my 1971 danburyfalia pop top project

[Guest]

the CE beam looks excellent. what PCD are the audi calipers? did they fit straight on the spindle? nice work btw 8)

 

[andewilson]

the audi discs fit straight onto the 1971 hubs as they are 112mm pcd. the calipers however require the the mounting holes machining. as im going for dropped spindles i will be waiting a while until cool air bring out their own cast dropped spindles till i get them machined.

 

[andewilson]

spent an hour a night this week tickling carp repairs off the bottem of my van. used loads of 1mm cutting discs and wire brushes. i'm going to replace the top hats, outriggers etc. but first im going through the central chassis sections replacing huge chunks of them. started at the back with the bit around the handbrake cable

borrowing a fantastic welder from a mate it took a bit of setting up due to its power (you could weld 20mm thick steel girders together with the thing) but it does come with a huge bottle of argoshield so smooth as f##k when welding with it.

 

[Camperdan]

Yet more great work.... top job!

 

[Lucky boy]

Very impressed.

 

[andewilson]

bit more projress this last week. loving the new welder. boc argoshield is god. i'd never weld with co2 again. this is v smooth. welded the complete n/s central chassis rail. i know theres not a great deal of original metal left but i'm after a very solid bus.

do you guys grind all your welds back.
not sure whether to grind back smooth for an untouched look or leave the welds on for strenth.
i wish i'd got this welder at the start. i now keep looking back at my previous work and thinking this could look better. but i have to stop myself as i'll never get the thing finished

 

[Guest]

grind them back, it wont affect the strenght of weld at all. With the type of welder your using the weld will be stronger than the surrounding plate anyway :wink:

I have a Portamig 185 and its the bollox when it comes to welding thin sheet or chassis section, well worth the £600. A good welder makes all the difference

 

[Haveacamper]

A good welder makes all the difference

is that referring to the machine or the user??? haha

good work there, looks really good, top quality welding there mate.

 

[pinheaduk]

some cracking work on the chassis there dude

keep it up

 

[andewilson]

been doing a bit more work the camper over the last week. bought a schofields slding door track inner sill at stanford and had a go at fitting it. i was a bit disapointed to find that it didnt quite match up. i cut the old one off and seam welded the new one behind the bottem track bit to hide any welds so i can leave the full weld on for strength. i was crapping myself when i did it as it is apparently the hardest panel to get right according to the guy i rang at schofields. measure ten times cut once.

i plug welded some strips of steel to the old sill stub as you can see in the photo. this gave me something to clamp the new sill to so i could slide it in and out to get the correct gap om 33mm for the door guide to slide in.

then i buffed the hell out of the bottem of the van ready for inner, outer sills and riggers jack points etc.

 

[easy]

Looking really good chap 8) nice welds 8)

 

[Haveacamper]

this is real good stuff. although i didnt want to replace my middle sill becasue of the reasons you mentioned with the door dropping, it looks like i will have to do the similar to mine. this wil be a grweat help so thankyou for keeping your thread detailed

NaFe

 

[andewilson]

cheers. i removed the guide wheel from the sliding door to slide it up and down the track as i was fitting it to keep check on it. i also cut a peice of steel to 33mmso i could butt the new steel up to it when tacking it on. i did it with my bus on its side but i think it would probably be easier with it upright as i had to do the welding upside down as i had no friends around at the time to help me drop it back down

 

[Haveacamper]

hey mate, just wondered where you got your middle sill replacement from.

i popped down the van last night and started to attack the sliding door sills. after cutting out the outer and inner sill i have found that my middle sill is also looking a shadow of its former self. i've got a website the i posted in someones thread in the tech forum about fitting new sills, and the chap mentioned about not all of the middle sill being present on the middle sill replacement. he talks about the top lip of the guide runner not being there. it does look like quite an old site so not sure if schofields or someone would make a complete one.

Nafe

Edit: it does look by some of your pics that you have both the bottom and top track lips

 

[andewilson]

hey mate, just wondered where you got your middle sill replacement from.

i popped down the van last night and started to attack the sliding door sills. after cutting out the outer and inner sill i have found that my middle sill is also looking a shadow of its former self. i've got a website the i posted in someones thread in the tech forum about fitting new sills, and the chap mentioned about not all of the middle sill being present on the middle sill replacement. he talks about the top lip of the guide runner not being there. it does look like quite an old site so not sure if schofields or someone would make a complete one.

Nafe

Edit: it does look by some of your pics that you have both the bottom and top track lips

hi you are correct, the replacement sill does not come with the top lip. i cut the original one off just below (1mm below) where the bottem lip horizontally comes out. then i cut the new panel and butt jointed the new to the old. hence the reason you cant see the weld in the photo. i did it this way as i didnt want to have to grind welds off or have penetration welds in the vissible part of the track. as the spot welded lip of the bottem track conceals the reverse side of the welded joint. get your grinder out and give it a tickle, i dont think many people take on the sliding track. even the guy at schofields advised me not to bother.

 

[andewilson]

few more bits of progress on the van over the week. did nothing over the weekend as i went to the bus stopover and got drunk. and camped for the first time at a vw show (albeit in my water cooled sharan)

 

[leon]

Very impressive work, matey!

 

[Alfie]

Just look at that welding 8) Love this thread, looking forward to the next update.

 

[andewilson]

cheers alfie. it was looking at your thread that inspired me to do all this welding and really go to town on it.

it was my 34th birthday on friday and i had the whole day off work to spend it burning myself welding the van.
i've nearly finished the welding underneath. fitting the outer sill on the sliding door side was an arse due to its flat contour rather than a curve to meet the b pillar. i bought a new b pillar outer as the first one i fitted was a bit too low down so had to cut through my new wheel arch to cut it off which wasnt very nice.

also removed the rear spring arm etc for a good clean up before i fit my ce plates
i was a bit worried about how it would come off but it was really easy

i also bought a new bit of metal at the bus stopover last week as my plans have changed a bit. i want my van to be a full on resto cal dripping with goodies, this meant that the grill i had previously frenched out is coming back as i just have to have a delux grill trim

 

[Haveacamper]

Keep up the good work mate. some more good bits of welding there.

this thread is proving to be a very good point of reference for me. It is very relevant to what im replacing and its done to the standard that i'd really like to replicate

you have a pm

NaFe