75 replies to this topic

[l_jonez]

thought i may aswell start a diary my van which i bought a few years ago but havent realy done much to but today it was moved in to my garage so now work can start properly

when it first arived



the main attraction for purchase was the custom factory fitted travler rear floor pan





also has a plate riverted on the inner sill with all the kerb weights etc



did a quick strip down





then i started to poke around the floor pan and the result was



and thats pritty much how it stayed untill to day when we re fitted the rear subframe to make moving it easier. then it was loaded on to a rather large trailor which was towed by " the *******" as its known





so its tucked up in my garage now and hopefully i can make a proper start on him in the next few weeks.

Pics from yesterday, the plan of it being completly original took a dent when it came to the inner wing as i've had to modify a mk3 onwards repear panel to create a mk1 panel. when its finished i.e welding up the hinge holes and vent the only give away will be the rib that runs up the middle.

started of with geting the location sorted



then modifyed the rear edge to match the door frame etc



then started to remove the old steel



so now im left with a large hole. have still got to remove a small peice which is welded to the lower dash rail, posibly a job for tomorrow



welded up holes etc



all my pics so far ( mainly of rust : ) can be found here http://s252.photobuc.../lrjonez/colin/

[Daveuk]

wow some work you've got there! i thought i had a bad one!

good luck can't wait to see it all restored.

you keeping it original or not?

all the best and good luck

Dave

Edited by Daveuk, 09 July 2008 - 09:59 PM.

[l_jonez]

wow some work you've got there! i thought i had a bad one!

good luck can't wait to see it all restored.

you keeping it original or not?

all the best and good luck

Dave

thanks. yeah its gonna be put back to how it left the factory or as close as posible,

i got the vtec project for when i want to go fast

[analogue_radio]

I would love nothing more than a van! best of luck with the project mate, I will be keeping a close eye on this.

[mk1leg]

Hi..I see its has been attacked by the dreaded tin worn and glad to see you've got it under control keep up good work and keep us posted ................

[Daveuk]

oh year i forgot to say it's a very unique van quality

glad your keeping it original, seems a valuable treasure!

Dave

[l_jonez]

managed to get a little bit done today

i set about repairing the bottom of the bulkhead

rust cut out



then set about replacing it with new steel ( pic shows it tacked in as i forgot to take a pic of it being formed)



then welded it in



ground most of the weld down but the final mm or so will be done with a sanding disk which i keep forgeting to buy

[l_jonez]

today this arrived



which contained, two floor half's, a door step repair and rear corner repair panels



so this afternoon I removed the old floor



and was presently surprised to see the inside of the cross-member had been painted



had a look how well new pan lines up



then started trimming to get a better fit



still got allot of trimming to get it right but I'm rather happy with it so far.

the only thing that has disappointed me is how much thinner the new pans are compared to the old ones

[joe_m]

eeh looks good

dooingg well
ceep going !

[Down&Out]

cant beleive i missed this! looking great

[Daveuk]

just realised did i buy a blue p reg mini off you last year??!! lol or have i got you mixed up with someone else, just that yard looks famiular...

those floor panels you got i would have stayed away from, i got some simular grey ones but they were seperate front and rear and didnt line up well.....

but looks good anyway

Dave

[jordie 08]

u defo crack on anyway,that would take me bout a year because theres never room in the garage,good jub

[l_jonez]

just realised did i buy a blue p reg mini off you last year??!! lol or have i got you mixed up with someone else, just that yard looks famiular...

those floor panels you got i would have stayed away from, i got some simular grey ones but they were seperate front and rear and didnt line up well.....

but looks good anyway

Dave

no wasnt me, havent sold any minis,

i got the floor pans from somerford and they line up perfectly im pleased i bought them and not messed around with patches etc

[x06jsp]

nice i will watch this one i do like the vans...

Josh

[l_jonez]

not really worth posting as i only managed to get an hour in today

but any way today i decided to tackle the cross-member

rust cut out



because there was nothing left of the lip i created a template using a combination of the new floor pan and cross-member
( pic shows template and newly formed steel)



then came a trial fit and its quite close needs some trimming tho



just waiting for my new welding clamps to arrive then it can get welded in