My 72 Danbury

[Camperdan]

Thanks Johnny I appreciate your response.

That's kinda how I had originally planned on approaching it but as it is such a large and visual panel it scares me a little and I really don't want to make a hash of it - so thought I'd put up the question first to either confirm or condemn my guessed approach, before I started.

Cheers

 

[Camperdan]

Ok, update time.

Been on holiday so it won't seem like a lot but I have now repaired the lower front panel:

And as you will see also had to cut out and replace a section that had rotted through behind the front number plate.
I seem welded the lower section right across in small alternating sections which still caused some distortion but nothing too serious that a skim of filler shouldn't fix.

Regarding the right hand front arch - you'll probably recall that because my van is a crossover I was unhappy with the fit of the later 73-on arch. Despite many many hours trying to make this fit..... I finally threw in the towel and located another NOS arch to match the one I was fortunate enough to have already had for the left hand side.
So for something you won't see very often here is my 'pair' of 1972 one-year-only NOS front arches - the phrase 'rocking horse sh*t' comes to mind!

A truly wonderful sight to behold - for me anyway :wink:

Here is a picture of the arch offered up and although there is still a very slightly larger gap at the bottom of the door than I would like..... it fits perfectly with the floor the B post and the A post...... FINALLY!

Since the above picture I tacked it into place and will post some final pictures when fully welded in.

 

[Camperdan]

Ok.... it seems like an absolute age but the RH Arch is now all securely welded on, welds ground back, seam sealed, bare metalled and acid/etch primed.... woo hoo!

Particularly pleased with the lip where the arch meets the A pillar and is then folded between the front panel.... think I got this looking pretty factory:

And here with primer:

Now it's time to start the other side!!!!!! :shock:

 

[Camperdan]

Ok.... ever had that feeling that you've bitten off more than you can chew ....... getting a little scared now.... :shock:

The B pillar is rotten all the way up past the tub:

The upper and lower track for the sliding door is still intact but the rest has gone:

The bottom of the C pillar was dust:

Here I've removed the complete front arch too:

I knew this side would be more complicated because of the sliding door etc, which is why I started with the offside to get a bit more experience and confidence, however.... I never guessed the nearside would be so so much more rotten than the offside was?..... I guess it's because it's the side that spends more time splashing through all the puddles by the kerbside??????

Have my work cut out for me here as I'm having to cut loads off to get back to any decent metal..... just hope there is enough left? Also, I'm finding the replacement middle sill with the track for the sliding door quite a daunting task that I'm not looking forward to..... will the sliding door ever close again I wonder?

Hopefully I'll be posting some pics soon with things looking a lot better? :roll:

 

[Camperdan]

Been a while since my last update so here goes:

Was quite daunted and unsure of how to tackle the near side middle sill with the track for the sliding door.... so while I was thinking about it I set about painting the centre section of the underside with POR15.

Once I'd run out of silly un-productive things to do and realised that I couldn't avoid the middle sill anymore.... I finally decided that I would not completely replace it but leave the original track in place and then replace just the lower rotten half. I did however have to cut in a few new inches of metal at the front of the track as this was rusty and needed replacing too. I then seam welded on the lower half of the new sill on the outside and strengthened this further with intermittent strips of weld on the inside edge too:

Next I had to re-construct the non-existent lower couple inches of the C post. I did this by making a complex mock up out of several pieces of cardboard, then transferred these shapes to some steel plate, and welded/assembled it in sections until it was complete..... it doesn't look much but took ages!!:

Next job was the inner sill, this was plug welded through the holes in the cargo floor from where the spot welds had been drilled out and also to the middle sill via a load of holes I pre-drilled along the lower edge, and then finally to all the out-riggers etc:

Here with the welds ground back and some paint:

Finally added the rear jacking point:

Also did a small repair to the rear inner wheel arch and the front chassis rail but forgot to get pictures of these.

Next part to tackle is the nearside front top hat, outrigger and jacking point before the next dreaded repair..... the non existent B post!!! :shock:

 

[Camperdan]

Hi all, just enough time for another progress update before I retire myself to a comfy armchair for several helpings of crimbo turkey!

The nearside front top hat was rotten in passed the chassis rail so the only way to access this for replacement was to carefully remove a section of cargo floor that I could put back in later:

Here you can see where it was rotten up to:

And here with the offending part cut out:

Next job was to put in a new section of top hat, which I then seam welded at each end to the remains of the original top hat, plus the new inner sill and then plug welded to the cargo floor:

Next I plug welded on the nearside front outrigger and jacking point:

Then grinding back and neatening the welds before putting a coat of zinc paint on:

Before putting the small section of cargo floor back in I needed to start repairing the bulkhead/inner arch panel. I will do this in sections as I still need to repair the outer area by the B pillar but first wanted to get some strength back in to the bulkhead:

And here from the other side once butt welded and the weld ground back:

And finally with a quick coat of zinc paint to keep things protected until I can carry on after Xmas:

Still lots to do with the B post but it's slowly coming together!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Dan

 

[gninnam]

:shock: WOW - Another cracking job there!!!!!!

Enjoying what you are doing and kep up the good work 8)

 

[Tofufi]

You're doing a really cracking job there, the quality of the repairs looks excellent 8)

Keep up the good work after Christmas, probably a well earned break

 

[ant]

nice work

 

[Camperdan]

Thanks guys!

 

[Araon]

Looking good fella looking good... :wink:

 

[Ivor]

I'd thought my cargo door was scrap until I saw this thread, good inspiration here.


Finished your turkey yet?
Good, come on then, lets see some more.............. :wink: :lol:

 

[james_stan]

The problem with this thread is that it makes me too embarassed to post pictures of my repairs - (Dan is) too damned neat :wink: !

All the best

James

 

[vwaddict]

have to say dan your doing a spectacular job but all that welding makes me glad i bought a californian import 37 yr old and never welded good luck with your resto cant wait to see the finished bus best wishes for the new year

 

[HotVWheels]

Excellent craftmanship, Dan!

 

[Camperdan]

Thanks again for the comments guys and Happy New Year to all Early Bayers!

Been away for a few weeks but since I've been back I got a couple more repairs done.... so just a small update:

Welded back in the small section I cut out of the cargo floor and cleaned up with the flap disc:

And then plug welded and neatened the inner section of the inner arch repair to add some strength to the bulk head, as the next job is to cut out the lower section of the B post:

I will add the remainder of the inner arch repair panel once the post is fixed - perhaps bit of a patchwork quilt way of tackling it but I never like having too much cut off all at once as I worry about things weakening and moving etc? :roll:

 

[Shaggy]

Wow! that is some great work you are doing there

 

[dandaz]

Once I'd run out of silly un-productive things to do

Classic one liner....:lol: :lol:


Excellent neat job ,well done... 8)

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Some excellent work there fella.I did the same thing and repaired the sliding door track lower section.I actually bought a repair panel for it and it looked a bit scarey cutting the old one off so I done what you did.I wish I'd got NOS front arches too,those patterns really are c**p.

 

[Camperdan]

Finally worked up the bottle to chop out the entire lower section of the B Post... so after measuring several (hundred) times and bracing the roof..... off it came:

Then as quickly as possible I measured up and cut to size my replacement genuine inner B post and tacked this in with the added security of a sleeve that I welded inside the pillar to strengthen the join, still need to fully seam weld the complete join and then grind back/tidy the welds but I'll do that once the outer is all on also and I'm happy it is all in the correct position etc:

Here's another shot from the inside, I was pleased with the fit and how it lined up:

Still need to fit the outer B Post section but for this weekend I was just happy to have got a new solid piece back in to re-support the roof, which after final measurements, all appears to have remained where VW intended..... for now at least!

Sorry about the quality of the pictures.. I forgot my camera so these are off the phone :roll: