow to see what’s left of the top of the d post but I suspect not a lot. If nothing else this patch will give me some internal dimensions to aim for with the d post repair if there not a lot left to measure.
Quite a productive morning cut out the old inner panel and outer panel above the tail gate and replaced. Just one plate on the left corner to do and all the roof supports are done. Cut out the right hand corner at the top. The inner D post is missing it’s top corner which I suspected so will need to fab and weld in that before I decide what to do with the corner I may end up replacing the whole thing. This really is the van that keeps on giving. Still loving it though. I would have finished but the brushes went in the grinder and I ran out of mig wire♂️
Was hoping to have this finished this weekend, but my sciatica has flared up so standing and bending has become difficult. Health wise this year has been a bad one. But having Beryl has spurred me on. I’ll get there, I think!
I think a few quid invested in a "shrinker /Stretcher " would be super helpful and you can sell on afterwards
Borrowing my mate's shrinker/stretcher was a game changer for me when restoring the baja. Even a fool like me could use it.
Hi guy, unfortunately I’ve not been able to work on Beryl over the last month or so due to poor mental and physical health but beginning to feel better now. Managed to find a replacement top rear right hand corner for £40 so will begin prepping this week for replacement. Then I need to decide if I’m going to keep the side windows or return it back to a panel van. I’m currently thinking panel van with a window in sliding door. The layout in the back will just be seating/bed in some form, no sink or stove as when camping we will either have a drive away awning or just use our air beam tent. I do have the side windows which are ally framed sliders that have been modified to fit the curve of a panel van cut out. Don’t know if this was a diy mod or by a conversion company. They basically have had curved bits added to the ally frame. Decisions decisions!
Sorry to hear about your poor health John. Hope that you've able to find enough rest and support for yourself and that working on Beryl can be a welcome and enjoyable activity. The re-panel conversion sounds cool. Would make a cosy space in the rear half of the bus I imagine!
Nice one! Keep it up mate Hope the sciatica has chilled out a bit for you. Great work on the roof sections as that looks like tricky stuff! Did you have to add any supports to the frame to stop everything from shifting with the roof off?
Yes mate I welded in some bracing and a frame to help line up the replacement roof section. Nerve racking stuff but not as difficult as I was expecting. Lots of measurements were taken
Removed the drivers and passenger doors at the weekend. Quite a bit of work needed on both. The only section that concerns me is the frame section that sits behind the bottom of the wheel arch section. How have people tackled this before?
Started on the doors tonight, this is going to be a long process but so far I’m happy with the results. Metal was shaped with a vice and 10mm slither of oak!
Very slowly the door repairs are coming together two different sizes of box section cut and welded together to make the inner frame to the correct sizes
