Todays efforts. Welded in the cone section that strengthens the rear torsion bar. It was a bit of pig getting the welding torch in position for some of it and the welds could’ve been a little neater but the penetration is good. I’ve drilled a hole in it so I can cavity wax it and fit a bung later. I’ll be glad not to have to do this section again!
Welded a small patch on the only floor support I didn’t end up replacing:
Redid the welds joining the front top hat to the floor (these were some of the first welds I did and penetration wasn’t great on them).
I’ve welded on two new tabs for securing the wiring loom to the chassis:
Given the floor another coat of zinc primer and a first coat of epoxy mastic. The mastic went on much better this time; I think last time I didn’t thin sufficiently and had the inlet pressure too low. Starting to look shiny:
I also cured the paint on the stove build. My mate now has this, and I think he liked it. I need one now!
Today I reinstated the guide tube for the gear coupling:
And fabbed up the first cone section for the rear torsion tube. I ended up having enough of the old cone section to get the right curve profile. Hammering it around a dolly gave me the right shape so it shouldn’t need too much more work before it’s done.
Little bit more from today. Repaired the two holes I put in the gear shift tube when I removed it (backed the holes with copper tubing to help protect the inner).
Gave it a lick of zinc primer:
Got some paint on the stove build. Just need to cure this now with it’s first burn.
I’v also started cleaning up the rear lip that the floor attaches to. It’s in good nick but has some rust which I’m treating.
With a project like this it’s often easy to forget how much you’ve done, when the list of bits to do is so vast. Today felt like a significant milestone was hit though as the last outrigger and brake cable guide tube went in, completing the majority of the frame on which the floor sits:
There isn’t much in the below picture I’ve not replaced, but the result is worth it (5 floor supports, 2 cross members, 6 outriggers/jacking points, 2 inner sills, 2 brake cable guide tubes, numerous chassis repairs).
Now I just need to finish up a few minor welding bits, get some more paint on it and get the floor in!
I got the penultimate outrigger/jacking point welded in today. Annoyingly I somehow have a nick in the wiring loom (It’s not damaged the wires inside though so I’ve just put some electrical tape around it).
I also welded the last edge of the repair piece I made to the chassis that sits behind the rear outrigger. I ended up seam welding it for strength.
I got the first coat of zinc primer on the O/S cargo floor pan today. I won’t be doing this again any time soon, it took an absolute age to strip all of the transit primer off the panel and prep it properly (hoping it’ll be worth it in the long run though).
Not looking forward to prepping the other pan, I’m tempted to leave it in transit primer and just put the epoxy mastic straight over it but I know it’ll bug me if I don’t do it properly.
The only genuine VW cargo floor panels available are designed to fit a LHD vehicle. As such a small in-fill piece is needed on the panel on the driver’s side to extend it up to the side wall for a RHD van (I ended up buying the panel from Schofield’s as it was easier).
I decided to plug weld the piece to the panel. I punched holes along the length of the piece, and gave both panels a few light coats of etch primer as once welded together no paint will get to these sections (the etch I’m using is weld-through, but I still clean up each plug weld hole prior to welding).
Clamped in place:
and plug welded:
I ended up hammering the piece down to match the dip in the floor panel; looks neat to me:
I’ve probably made more work for myself than I needed as I’ve decided to strip off all of the transit primer so I can put some zinc primer on. I made a start on this tonight, but removing all the paint on a panel this big will take a while (and it was 9:45 by the time I left so I’ll finish that up next time).
Odds and sods this week as I’m finishing up the bits needed before I can get the floor panels in.
Front belly pan out of the rust treatment bath and it looks pretty solid. There are a few pin holes in it that I need to weld shut at some point, but I’ve put some zinc primer on it for now.
Finished up the chassis repair that was holding me back from getting the final 2 outriggers in.
Epoxy mastic on the inside:
Welded shut:
And a coat of zinc primer on it.It looks miles better than what was there (note that it might look a bit short at the back, but its the other piece which is too large; you can see a nice patch straight over another rusty section. I’ll come back to do this). I’ve also epoxy mastic’d the chassis section where the outriggers will sit as I’ve done with the others. So I should be able to weld the outriggers in this week.
Made up a replacement tab for the clutch cable guide tube. The previous one had snapped off, and it was easier and better to make a new one (sorry about the blurriness!):
And finally I’ve got the RH floor pan trial fitted, and the in-fill piece to take it up to the side panel.
Next week’s job; drill a ton of holes in the floor panel ready for plug welding to the floor supports and sills, and weld the in-fill piece onto it. I made a start just before I left today.
I’ve pretty much finished this repair panel now, I’ll probably spend a bit longer on it to get the front to fit slightly better:
While the paint on the inside of the repair dries I decided to give the front pedal belly pan a bit of attention.
Before:
After an overnight soak in a bath of Deox-C (it didn’t quite fit in the plastic box I had, but this shows how good the stuff is!). This should be useable once I’ve finished cleaning it up, patched a few pinholes and given it a coat of paint.
