Rear Wheel Arch Polished

Finally found the time to get the van's rear wheel arch paintwork finished.

As per the previous post shows the paint process I was left with a orange peel rough surface.

To finish it off I wet sanded with 1200 Wet with soap. As I was flatting it back I say a few spots of primer to show through.

Worried that I was cutting back too far I switch to using a G compound instead. I had purchased G3 but they sent G6 and also G10.

As I was worried about cutting back too far I went for the G10 compound as it is a finer cutting compound.

I started 2 passes by hand and then dug out the old buffering machine. Lots of water and gentle cutting back the process started to work.

Gave a good rinse off the compound to ensure it was not left on the surface.

I then polished a wax in. I am please with the shine. Yes the reflection is still not mirror finished but could cut back again using the G6 and repeat G10 at a later date.

Engine - Oil Cooler leak

Small oil leak found after a trip on Holiday in Norfolk. Did a 500 trip and halfway through found a small puddle of oil from the left hand side of the engine.

Managed to take a photo and found i was a small leak from the bottom of the oil cooler.

The Brazilian UGA engine has a single port oil cooler mounted in a doghouse. Strange and odd to use a single port but I suspect it was a case of the design transferring from Germany -> Mexico -> Brazil transfer. It also has 8mm diameter oil lines so had to use 10-8mm adapter seals on the oil cooler mounting adapter. Then 8mm single port under the cooler.

Tightened the nuts up a little to try to stop the leak and set off homeward. 100 miles to get home. A little leak but not enough to cause any major breakdowns. Well done Betty for getting us home!

So this weekend I pulled the engine out. Major heavy rain forecast and did not fail to disappoint!

Party tent put up to stem the flow!

Camping chair to relax on. Buckets to capture the rain from the roof gutters in a vain attempt to keep the floor dry!

Hardboard flooring to make the jack easier to travel on and try to keep the worst of the water off!

Engine ready to come out!

Engine out!

The ATV jack is just great. Slides under on lowest setting without having to jack the van up. Large board to hold the engine level and flat. I have to do this solo so makes life so easy to pull back and slide the engine out.

Fan housing removed and think the two black 8mm single port seals were to blame. The foam is to seal the cooler. Some strange dent and marks on the cooler but suspect this might have been when struggling to align the fan housing.

The black seals were quite hard. Not really flexible. I think the green, white and red color ones are better and the black ones (from Machine 7) are quite hard.

No supplier had stock so the alternative ones so had to resort to ordering the same ones from Machine 7.

The cooler and the mounting was removed so I can torque the bolts up. New seals fitted with a small amount of sealant (I know its not recommended but did them dry last time!

Taking the mounting adapter off allowed me to torque down to the correct torque. The mounting adapter bolts you cannot get a torque ratchet on so had to guess but the adapter to case seals did not leak and are more flexible.

Fingers crossed!

Refitted the fan housing and was going to refit on the Saturday but had to do the supermarket shopping!

After a night to torrential rain! The engine was a little wet on Sunday morning. Managed to get cracking but very wet!

Engine installation was very tricky as water poring down your overalls was not good. Alignment was hard but after 2 attempts the engine slid in.

Then connect up all electrical, fuel and cables. All went smoothly. Even stopped raining by lunchtime!


Fired the engine up and went for a drive. No leaks yet!

Fingers crossed it has solved it. I have been on VW classic parts and order the OEM seals at 0.79 euros each but with a massive 40 euro delivery they are the most expensive parts I have ever ordered. On the look out for some Elring red 8mm seals when they get stock in the UK.

I think the black ones will hold with the sealant and correct torque but not sure. Time will tell.

Bodywork - Part 4 - Repair Patches

After the last part 3 - Cutting each repair area could be assessed and CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) templates can be made.

These CAD models can then be transferred to sheet steel, cut and folded to fit the exact CAD model.

The metal repair patches are the trial fitted and fettle to fit. Once a good fit is found then they can be primed with weld trough and ready for the welding in part 5.

Front wheel arch / Sill

Nice simple patch for this to close up the sills. This will be one of the last panels I will weld in as it allow me to get pain into the sills.

Inner sill front

Simple patch. I decided to go down onto jacking point to give it some extra strength.

Inner sill rear

This area was a mess. There are two holes on the inner. either side of the jacking point.

The worst area is at the end of the middle sill and inner sill where they meet the wheel tub. The sides and of each and also the bottom need to be recreated.

The wheel tub closure panel will be welded over this to close it up.

Outer sill

The purchased outer sill will cover all the external edge. One small area of the edge of the inner sill was required

I then had to decide where to cut the old sill out. I had two choices, Cut at and leave the old sills door rubber OR cut at the lower edge of the sliding door track.

Both options are fine as the old sills rubber seal area is in good condition but cutting and joined old and new is hard. So I opted to cut out all of the old outer sill and join at the sliding door track as per the stock design.

The only downside of this is that I have to cut the old sill to track out without damaging the sliding door track. First thing was to remove the door. Then cut into little sections and remove old spot welds.

This was slow work, as I did not want to damage the sliding door track.

Then trial fitted the new sill

Nice to have some new metal fitted!

Rear wheel arch

This is one of the largest panel in length covering 1/3 of of the whole length.

I made the decision to leave the inside wheel tube repairs until the wheel arch is in place. It means that you have the best chance of joining the tub to arch alignment. The only downside is that you have to recreate the wheel tub lib when inside the tub which is tight to access.

The arch is trial fitted as full size. My plan was to flange this panel BUT it is too close and joined to the upper part of the wheel tube.

So I am going to have to cut the arch panel and the van and butt weld them together! Nightmare but possible. 

The panel will be cut down as I only want to remove as much as I need so in years to come there will be still original metal for future repairs.

Rear Bumper Mount

This was a nightmare to bend and fold. But got there in the end.

Battery Tray

The battery tray was an original VW part. 

Fitting the panel was a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE! having the rear corner and van complete it does not go past the light metalwork. Had to do plenty of cutting of edges to get it fitted.

Painting

Once all parts and panels are fabricated then I then coated everywhere with the weld through primer.

When looking at this there is not actually that much metal.

Recap

All repair patches have been through a complex CAD modeling then transferring to metal. Trial fitted, primed and painted.

Next step. Final clean and then welding!

Stay tuned for Bodywork - Part 5 - Welding

Bodywork - Part 2 - Parts & consumables

The previous post showed you how much bodywork Betty required, so I set about on the parts and consumables

Body Panels

I decided to get the following panels from Alan H Schofield

www.alanhschofield.com

• Inner Rear Wheel Arch Plug/Bung 72-79. N0200241
• Rear Wheel Arch Right 72-79. 211-809-168D
• Rear Wheel Arch Tub Closing Panel, Right 72-79. 211-801-564
• B-Post Outer Skin 68-79 211-809-251
• Inner Wing Repair Right 68-79. 211-801-506D
• B-Post Outer Skin Right 68-79. 211-809-251R
• Outer Sill Under Sliding Door Top Quality 68-79. 211-809-586BQ
• Inner Sill Right 68-79. 211-801-272

I also had to get a few parts from Just Kampers

www.justkampers.com

• Inner Centre Sill Offside (Right) VW T2 Bay 1967-1979
• Closing Repair Panel Offside (Right) VW T2 Bay 1967–1979

Unsure if I needed the inner, centre sills and P post panels but thought that it's better to be safe and have the panels in just in case

Consumables

I have experimented with different rust treatments and paint combinations in the past (Jenolite and POR-15) but have found the results rather mixed.

I decided to switch over the the range of products from rustbusters. They stock a full range of complete rust converters and paint products.

www.rust.co.uk

The main 3 products were as follows:

FE-123 Rust Converter

 

This converts rust and leaves a protective coating over the metal surface. Just clean back the rust and apply. Drys quick no rinsing and can be over painted.

Weld thru Primer

 

Weld through primer to ensure that any weld areas have a covering of paint. Mixed up two part epoxy style. Two coats is not that conductive at the actual weld site but does not burn back.

EM121 EPOXY RUST PROOFING PAINT - BLACK

This is now my chosen chassis paint. Having tried POR-15 on rusty areas it works well BUT on fresh steel it does not stick. So I have moved over to EM121 epoxy paint.

Others

A few others materials and consumables were purchased. They included:

• Tarp
• Extension leads
• Fire blankets
• Flap discs
• Cutting discs
• Clamp Magnets
• Cleaning discs (drill)
• Fire extinguisher
• Welding Gas

All consumables purchased and ready to start.....

Booked a few days off work either side of Easter to get cracking..... Stay tuned for Bodywork - Part 3 - Cutting Out

Bodywork - Part 1 - Inspection

Betty went for her MOT in March and failed on a number of things.

Mostly the bodywork around the drivers side (right hand side) lower sections.

I had seen rust developing around the outer sill under the sliding door and also rear wheel arches. Not that surprised on the failure. Could not be too bothered to argue as it's not within suspension area but I suppose the sills do add some structural support.

So the main areas are the outer sill under the sliding door and the rear wheel arch and a small spot at the end of the bumper mount where the rear balance attaches.

I had a call around to see how much it would be to get the work done at a VW specialist. Could not believe the price they charge. Ranging from £50 to £30 per hour. Unsure how long it would take but concerned that it could roll into many £1000s of pounds.

So after consideration and a few phone calls no one would agree on a time limit and they were all booked up to the autumn.

So I decided I have the equipment and money for parts to have a go myself. The only down sides is the time and the lack of covered workshop space.

So here are the starting photos a few days after the MOT.

Rear Bumper Mounting Point

Front Right front inner arch

Right Outer Sill Front

Right outer sill

Right rear outer sill to wheel arch

Right rear wheel arch

Right rear wheel arch

Quite bad after the MOT man had a good prod around and got his crayon out

After reading the defect list he says its within the 25cm of a suspension component. I beg to differ as its just external bodywork and not suspension or even load bearing but as you can see its quite bad!

Got to work removing the interior on the right hand side as cutting and welding around materials is not such a good idea.

So had another look and preliminary prodding with a screw driver. Also climbed underneath to check for other yellow marks. Did not get any photos from underneath but there were holes in the rear closure of the sills in the wheel tub and also small holes in the inner sill near the jacking points.

Once inspected I created a comprehensive list of parts and detailed planning list of work to be carried out and some holidays booked around Easter.

Stay tuned for Bodywork - Part 2 - Parts & consumables