Hello all, When changing my engine lid hinge panel, I got stuck when I realised that my D pillars at the back of the bus are completely rusted from the top of the bus to the floor! Some photos showing my current position: It's also worth noting the side of that panel looks like this: (not my welding!!) It's an identical situation on the other side! So I looked online to find a replacement D pillar, but it looks like they cost silly amounts of money and are ridiculously hard to find in stock. So I went out and found two of these for an absolute bargain: (one per side obviously!) I've already decided to change the whole quarter because of the shoddy welding done on the bottom corner, and the rust in the wheel arch. However I would love some advice in the following areas before I start! Has anybody got any pictures of what the top of the D pillar looks like? What's the best way of maintaining a reference when I cut away the corner (and most probably the end of the chassis leg that has the engine mount in) Where there are multiple layers of metal to be joined (pillars etc) how do I weld the bits that are not visible when the two bits are offered up? Has anybody done this job before and got any advice?! I could really appreciate some! I'd appreciate any advice! Thanks in advance, CollinsCamper
Swage and above looks ok to me??? Bit of rust in the seal channel isn't the end of the world. This is a very hard job (above the swage). Unless the gutter is holed, which is unheard of on a Westy, the top part of the pillar should be as good as the bit poking out you've shown. Think very hard before you hack the whole corner off, it's no joke, to be avoided if at all possible because it's impossible to weld without also hacking off the interior panel which BTW woul also show holes if there was a problem with the top of the pillar.
I'd have got one of these which would have done the job if you hadn't got so grinder happy on the outer skin. I's still go this way and patch the extra you cut out. .
I'm not with the bus at the moment (I can check later in the week) but from what I remember, it's not just a bit of rust; you can actually see into the D pillar from the seal channel. The previous owner had a repair done where they just filled the rust hole and polished the rusty turd . I even pulled out a towel that they shoved in there for the filler to stick to. I had to cut an inspection hatch because I could see that the D pillar was in a bad state, and I wanted to see how far the problem went. I can assure you there was no part of me that was happy about cutting that hole . I think generally that's a very good philosophy to to use, however the last time I used a donor piece, I removed lots of good metal from the donor to fit the whole in the bus I had made; only to find that I needed some of that metal I'd turned into scrap! I just want to make sure that I'm being intelligent with my donor material that's already in great shape
So I went back to the garage yesterday to start removing interior from the rear of the van, and took some more pictures of the seal channel: Not ideal, but I do like a challenge! It still blows my mind that people bodge these vans so badly. I pulled so much filler out of that hole. The previous owner was an elderly gentleman who paid to have this van "renovated" and then they just plugged all the holes with filler and gave it a fresh coat of shiny paint. *Rant over* Has anybody tackled anything similar to this before?
Take the paint and filler off the skin starting at that hole across the corner until to hit good metal. You need to see the extent of it before you can decide what to do.
One useful technique is to tap at the surface of the metal fairly gently with a ball pein hammer. If the surface dents remove the metal as it is confetti, and you will only be able to fill it, welding will just be setting fire to the thin metal.. This works on rusty painted blisters too. You find the thin patches surrounding them without inadvertently thinning the metal by going beserk with a flap wheel..
Or just use a poly abrasive disc which will whip off paint, filler and surface rust leaving the steel intact. Flap wheels for paint and filler is silly.
Quick update: I've been using a wire wheel to remove paint and filler. (So so much filler) Here's what the RHS looks like with some more paint removed: I think I might have to! My plan is to brace the current structure by welding in some angle iron, so that when I cut out that pillar it doesn't sag and ruin all of my reference points. Did you say you were doing something similar at the moment?
Update: I've removed some more paint and assessed what's solid metal and what's shiny rust. I've marked up where I want to cut to swap over the corner. The permanent marker might be a little hard to see: Next steps are to brace the tailgate and engine hatch and then get cutting!
In the past I've butt welded the donor parts in because I was told that was best practice (no chance of moisture being trapped in overlapping panels) but this is such a big piece to weld in, it's going to be tough to get that 1mm gap all around my donor piece! Is using a joggler to offset the panels for welding considered bad practice? Am I going to end up with rust bubbling through from my joins?
Given how much of the corner you're having to cut out I'd go for the full panel. It'll be a neater job.
Yes, up to the seam and roof. Is yours a panel van? If so you can weld the rear quarter to the corner from inside the van, and the inner panel to the corner through the vents. I'll find the post on my resto where I did the same job.
Here you go. Corner off: https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/a-restoration-for-iris.53455/page-43#post-1369500 Trial fit: https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/a-restoration-for-iris.53455/page-43#post-1369503 Welded in: https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/a-restoration-for-iris.53455/page-45#post-1383324
