417 replies to this topic

[CLM]

Well, I have been slacking for the past several days. I am waiting on the panels I ordered to arrive and tracking says tomorrow night. *crossed fingers* So I have been working on the van a bit even though It's still entombed in my garage and baracaded in by a motorhome and a jeep. First order was getting it up to a height I could work on it, So huffing and puffing I lifted up the front and stuffed a sawhorse. And I started by cutting off the bashed in sections of the front crossmember and trying to straighten the front bulkhead where the P.O.s bashed it in trying to get clearance for their turbo box. I ended up using the same hydraulic jack I was using as a mandril for the bends on the floor tunnel to push against the dash untill my gague said the master cylinder holes were once again lined up.



I couldn't get high enough with the remains of the parcel shelf in there so it had to come out a bit prematurely. I also ran into an issue clamping panels together to line them up, I did not have vice grips with a 4 inch throat. After digging around I discovered a c-clamp from heck, it's a bit oversized but it works.





I have noted that the pressings differ slightly between this late mk1 patch and the mk4 van bulkhead, nothing that will cause issues though. However once I finally had the front high enough to work on I got a good look at the toeboard... it's rather ugly, discouraging...

Chris

[CLM]

Woohoo! I got a nice heavy box in the mail!



Happily ripped the box to shready so it would disgorge it's tasty panels, Everything was there and almost everything looks just perfect,

Gratuitous pieced together puzzle shot...



I only had minor issues with some of the m-machine ones, they seem to have taken a shortcut in some of the panels that you can't see when it's assembled. The rear sill stiffeners don't have the depression to cover the seat belt mount plate, which means I either put the plate over them,,, or modify them to be more correct, Decisions.



And this is the shape it should be at the seat belt mount location.
(this picture is from my reference archive, if it's yours and want it removed just ask me)


Along with that the rear commercial subframe closing panels are 2 part, but I knew they would be. The biggest issue I have however is with the BMH panel I ordered, It is quite obviously pitted and was most likely stamped out of rusty pitted steel... I mean I know these cars rust badly.. but building them WITH rust!? Come on...





I am going to end up using it as I have no choice, it still doesn't make me happy about it but I don't think it's worth paying to ship it back and then ship the replacement out, I would if it was financially feasible but Oregon to UK is a bit of money.

Chris

Edited by CLM, 18 January 2012 - 11:28 PM.

[olds_kool_lews]

if i were you i'd still contact bmh and explain what you have found, and they might hold there hands up, apologise and sort you out with something in way of compensation! worth a shot!


keep up the good work though!

[CLM]

That sounds like a good idea, though I will likely call m-machine first.

Chris

[hughJ]

Hey Chris great to see you got your parcel!! Merry late Xmas! What a shame about the pitting - that's not right to sell it like that. If these firms are worth anything they should help. I have found M- Machine to be helpful.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing this floor going in and your wee car moving along!!

All the best

Hugh

[CLM]

Hit the brakes! The plans may be changing yet again for the van...!?

I received an email the a day ago offering me a mk4 saloon shell with obvious corrosion issues, though the pictures he had show the shell doesnt have obvious repair work done too it. It will need the front pan halfs replaced but the backs look decent to repairable. I am thinking to get it and drop the whole front end off of it including the whole floor pan, and graft the whole thing into the van, It just might be better then patching a butchering the van together. It will save me the headache of trying to get the front crossmember straight and more importantly.. save me the hassles of trying to weld in the front parcel shelf >.<




I am seeing if he can get me a shot of the bottom, but I am buying it irregardless the price is too good, I just have to wait untill the snow melts so I can do the 800 mile round trip to get it lol.

Chris

[CLM]

I got an email back from bmy and decided to grind through the e-coat to verify, and yes, there is no rust on the panel. Ther is however damage to the the press... so I guess I am fine with that, At least the panels are available, good show for them to get obviously damaged dies up to a level that they could be used again. It would have been nice to be aware of what I was getting instead of just being surprised.

No rust on the panel, just fingerprint marks from old rust on the dies. I guess I can call it mechanical aging so the panel matches your old rusty car! lol

Well aside from that I have been cutting holes in my thumb... no.. no that's not what I'm doing, or trying not to do. I am working on fitting the heelboard end on the worst side of the heelboard, I can locate 2 corners for where the original frame was because the studs are still there and broken off, the other mount I can actually bolt to, so if I work through the mounts one at a time I should be able to keep them all in their correct location.

I do need to drill out the spotwelds to seperate the end repairs from the heeelboard panel, so when it comes time I can slip the heelboard off while leaving the brackets welded to the car ready to weld to the larger pup/van heelboard keeping the subframe mounting points from moving.

I have cut a slit into the pup inner sill stiffeners so they fit over the saloon style heelboard that the car has for now, later on these will not be needed with the propper heelboard, but to be able to fit the floor I need to be able to fit the stiffeners as the shell is so they needed slitting.

I will probably cut the heelboard end to fit tomorrow instead of being lapped like it is in the picture, I had to lap it to get the witness mark for cutting, but it's too late right now to cut it :) Then sometime around there do welding.. and drilling of the spotwelds and maybe some rivets temporarily to hold the bracket to the end. I also need to replicate the ends of the floor extension, Lots to do. Oh and a picture of the floor of the pup mocked up on my table.

Chris

[CLM]

Just because someone inquired, here is a picture of the old front floor pans, as well as the new ones to show shape and condition comparatively. Only broad difference I can see is that the centers of the floors the impressions go closer to the tunnel on the original mk1 ones, but overall shape is still more or less the same.



Chris

[CLM]

DISASTER!

My front may have sagged, offering up the floors they are angling up in the back which means the front are angling down! I am going to have to get a good few people to measure their vans pickups and wagons(mk1/2) for me so I can see if I need to jack the front up >.<

*fingers crossed*

Chris

[grahama]

Bugger !!! Hope it comes right, with your skills I'm sure you will get there. Progress was coming along well till 'disaster' !!

Graham

[minimuk]

Anything is possible with a mini,...I have googled mini pick-ups in the past and look for images, there should be measurement prints to, I might have some, will have a look




here is one, hope it is clear enough, magnifying glass does help!!

Edited by minimuk, 23 January 2012 - 02:02 PM.

[CLM]

Thanks all, I haven't corrected the issue yet, I am going to keep focused on the subframe area, I now have 3 out of the 4 subframe mounts able to be bolted in. I need to rebuild the floor extension using the new one I bought as a pattern, before I can actually lay a floor in this. I woke up kind of late today so I was unable to do any grinding, but I did measure and there seems to be no outward spreading at the door bottoms at least, it still measures spot on there at 4ft 2in approx.

We will see how it goes.

Chris

[CLM]

A bit of work today, I towed my little trailer home that I use to cart shells around with, I need to work on it's lights as the wiring is a bit flaky. I managed to get the heavy Onan generator off of it onto the floor so that,s taken care of.

And I spent some time making a floor extension end repair that will end up in the van. I made a cardstock pattern off of the heritage extension and copied that to my sheet metal. I then cut it out, beat in the line through the middle that marks where the floor goes and bent up the ends. For the flange I was able to use some el cheepo flange pliers I purchased at Harbor Freight, it worked a treat to bend that sheetmetal to form the flange. I did "delete" a couple of ribs/bumps in the original design, but they are not important.



The amazing thing is it more or less fits!



Not counting the minor bit of remaining metal I need to remove, I am pretty sure the one for the other end should be a bit easier as it is quite a bit smaller.

Chris

Edited by CLM, 26 January 2012 - 03:37 AM.

[CLM]

Just a quicky, Got both ends of the floor extension welded in yesterday... but I lost the camera so I couldn't upload the picture untill I found it So here it is.



Chris

[CLM]

Working to trim the floor pans to fit the tunnel, what a fiddly bit they are! Oil canned and nothing is quite the same shape, I am thinking I am going to have to leave a lip there and lap weld it instead of butt welding, the pan is just far far too wide to use any of my vise grip clamps on heh.The tunnel is definitely not the most sightly one in the world, but I think carpet will hide it fine. I had intended to build the pan in situ in the car, but I just don't have enough places to grab it so I am going to tack it together on the bench using 2x4's to hold it up between the ribs. Thankfully I have the toeboard in front, crossmember in the middle and the floor extension at the end to size it. Then test fit it in the car I think. If it turns out pear shaped I should be able to break the tacks and move it appropriately.




Chris

Edited by CLM, 29 January 2012 - 10:50 PM.