27/11/2011
I got the guttering all welded up.
I think it was around 200 of those little slits to weld (booooooring), it has distorted slightly but ive been able to get the worst of it out. I went and bought a new toy to help me, a sliding hammer. Similar to this one.
It came in handy as i cant actually get a hammer in to tap the gutter out. and if i used a bit of wood , the angle i have to hit it at would push the gutter down at the same time. With the sliding hammer i can pull it out horizontally...... if that all makes sence? it does in my head anyway.
Unfortunatly, just as i got to welding the joining pieces of the guttering on the outside i ran out of Argon gas, bugger. I now need to sort that out, I usually get my gas through BOC which costs about £80 for a yearly rent, £60 a re-fill, and £15 misc. Ive heard of a place local that does it for £57 a bottle and a refundable £55 deposit, think il check them out.
In the mean time i thought i better cut the bracing out of the door frames and check to make sure the doors still fit and the guttering looks ok with the doors inplace.
Passanger door looks ok, the frame doesnt have the rubber seals in so the door is fitting further in than it will be when finished. the gap looks pretty even all-round.
Mmmhhmm, looks like this door skin and frame will need a bit of work too.
Drivers side looks not bad either, there is a bit of a bigger gap at the top between the frame and gutter, mabey about 3 or 4 mm bigger but i could make up for that in the door frame if it comes to it.
This door skin and frame isnt quite so bad.
When i went to the garage today i had planned on just washing my car but i decided to start the roof plans. I had to make a table 4 and a half foot wide and just over 11 foot long. My brother got me 2 old tables that his work was going to chuck out so using them and two bits of 50x50 from the bracing i made a frame for the table. I then screwed down some MDF down to make a large work surface.
My mate Crighton came over after his work and helped me to put the roof ontop of the table. It was good to see the roof at a better angle again, ready to asses what needs done. 3 of the corners are pretty******and all along the drivers side has rotted too.
Passangers side front corner.
drivers side front corner.
drivers side rear corner (probably the worst corner).
along the driver side.
The main panel overall isnt that bad though, just around the edges.
The plan is to now cut off the remainder of the old guttering on the roof, strip the paint and rust, repair the sections that need done and re-attach. It has a few strengthing ribs inside that bolt to the main body of the van and originally a lip that went aroudn the perimeter of the rood that would be spotwelded to the guttering. Im not going to do that though as the chances are, water could go in the seams and start the whole rust proces again. Instead, im going to not do the lip and i will run a continous weld all around the roof. With the tig it should keep it neat.
More picture of the roof repair to follow when i get some more argon.
