It might be worthwhile making sure the welding course covers welding thin metal sheets such as our van skins. I've heard the courses can sometimes concentrate on the heavy stuff which I'm told is easier than our 1mm stuff.
Thanks for the heads up! The course says it's applicable for people wanting to go into the automotive industry, so I made the assumption there may be some amount of working with thinner sheet metal, but I'll get in touch with them to double check, good shout
Been at it again today. Got the sketchy wiring somebody added in from the leisure battery out, curtain rails off, the front window out, head lining off in one piece and steering column out. Felt very grateful to the rust gods that the steering column clamp to the steering box pinion came undone with minimal effort! Plus is that all the glass is the original VW toughened stuff minus is looks like nearly all the seals are original too (aka turned to stale bread and probs letting some sneaky water in). Also noticed the inside of the front arches have what looks like a bad case of acne from some awfully welded patches. Excited to see what brown delights lurk beneath... ! Apologies for the dim photos too. I'm working in near darkness at the mo as there's no lighting in the garage, as my mums partner is yet to hook it up. Feels kinda cosy thought tbh. And a quick pic of the worst of the crusty stuff round the window... Will be back to it in a few weeks when I get some more space in ma work schedule.
Loving this Joe! Best of luck with it all. Is that your dad in the first photo? Looking forward to reading further progress posts.
Thanks @ginger ninja! Appreciate the good energy Nah, he's my mum's partner called Steve. The first photo is after he helped me to take the roof off, and the garage door off so we could squeeze the van into the garage through the narrow doorway. Was a bit of a mission so we were feeling chuffed aha
Managed some more tinkering today. Spent the first half of the day confirming the bulk of which panels I will need. Placed an order with Autocraft for some new front arches, and Schofields for a bunch of other bits to make the most of their Black Friday deals... Managed to get the front air flaps off and brake, accelerator and clutch pedals and linkages off. Also the handbrake assembley. Small progress but enjoying taking it slow. Snacking on lots of delicious rust pudding under the bus whilst hammering the crap out of the brake pedal lever to drift out the end which connects to the master cylinder Got my work mate Lydney hanging out as usual too
When you get to replacing panels, do an area at a time while you learn not to cut into a corner you can't get the welder in or grinder in to clean up, while you learn to preserve folds because you can't make them by welding on a corner and grinding to shape, while you learn when cutting panels to make very shallow cuts so you're not also hacking through structures behind them, while you learn...
Haha love this @Zed Lots and lots to learn for sure...! Was planning on doing plenty of practice on different crappy bits of metal I have lying around, but the precision grinding may prove a bit trickier to practice...! I have a dremmel tho with some diamond bits which make light work of tool steel which I was planning on using for any thin, delicate bits. I'm sure no matter how much I prep tho there will be some Homer Simpson moments I accept my fate...!
Panel fitting looks "easy" but it's precision work in reality. Cut one out, fit one and see for yourself. Every panel has many aspects which must all be correct or you might end up with a bulgy thing with doors that don't fit properly.
All excellent advice, that I wish someone had given to the guy that did the sliding door on my van. Then I wouldn't need to cut the bottom off and do it again!
To be honest I always thought it looked crazy complicated ahaha. The main encouragement that makes me think I can have a go at it is all the wonderful info and support on here! So thanks for the tips as always Seems like it's a case of measure 50,000 times, weld once
No, no, no! Don't weld once! Or, to be precise, don't weld all at once. With panels, heat is your enemy. It will make your lovely repair all wobbly if you let the heat build up. So tack in place then build up the join in stages, to keep the heat build up to a minimum.
Ahh no worries! I didn't mean weld once in the literal sense Otherwise I'd end up with a bus that looks like it's made of chocolate that's been left in the sun, as you've mentioned. Appreciate your concern though my friend!
More tinkerings... Nothing massively exciting tbh. Feel like I've spent most of the day labelling cables in the engine bay... but, front lights and indicators are out, engine lid's off and rear lights disconnected and all labelled up. Still enjoying the plod tho. Appreciate everyone who's chipping in with bits of advice and encouragement. Finding lots of useful tips and inspiration on the other resto threads, definitely helps me to be present and enjoy it. Jean having a rusty cry after I removed their eyeballs... Anything from the cafe...? Lightbulb Latte? Underseal smoothie? Goodie bags from the day:
Don't be tempted to chop all the rot out in one go, if you do the structure may move and you will lose reference points
Thanks for the tip @bagpus ! I don't think my brain would be able to handle several sections at once anyway tbh haha. I've got the Fletcher Giles book which has a few warnings about this kinda thing too.
Managed a wee bit more today before heading back to Bristol. Got the tailgate door card off to get at the wiring for this small light bracket on the outside of the tailgate. Does anyone know what this used to do...? Fog light...? Also chopped open the remains of the rusty wiring loom tube to get at the loom running to the rear. Wanna get it out to sort out some dodgy splicing by previous owners, as well as not melt it accidentally whilst welding. Thinking I might also add in the wires I'll need for the oil pressure sender and cylinder head temp gauge I'll be fitting once everything starts going back together (who knows when that will be!)
That would have been the original number plate light, your bus had a spare wheel on a drop down bracket fitted by Devon and a square number plate up there!
Mine had the same number plate mou ting but wasn't aware of the spare wheel, I always thought the spare wheel mounted to the front panel was new from Devon, or did the have 2 spare wheels? Good Luck with the resto Joe what a great idea with the charity. I've made the mistake of trying to cut too much rot out in one go so echo the sentiments of the more experienced on here.
