Hi guys
Lots of progress on the van, with lots of pics to follow over the next few days. Ok, so firstly, I was looking at how to fill the rear windows. I decided to make up some metal sheets that were the same size as the window holes, with a lip formed by a bead roller. The thinking was I could use panelbond (you know the really strong metal glue that lots of manufacturers use to glue some body parts like roofs onto modern cars). That way I could avoid the amount of heat distortion I knew I'd get over such a large open area of 1mm steel if I welded them in. A mate of mine did it with a Valiant van about 10 years ago and the results were excellent...
So I made the sheets up, got the bead roller out and put a 1mm lip into the panels. The front windows on the side:
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and the rear. I made them all up from the window hole individually as I couldn't swear each respective hole (front side or rear side) would be identical:
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As there is a slight curve on the holden van sides I massaged the panel until the curve was spot on. This didn't need an English wheel (thank god as I don't have one!) and it was pretty spot on.
However... this is where the problems started. The person who pulled the side windows out prior to me getting the car must have been pretty rough, as the metal, particularly on one side, was distorted and bent out beyond all proportion. These are the areas I've noted in the red:
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You can see the difference in the LH side ones.
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So.... My wonderful plan was stuffed and I realised I needed to cut the whole side out and replace and weld the side in if I wanted it to work properly. At that point I admitted it was beyond my confidence to do it without stuffing it up, as I don't have a TIG among other things. So I decided to leave this one to the professionals... Sometimes you have to know your own limitations. Booked it in to a guy (Darren) in Smithfield and he cut out and welded in the panels. So he cut out the entire side panel as I expected.
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Welded in bracing panels
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Then tacked and welded in the side panels, taking a lot of time and spacing of welds.
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Then ground back, filled and in primer.
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A bit annoyed I didn't do it myself, but for the time, cost and hassle (since I'd need to get steel that size as well get it curved correctly for the car) I decided this time I'd outsouce. Very happy with his work too....
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