Another job ticked off

Here's another wee job that has sat on the sidelines for a bit while I contemplated what to do.

I had a small patch remaining from the old pattern for the fuel tank hole but it was filled up mostly with weld. I had a go at making something of it but it ended up looking awful (not that you will see it anyway but I will know it's there!). Anyway, I used the old one as a pattern for the size of hole and dimensions and cut a new piece to fit. I will weld it in from underneath and follow the pattern of the corrugation to plug the ends of the floor.

I still need to trial fit the fuel tank and make a couple of cradles up for it to sit on as the old ones were completely shot. I think it needs lifted by about 1cm, maybe less, but once I get the tank in I can have a look see. In the top photo you can just make out the seal which sits between the tank and the floor.

I have a bay window tank lurking around the garage as well somewhere. I fitted one of these to my previous split and it was useful having the extra capacity. Not sure if I'll go down that route again though as I had endless problems with the fuel sloshing out and also it taking ages to fill despite wiring up breathers and repositioning the fuel filler tube several times.

tinkering

Here's a wee job that joined the queue a while back but kept on getting knocked back. It is the small plate that sits on the floor and the back plates bolt onto it. The floor was rotted through underneath so this piece was riped through. I needed to fabricate a 5 inch length which was in a bad shape. I could have probably used the piece that I pulled out that was vertical but there were some holes on the bottom bit. All fresh metal now. I also finished off the side panel, filling all the little holes in that were left. I also painted it as it is very damp at the moment and the shiney metal was beginning to get moisture on it. I have just brush painted it for the time being. there are quite a few dings on the top part which will need seen to. they are pulling the repair panel inwards in places making the seam look a bit proud. It will need a skim of filler.

Moving left

Callum came over this evening and we tinkered around the van looking at the work that needed to be done. He reaffirmed my notion that I had a long way yet to go! I started stripping back the paint and filler on the next side. The repair isn't too bad underneath but it will still need to come out. The sill under the door is also dodgy so it will get pulled too. I hung the door at the same time as I will need a reference point when I come to doing the sill section. It's a while since it had a door on it and it makes a big difference having it on it's side. Also noticed a difference in the effort required to roll it over!

Panel Welded In

Panel welded in and ground down. It sits nice but there is a bit of a dent above the new panel which pulls the panel in on the rhs of the panel. It is looking good if I do say so myself.