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.

Rear Wheel Arch Painted Finally

1 Year ago (Easter 2019) I finished the Rear wheel arch, sill and Battery tray repairs.

I painted one coat of epoxy primer to make it weather proof to protect it from the elements.

Time past and the weather at the end of 2019 was dreadful and never got / found the time to finally sort the paint out and also complete the final filler.

Here is the rear wheel arch in 2019:

As you can see the weld lines and filler work is far from ideal.

Finally the weather and the Covid-19 lock down events gave me a chance to complete this paintwork!

A mixed blessing but with enforced holidays from work give me a chance to get this finally finished!

So sanded back the epoxy primer and started filler work.

Filler was quite extensive for a few reasons. Firstly the amount of skim filler Danbury put on all the panels! Was 5mm deep and secondly the amount of welding and sealing I had done before

Once the filler was flatted back and pre-paint clean and masking was finished. Ready for primer

2 Coats of Epoxy primer was applied

First 2 coats of Black cellulose paint applied. Not very even coats as had issues with the spray gun setup. Crescent shaped pattern. But went ahead and got two coats on.

Next to flat sand the surface down again. Sill struggled to get an even flat surface!

So I was not happy about the flatting down of the first 2 coats. The surface was rough and uneven still. So continued to flat down to get a level coat. Lots of orange peel and over spray / roughness.

Downheartedly I decided to pick myself up and flatted down some more and repeated the top coats again.

After a few days off I regrouped and picked my motivation back up again.

2 further top coats applied and then 2 more Higher Thinners coats applied. Swapped my HVLP spray gun for a old siphon type gun I had from a air tools kit.

The spray gun was not ideal but at least it could lay down a coat. Quite stripy but I got a film down.

So the surface finish is still suffers from over spray and it's cellulose paint so will need one more flat sanding with 1500-3000 grit and G3, G6, G10 compound and a good polish.

I decided to wait for full hardening of the top coats to ensure that the paint has dried.

Still not got time yet to finish the flast sand & polish....... Updates to come soon........

New Brazilian Watercooled Service Manual

I have finally got round to publishing the first version of the Brazilian Water cooled service manual.

Please not this is a DRAFT copy of the manual, so is incomplete.

as I don't own a water cooled van I have not been able to check the contents fully. So please use with caution and any feedback will be welcome.

I am still working on the updates and will update sections like gearbox, Wiring, brakes etc as I find the time.

The manual is in the Pages section on the right hand side and can be accessed here:

https://t2bay.blogspot.com/p/brazilian-watercooled-service-manual.html

Enjoy and please let me have any feedback.

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 7 - Before / After

So you are probably reading this in the reverse order as blogger likes to post in date order with the latest first.

This is the re-cap post to show the before during and after photographs.

Inner front wheel Arch

Before

During

After

Front Inner Sill

Before

During

After

Outer Sill

Before

During

After

Rear Inner sill / Closure

Before

Before

Before

 Before

During

During

After

After

 After

Rear Wheel Arch

Before

Before

Before

During

During

During

During

After

After

Battery Tray

Before

During

After 

Rear Bumper / Valance Mount

Before

 During

During

Sorry no After! Too exciting to finishing!

I hope that covers it all! Its been a busy time. Did about 50 hours work on this.

The van has now passed the MOT! Inspectors comments was "that someone has done a lot of work under here!"

Only the paint left to do.... Wait for a week of good weather!