February 2012
I have done a lot of welding since my last update. With the roof back on it gave me another boost to get on with it. The next task was 'How do i get an even gap between the roof and gutter'. After a bit of thinking i cut some 12mm thick MDF into rough 3 - 4 inch squares and wedged them in between the gutter and roof which gave me a good size of spacing and held everything down tight.
With the wood in place i could go inbetween them and tack weld the roof in place, then when i took the wood out i was left with a nice finish.
I started to weld it up once everything was tacked, starting with the front.
The majority of the roof was sitting nicely on the gutter but towards the rear the gap was huge, about 12mm in places. I just decided to put lots of weld down and build it up. Once it was welded it gets ground down anyway.
Once it was all welded and cleaned up I got a bit carried away and couldn't wait to start the lead-loading. I really wanted to lead the roof to fill any pin-holes that may have been left with the welding but i also wanted to lead between the gutter and body to add extra strength. I took more photos of this part but its not really relevant anymore, I will explain why.
I had spent about 2 hours or so on this bit, it was my first try with the lead and after spreading it about, heating it up and sanding it to a nice shape i realised i was wasting my time. You see, when i would go to put the lead inbetween the body and gutter i would have to re-heat the gutter area up again which would melt the lead and it would all fall out. I'm really glad i realised that before i had done the whole roof. Another one of those restorers lessons, think and plan always. The plan now is to do the lead-loading between the body and gutter first then i will use body-filler to tidy up the welds on the roof.
Easiest way to do lead-loading is on a flat, where gravity can help the process. Time to flip the van on its roof. I had never actually put the van a full 180 degrees over before so this was novel for me. I got Alastair ( guy i share the garage with) to help me roll it over as the weight of the chassis being at the bottom would now be at the top and just a bit more likely to keep going once i start to roll it. I did hurt my back though, i was trying with all my might to lift it and i never realised Alastair thought it was going to roll too much so he was putting resistance against me rolling. I did feel something in my back twang a little but it wasn't until the next day the pain started., anyway, it will heal. It was unusual to see the van upside down so i was quite excited to care about my back at that moment.
Heres how i have been doing the lead-loading.
First i get the grinder with a wire wheel attached and clean the metal up, then i get a rag with white spirit (turpentine) to remove any grease or oil that may be left.
Once thats been done i get my tinning paste and brush it on to the metal. Using a handheld blow torch i heat it up until it starts to bubble and all the lead in the tinning paste melts onto the body. Once its cooled down slightly i use a damp brush to wipe away the paste but leave the thin coat of lead on the panel.
Then i use the blow torch to heat the end of the stick of lead and kind of push and twist it on the body until it snaps off. Then using the wooden paddle rubbed in tallow i heat the lead up to different states depending on what i want to do with it, usually a buttery consistency. Then i use the paddle to smush/prod/poke it about until I'm happy with it.
Once I'm happy with it its time to file it down then sand it smooth with 80 grit. I will be going over it with a light skim of filler in the future.
I managed to get the whole drivers side and front done in the same way.
Getting there, slowly but surely i will be nearing the stage when i get to prime the upper half and thats the next milestone I'm looking forward to.
