The jigsaw starts here...

I'm not sure how all this will go back together..... I've cut out the old metal to give me a clue but no clue is forthcoming. I'm sure I can make it up but that said, I want to put it in right. There is quite a bit of work in this side yet. The sill needs replaced, the floor repair needs sorted, the top had under the floor ends need replaced and then the inner front wheel arch sorted. End of the year finish for this side is suddenly looking very optimistic...

Panel welded in

I welded in the vertical support panel and started on the outer sill last evening. It's coming on o.k. I'm quite pleased with the line. It's 100 times better than it was. I need to grind back this join and then do a bit of general tidying up before moving forward to the next sill.

jig saw

Final panel cut to fit. It's been a bit of a jigsaw this panel but not taken too long to fit. I've bought a vertical reinforcement panel to put behind this one so I can't do much more with this one until I get that through the post.

Inner Sill welded in

I welded in the inner sill this evening. I'm quite happy with the end result. Next step is to do the vertical support and then measure and cut the Gerson repair panel. I'm finding that I am getting a bit quicker with the work now that I've got a particular way of working.

My favourite Crewie of all time

The piccie speaks for itself!

inner sill

Spent a bit of time bending a new piece for the inner sill and a vertical support piece. The new sill will allow the panel to sill flush this time rather than sitting out at an angle. Next steps. Weld in sill, weld in vertical support, offer up Gerson panel, cut to fit then weld in. There's also a small repair required on the inner wheel arch but that's the last piece of the jigsaw before moving forward.

rear quarter panel

I welded in the first part of the rear quarter panel last night. It went in easily in the end. I've also cut out the botched sill repair. I'm going to make my own repair up for this bit with my new folding tool!

all ready to weld

Here's the panel ready to be welded in. I might have a run at it tonight. Just depends on whether I'm not too tired. The panel is looking not too bad. It has a very small bow in it still but I think I can fix this easily enough by puttins some spacers behind the inner arch. It's shaping up quite nice.

And I thought I had a job on my hands!

back to the side

I've been trying to figure out how best to fix up the side panel for the bus. I'm having to cut out quite a bit of the old metal but it is that high up a repair I need to weld the support strut along the back. That means cutting off the one that is currently on it and welding it onto the back. It's a bit of a jig saw. I took receipt of a Gerson long panel so that should be me with enough panels to finish. That piece of sill will need to come out. A botched repair if ever I've seen one! I had to do the other side sills as well as they were equally as dodgy.

Rear apron

I've been figuring out what to do with the rear apron of the van. There was a dodgy one that came with the bus originally but it had a bend in it to take a second tail pipe and it also looked like it had taken a bit of a knock at one point in it's long life. I've cut up the inards of a bay window apron and folded them to fit. I need to panel beat the split one as it has a few wrinkles in it. It should do the trick...