I made a post about a month ago about i got my Thames ( http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24150005.cfm ). Since then ive made a start stripping it out and assessing all the******i have to do to get it back to life.
I figured out how the 'dining table' was set up
and how the seats fold out into 'beds'
This is the first weekend we went to the garage and the magic started.
My girlfriend has taken an unusual interest in helping me to restore the van. I think its great as if i was in the garage myself it could get a bit boring but its a good laugh having her around and helping me out. Its ok right now at the stripping down stage but i think she may get bored when I'm welding and cutting **** up. I was thinking i could buy her a sewing machine and she could re-upholster the seats and curtains etc..
Yeah, check out those comfy ugly slacks I'm rocking.
I got Jana started on removing the light lenses and units etc.. she even managed to get the rear bumpers off herself. I don't mean to sound patronizing but when someone calls a ratchet the "clicky-thing" its quite a big step for her.
I even bought her a special tool kit for the job, shes since bought herself a proper tool bag and pliers set.
First door removed. It was a ***** as the hinge bolts were rusted solid, lucky for me there is a huge tool store opposite the garage (machine mart) so i managed to get an impact screwdriver.
All the seats and interior came out easy, the gas cooker was a bit of a joke really, The cage that held the gas bottle underneath the floor was about 8 inches from the ground and about an inch from the propshaft, then the gas pipe went to the cooker where someone had used a T-piece for some reason, with one pipe going to the hob and the other pipe was bent round a few times to stop gas leaking.... i don't know why the never just used a single pipe. There was a lot of cork insulation which i think had been stuck on with tar. Oh what fun i had with a scraper. Jana 'helped', but well, she got bored of it a lot quicker than i did.
Handsome eh,
Then i got stuck into the wiring loom, there was a lot of house-hold wire in one colour for switches and lights all over the place. I know I'm going to be re-doing the interior lighting differently so those got binned and i kept the standard loom. Note the intensity of my concentration.
The next weekend we started on taking the pop-up roof off. The fabric of the roof its self isn't too bad. There is a rip in it but its along the seam so once stitched up it will be ok. It was held down with aluminium strips and brackets.
WEST SIDE Y'ALL
peek-a-boo
Starting to get quite bare now, in total we found 3 dead birds in the van, 2 of which were skeletons and the other was quite fresh looking underneath the radiator intake, perhaps from the drive home on the trailer, oops.
We got the other door off and then i set about the lower panels, there pretty easy to come off as there all bolt on panels, something Ford promoted as a key selling point apparently.
The right lower panel its self was not bad, just a bit of surface rust and a few dings. Even behind the panel it was not bad. You can see the battery tray is pretty much gone but thats not really a problem at all, its just a welded up box. Although a lot of rust came flaking off as you can see.
The back of the wheel well is the worst, good thing is a lot of the panels to replace are just flat sheet with bends in it.
The other side was a bit harder to take off as it had spot welds along the side door opening but it came off none the less.
During all this a few bolts were completely seized and i had to grind them off, sending sparks flying. I finally thought id be a lot safer doing all this **** with the petrol tank out. Only problem was the bolts underneath had seized and the only access was to rip the floor out and take them off from the top.
So out the floor it went. The guy that rents the other side of the garage popped down and gave me a hand. The floor was inch thick plywood and all the coachscrews holding it down were, as you could guess, seized. We came up with a plan of him using a big lever and me drilling lots of holes around the coachscrews. You can see the petrol tank is quite small for something to go travelling with, may need to find something bigger. Once i disconnected the tank i poured the petrol away and it was pure orange, like irn-bru. Must have been laying in the tank for years.
The weekend after my brother came along instead of Jana as i wanted to get the engine/gearbox and the rest of the glass out. We even managed to get the rest of the doors off.
Glass out
Checking out how to remove the engine. We disconnected the gearbox first and tied rope around the engine to lift it straight up.
My garage buddys engine crane came in handy.
CHEEESE!!
A full 53bhp or so of pure antique metal
This is the hole that has been left from taking the motor out, The plan is to replace it with a 3 litre Cologne/Essex V6, i know it fits as ive seen the set up before in a Thames van. I'm going to go for an automatic box too as i just want it as a cruiser and i hope to keep the column change and rig it up to the autobox.
Thats as far as ive gotten with the van. I'm pretty much at the stage where i need to take the suspension, steering and rear axle off but before i do that i need to make up a way of supporting the van off the ground. I was looking at building a rotisserie but i came up with a slightly different idea. I'm going to build 2 huge dodecagons that split into 2 pieces. That way i can roll it on its side and sandblast/repair underneath then roll it back, unbolt the top half of the dodecagons and work on the roof etc..
Only thing is its going to cost about ยฃ180 in material so i need to do a few homers to make up the money for that. I also just put down a deposit to rent a new house with Jana so money is quite tight. Next update will probably be in a few more weeks.
I figured out how the 'dining table' was set up
and how the seats fold out into 'beds'
This is the first weekend we went to the garage and the magic started.
My girlfriend has taken an unusual interest in helping me to restore the van. I think its great as if i was in the garage myself it could get a bit boring but its a good laugh having her around and helping me out. Its ok right now at the stripping down stage but i think she may get bored when I'm welding and cutting **** up. I was thinking i could buy her a sewing machine and she could re-upholster the seats and curtains etc..
Yeah, check out those comfy ugly slacks I'm rocking.
I got Jana started on removing the light lenses and units etc.. she even managed to get the rear bumpers off herself. I don't mean to sound patronizing but when someone calls a ratchet the "clicky-thing" its quite a big step for her.
I even bought her a special tool kit for the job, shes since bought herself a proper tool bag and pliers set.
First door removed. It was a ***** as the hinge bolts were rusted solid, lucky for me there is a huge tool store opposite the garage (machine mart) so i managed to get an impact screwdriver.
All the seats and interior came out easy, the gas cooker was a bit of a joke really, The cage that held the gas bottle underneath the floor was about 8 inches from the ground and about an inch from the propshaft, then the gas pipe went to the cooker where someone had used a T-piece for some reason, with one pipe going to the hob and the other pipe was bent round a few times to stop gas leaking.... i don't know why the never just used a single pipe. There was a lot of cork insulation which i think had been stuck on with tar. Oh what fun i had with a scraper. Jana 'helped', but well, she got bored of it a lot quicker than i did.
Handsome eh,
Then i got stuck into the wiring loom, there was a lot of house-hold wire in one colour for switches and lights all over the place. I know I'm going to be re-doing the interior lighting differently so those got binned and i kept the standard loom. Note the intensity of my concentration.
The next weekend we started on taking the pop-up roof off. The fabric of the roof its self isn't too bad. There is a rip in it but its along the seam so once stitched up it will be ok. It was held down with aluminium strips and brackets.
WEST SIDE Y'ALL
peek-a-boo
Starting to get quite bare now, in total we found 3 dead birds in the van, 2 of which were skeletons and the other was quite fresh looking underneath the radiator intake, perhaps from the drive home on the trailer, oops.
We got the other door off and then i set about the lower panels, there pretty easy to come off as there all bolt on panels, something Ford promoted as a key selling point apparently.
The right lower panel its self was not bad, just a bit of surface rust and a few dings. Even behind the panel it was not bad. You can see the battery tray is pretty much gone but thats not really a problem at all, its just a welded up box. Although a lot of rust came flaking off as you can see.
The back of the wheel well is the worst, good thing is a lot of the panels to replace are just flat sheet with bends in it.
The other side was a bit harder to take off as it had spot welds along the side door opening but it came off none the less.
During all this a few bolts were completely seized and i had to grind them off, sending sparks flying. I finally thought id be a lot safer doing all this **** with the petrol tank out. Only problem was the bolts underneath had seized and the only access was to rip the floor out and take them off from the top.
So out the floor it went. The guy that rents the other side of the garage popped down and gave me a hand. The floor was inch thick plywood and all the coachscrews holding it down were, as you could guess, seized. We came up with a plan of him using a big lever and me drilling lots of holes around the coachscrews. You can see the petrol tank is quite small for something to go travelling with, may need to find something bigger. Once i disconnected the tank i poured the petrol away and it was pure orange, like irn-bru. Must have been laying in the tank for years.
The weekend after my brother came along instead of Jana as i wanted to get the engine/gearbox and the rest of the glass out. We even managed to get the rest of the doors off.
Glass out
Checking out how to remove the engine. We disconnected the gearbox first and tied rope around the engine to lift it straight up.
My garage buddys engine crane came in handy.
CHEEESE!!
A full 53bhp or so of pure antique metal
This is the hole that has been left from taking the motor out, The plan is to replace it with a 3 litre Cologne/Essex V6, i know it fits as ive seen the set up before in a Thames van. I'm going to go for an automatic box too as i just want it as a cruiser and i hope to keep the column change and rig it up to the autobox.
Thats as far as ive gotten with the van. I'm pretty much at the stage where i need to take the suspension, steering and rear axle off but before i do that i need to make up a way of supporting the van off the ground. I was looking at building a rotisserie but i came up with a slightly different idea. I'm going to build 2 huge dodecagons that split into 2 pieces. That way i can roll it on its side and sandblast/repair underneath then roll it back, unbolt the top half of the dodecagons and work on the roof etc..
Only thing is its going to cost about ยฃ180 in material so i need to do a few homers to make up the money for that. I also just put down a deposit to rent a new house with Jana so money is quite tight. Next update will probably be in a few more weeks.
Not too much of a huge update but a bit of a milestone for me.
The dodecagon and bracing is now complete so i can roll the van around and not worry about distortion (thats the theory anyway).
Here its on the second step,
And on its side, I thought i took more photos of it on its side but apparently not. I will make some braces to attach to the side to stop it rolling back, it was steady enough to take photos but i wouldnt feel safe working on it like that.
I couldnt get a full shot of the underneath so this is a photomerge of 3 photos if your wondering why it doesnt look right.
It was a bit weird to see the underside at a decent viewing angle, not really something you see.
I also made another video of it being rolled on to its side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Kr22KSuAM
It is possible for one man to roll it on its side but i think any further over i would need some help.
Now that that is done i can on with actually fixing the bodywork. My plan is to shotblast the van body next. Im going to build a 6 metre x 5 metre shelter using clear tarpaulin in the corner of the garage. Ive never done shot-blasting before so it will be a bit of an experiment until i get the hang of it. I think it will be similar to painting the whole van with an artist paintbrush, joy....
The dodecagon and bracing is now complete so i can roll the van around and not worry about distortion (thats the theory anyway).
Here its on the second step,
And on its side, I thought i took more photos of it on its side but apparently not. I will make some braces to attach to the side to stop it rolling back, it was steady enough to take photos but i wouldnt feel safe working on it like that.
I couldnt get a full shot of the underneath so this is a photomerge of 3 photos if your wondering why it doesnt look right.
It was a bit weird to see the underside at a decent viewing angle, not really something you see.
I also made another video of it being rolled on to its side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Kr22KSuAM
It is possible for one man to roll it on its side but i think any further over i would need some help.
Now that that is done i can on with actually fixing the bodywork. My plan is to shotblast the van body next. Im going to build a 6 metre x 5 metre shelter using clear tarpaulin in the corner of the garage. Ive never done shot-blasting before so it will be a bit of an experiment until i get the hang of it. I think it will be similar to painting the whole van with an artist paintbrush, joy....
October -
The next again weekend my brother came along to give me a hand with the rear. He done a god job of stripping the axle out and disconnecting various bits. Then he cleaned up the chassis for me,.
just chilling out on the floor
Whilst he did one side i was measuring, cutting, marking and drilling the plates for the brackets. Same story as the front, bolted them up and tacked them.
Here you can see the bracers i tacked on so it wouldn't warp when welding up.
.
That was that for that day. My brother had to go home for his dinner (family man) so i took the brackets to my work and welded them up there. Last weekend i went with my girlfriend for a wee cheeky long weekend away up north for our 4 year anniversary and she was kind enough to not be pissed off with me by letting me to go to the garage on the Sunday afternoon. I forgot to take photos as i was going along though, i think it was because I got pissed off after spending an hour trying to level up the rear dodecagon and cutting the horizontal supports when i suddenly realized that, yes i had everything level but the rear ring wasn't level with the front. Luckily i noticed just in time as it was off by about 40mm. Once i got it packed up it went pretty much the same as the front did.
It was good to see my creation starting to actually be complete. Next step was figuring out how to slide the trolley wheel frames underneath. For the rear i managed to just lift the van up myself and kind of kick and shuffle the frames under. The front is a bit heavier so i jacked that up , as i did the whole back off the van started to veer towards the wall. Once i put the brakes on the wheels i jacked it up again and slid the front wheels underneath.
Front:
Back:
I tested the van to see if it would actually tilt and i got it onto its first step. I want to brace the inside of the van properly before i go any further but atleast i know it works so far. I recorded it on my mobile so the quality isn't the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpW23wM3yrk
I also made a video of it being rolled about on the trolley wheels. I have a bit of a cold and sore throat so i pretty much cough all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrcuuezMqBg
Next up i need to brace the van and make struts so that when its tipped over it will stay there and not roll back. Then finally , finally i can actually do something to the van , woohoo!
November -----------------------------
I have kind of went off the cosworth V6, i managed to get close to one and it is a lot wider than the standard ford 2.8 V6. I have found a guy close to my area who has a few old mk2 Granadas and i should be meeting him when i have money to get an engine, auto box, wiring loom, front and rear hubs and braking system.
When i ordered the metal for the bracing i thought id only need 15 metres worth but turns out i need an extra 8 metres so the whole bracing isn't fully complete yet, I did get most of it done though.
Last weekend i went back to the garage to make a start on the welding I know at the front cab the top of the door openings would need braced as the roof was quite rusty around here which led me to belive that underneath the roof it would be rotten (as i was proved right later on). So the openings got 2 horizontal braces, top and bottom and a diagonal brace (all the bracing is 25mmx25mm box).
To stop the sides folding in once i took the roof off i put in more diagonals, from the body to the chassis.
This was where i ran out of material, i need to go to my old work and buy some more to brace the rear door openings.
Yesterday i went back along to the garage determined to get the roof free. The roof mostly has 'ribs' inside it, which kind off supports it and the bracing for the pop up roof is quite ridged so i just made a little cross brace at the front to help strengthen that part. I think when Dormobile converted it they welded the ribs to the body of the van and so i had to cut the welds with the grinder as well as taking out bolts. After that i was thinking how to get the roof cut off. I tried to angle the grinder and cut through the guttering on one section but it seemed to waste a lot of the disc. I realized that if i just kept the cutting discs vertical and followed the guttering around it would separate from the roof and left me the part of the guttering that is spot welded to the body. After a bit of cutting and light tapping with a hammer and chisel i got it freed, success!.
To lift the roof off required an extra pair of hands so i spent the rest of the night tidying up and moving my benches around. The idea is to take the 2 benches in the corner out so i can get the van in the corner and make up a shot blasting shelter. Using the corner is ideal as i only need to make a 2 sided frame to put clear tarpaulin or something similar on the roof and sides and make a sealed box. With the 2 benches il use some rotten floor boards i have here to make a 6ft x 12ft base for me to screw down the MDF onto it and make a nice big strong table to work on the roof.
This afternoon i went back along with my dad to help me life the roof off. It was a bit heavier than we thought it would be, it was also catching on the lugs and stuff as we were trying to lift it free, all the blood was draining from our arms but eventually we got it off. I made up a temporary table as i hope to take it to my friends place and use his big caustic tank to strip the paint off it.
Some parts are better than others, these parts aren't.
With the roof off i could now see the real extent of the rust to the upper van body, it is bad. But im either naieve or brave as i know inside me that i can fix it.
And an over view of the roof missing. You can sort of make out the horizontal brace i have lightly welded to the dodecagon joining the inner van bracing to the dodecagon. Thats my idea at the front so that when its on its side the body wont move at all, once i have the rear door opening braced it will also be attached some how to the rear dodecagon.
Next step is to get the roof stripped and on the table to get it fixed and rust free. Also, i could make a start on building a frame for the sand blasting.
The next again weekend my brother came along to give me a hand with the rear. He done a god job of stripping the axle out and disconnecting various bits. Then he cleaned up the chassis for me,.
just chilling out on the floor
Whilst he did one side i was measuring, cutting, marking and drilling the plates for the brackets. Same story as the front, bolted them up and tacked them.
Here you can see the bracers i tacked on so it wouldn't warp when welding up.
. That was that for that day. My brother had to go home for his dinner (family man) so i took the brackets to my work and welded them up there. Last weekend i went with my girlfriend for a wee cheeky long weekend away up north for our 4 year anniversary and she was kind enough to not be pissed off with me by letting me to go to the garage on the Sunday afternoon. I forgot to take photos as i was going along though, i think it was because I got pissed off after spending an hour trying to level up the rear dodecagon and cutting the horizontal supports when i suddenly realized that, yes i had everything level but the rear ring wasn't level with the front. Luckily i noticed just in time as it was off by about 40mm. Once i got it packed up it went pretty much the same as the front did.
It was good to see my creation starting to actually be complete. Next step was figuring out how to slide the trolley wheel frames underneath. For the rear i managed to just lift the van up myself and kind of kick and shuffle the frames under. The front is a bit heavier so i jacked that up , as i did the whole back off the van started to veer towards the wall. Once i put the brakes on the wheels i jacked it up again and slid the front wheels underneath.
Front:
Back:
I tested the van to see if it would actually tilt and i got it onto its first step. I want to brace the inside of the van properly before i go any further but atleast i know it works so far. I recorded it on my mobile so the quality isn't the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpW23wM3yrk
I also made a video of it being rolled about on the trolley wheels. I have a bit of a cold and sore throat so i pretty much cough all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrcuuezMqBg
Next up i need to brace the van and make struts so that when its tipped over it will stay there and not roll back. Then finally , finally i can actually do something to the van , woohoo!
November -----------------------------
I have kind of went off the cosworth V6, i managed to get close to one and it is a lot wider than the standard ford 2.8 V6. I have found a guy close to my area who has a few old mk2 Granadas and i should be meeting him when i have money to get an engine, auto box, wiring loom, front and rear hubs and braking system.
When i ordered the metal for the bracing i thought id only need 15 metres worth but turns out i need an extra 8 metres so the whole bracing isn't fully complete yet, I did get most of it done though.
Last weekend i went back to the garage to make a start on the welding I know at the front cab the top of the door openings would need braced as the roof was quite rusty around here which led me to belive that underneath the roof it would be rotten (as i was proved right later on). So the openings got 2 horizontal braces, top and bottom and a diagonal brace (all the bracing is 25mmx25mm box).
To stop the sides folding in once i took the roof off i put in more diagonals, from the body to the chassis.
This was where i ran out of material, i need to go to my old work and buy some more to brace the rear door openings.
Yesterday i went back along to the garage determined to get the roof free. The roof mostly has 'ribs' inside it, which kind off supports it and the bracing for the pop up roof is quite ridged so i just made a little cross brace at the front to help strengthen that part. I think when Dormobile converted it they welded the ribs to the body of the van and so i had to cut the welds with the grinder as well as taking out bolts. After that i was thinking how to get the roof cut off. I tried to angle the grinder and cut through the guttering on one section but it seemed to waste a lot of the disc. I realized that if i just kept the cutting discs vertical and followed the guttering around it would separate from the roof and left me the part of the guttering that is spot welded to the body. After a bit of cutting and light tapping with a hammer and chisel i got it freed, success!.
To lift the roof off required an extra pair of hands so i spent the rest of the night tidying up and moving my benches around. The idea is to take the 2 benches in the corner out so i can get the van in the corner and make up a shot blasting shelter. Using the corner is ideal as i only need to make a 2 sided frame to put clear tarpaulin or something similar on the roof and sides and make a sealed box. With the 2 benches il use some rotten floor boards i have here to make a 6ft x 12ft base for me to screw down the MDF onto it and make a nice big strong table to work on the roof.
This afternoon i went back along with my dad to help me life the roof off. It was a bit heavier than we thought it would be, it was also catching on the lugs and stuff as we were trying to lift it free, all the blood was draining from our arms but eventually we got it off. I made up a temporary table as i hope to take it to my friends place and use his big caustic tank to strip the paint off it.
Some parts are better than others, these parts aren't.
With the roof off i could now see the real extent of the rust to the upper van body, it is bad. But im either naieve or brave as i know inside me that i can fix it.
And an over view of the roof missing. You can sort of make out the horizontal brace i have lightly welded to the dodecagon joining the inner van bracing to the dodecagon. Thats my idea at the front so that when its on its side the body wont move at all, once i have the rear door opening braced it will also be attached some how to the rear dodecagon.
Next step is to get the roof stripped and on the table to get it fixed and rust free. Also, i could make a start on building a frame for the sand blasting.
Well its been a few weeks since i have made an update. To be honest i had no money to make the dodecagon chassis tilter so everything came to a standstill until i had more money. I managed to get 2 homers fabricating gates, each one took about 2 weeks to make and fit, only because i have a full time job 8-5 and i can really only fabricate my own stuff after work and on Saturdays. The first one i made was for some retro shop on cockburn street in Edinburgh. I'm not sure if anyones familiar really with Edinburgh but cockburn street is just of the royal mile so its good to be getting my work in a classy area (i.e., more money).
After that one his neighbor wanted me to fabricate a couple of gates for the front of his shop too, so, more money is better than no money and i done that too.
Finally i could start on my own stuff for the van. I bought 4 lengths of 50x50x3 box section for the frame and struts, 2 lengths of 25x25x3 for bracing the inside of the van, a 8x4 sheet of 1.2mm for the body and some 1.6mm for the underside and any other areas i want to protect a bit more. Last time i got as far as drawing the idea of the dodecagon.
I know that there is other ways for me to work on the underside of the van, from rolling it over onto old mattresses/tyres to make a proper rotisserie. The reason i decided on the dodecagon was its simplicity, i don't have to jack it up **** loads to rotate it and i can mount it straight onto the chassis using the suspension mounting points.
I decided before i go cutting anything to check over all my measurements and see if i can adjust the sizes. I went to the garage and made a cardboard template of the outline of the front of the van, after messing around with the sizes i realized i could make the bottom and top rail 37" the side rails 32" and the corners 20", meaning instead of the overall height and width being 104" its now only 87" (if my memory serves me right). I then got 2 sheets of 3mm plate from my work and laid them flat on the ground and tacked them together to make a 8ftx8ft working area. I traced around the cardboard template (you can vaguely see that) and then made a full size drawing of how the dodecagons should look in chalk. Once that was done and i was happy with it i cut 24 bits of 50x50 at 50 long angle and tacked them around the perimeter of the dodecagon. That way once everything was cut i could clamp the box to the angle and know its not going to move and warp.
I then started to cut the 50x50 box to the sizes i need with a 7inch grinder, Its not my chop saw so to save the blade a bit i cut them with the grinder square, so when it comes to cutting the 15 degree angle im only cutting 3 faces, therefore using less of the blade.
This photo is a bit******but you get the idea, with everything cut i could place the metal on the sheet and using a **** load of clamps, clamp everything in place and start tacking. Once it was all tacked i kept the clamps in place and welded the top face.
I then stood it up so i could weld the inside and outside.
After that i then laid it back down with the other non welded face pointing up onto the jig to make sure it never warped and i laid the other bits of metal on top and tacked them to the complete dodecagon, that way i know both will be the exact same (or close enough anyway).
I then broke the tacks holding the dodecagons together and welded everything up completely.
The next again weekend i went back to finish them off but i forgot my camera so I'll need to show what i done later. I wanted to add strength to the corners so i cut some 25x10 flat bar and welded them in place like gussets. The other thing i done was to cut them in half and sleeved an insert inside both cuts. Unfortunately once i cut them in half they bowed in, so i had to cut 4 corners and pull them out a few degrees and weld them back up. Easy enough to do but time consuming.
The weekend after that i decided to fabricate trolley dollies so can move the whole thing around a lot easier. I bought 8x125mm castor/brake wheels, and 2 x 65x130 U channel @ 40" long. Using some left over 50 box i joined the whole lot together and im quite happy with how they turned out. I left a 60mm gap from the floor to the channel. Im hoping that when i go to roll the dodecagons i can roll them into the channel, I'll just need to see how it goes. The wheels should be strong for the job, they hold 160Kg each, so altogether thats 1280kg in total and im guessing the van isn't even going to be 700Kg fully stripped.
I got them down to my garage and with the help of my beautiful although slightly unenthusiastic assistant got to see how they would look in place. It was exciting to see all the hard work starting to make sense and feeling worthwhile.
My brother and I went to the garage last Wednesday after work and started to strip the front suspension out. We got the whole front end out but by that time it was getting quite late and i had an operation the next day so thats as far as we got. Im hoping next week to get back along and bolt the plates i have cut to the mounting points and weld more box to join the chassis to the dodecagons and fingers crossed it should go to plan. I also have to brace the inside of the van extensively as i plan to chop the roof of first. Thats why i have 3 sheets of MD, im going to join my 2 benches together and make a huge 12ft x8ft table, screw the roof down and repair it.
Hopefully I'll have another update next week and a video of it in action.
After that one his neighbor wanted me to fabricate a couple of gates for the front of his shop too, so, more money is better than no money and i done that too.
Finally i could start on my own stuff for the van. I bought 4 lengths of 50x50x3 box section for the frame and struts, 2 lengths of 25x25x3 for bracing the inside of the van, a 8x4 sheet of 1.2mm for the body and some 1.6mm for the underside and any other areas i want to protect a bit more. Last time i got as far as drawing the idea of the dodecagon.
I know that there is other ways for me to work on the underside of the van, from rolling it over onto old mattresses/tyres to make a proper rotisserie. The reason i decided on the dodecagon was its simplicity, i don't have to jack it up **** loads to rotate it and i can mount it straight onto the chassis using the suspension mounting points.
I decided before i go cutting anything to check over all my measurements and see if i can adjust the sizes. I went to the garage and made a cardboard template of the outline of the front of the van, after messing around with the sizes i realized i could make the bottom and top rail 37" the side rails 32" and the corners 20", meaning instead of the overall height and width being 104" its now only 87" (if my memory serves me right). I then got 2 sheets of 3mm plate from my work and laid them flat on the ground and tacked them together to make a 8ftx8ft working area. I traced around the cardboard template (you can vaguely see that) and then made a full size drawing of how the dodecagons should look in chalk. Once that was done and i was happy with it i cut 24 bits of 50x50 at 50 long angle and tacked them around the perimeter of the dodecagon. That way once everything was cut i could clamp the box to the angle and know its not going to move and warp.
I then started to cut the 50x50 box to the sizes i need with a 7inch grinder, Its not my chop saw so to save the blade a bit i cut them with the grinder square, so when it comes to cutting the 15 degree angle im only cutting 3 faces, therefore using less of the blade.
This photo is a bit******but you get the idea, with everything cut i could place the metal on the sheet and using a **** load of clamps, clamp everything in place and start tacking. Once it was all tacked i kept the clamps in place and welded the top face.
I then stood it up so i could weld the inside and outside.
After that i then laid it back down with the other non welded face pointing up onto the jig to make sure it never warped and i laid the other bits of metal on top and tacked them to the complete dodecagon, that way i know both will be the exact same (or close enough anyway).
I then broke the tacks holding the dodecagons together and welded everything up completely.
The next again weekend i went back to finish them off but i forgot my camera so I'll need to show what i done later. I wanted to add strength to the corners so i cut some 25x10 flat bar and welded them in place like gussets. The other thing i done was to cut them in half and sleeved an insert inside both cuts. Unfortunately once i cut them in half they bowed in, so i had to cut 4 corners and pull them out a few degrees and weld them back up. Easy enough to do but time consuming.
The weekend after that i decided to fabricate trolley dollies so can move the whole thing around a lot easier. I bought 8x125mm castor/brake wheels, and 2 x 65x130 U channel @ 40" long. Using some left over 50 box i joined the whole lot together and im quite happy with how they turned out. I left a 60mm gap from the floor to the channel. Im hoping that when i go to roll the dodecagons i can roll them into the channel, I'll just need to see how it goes. The wheels should be strong for the job, they hold 160Kg each, so altogether thats 1280kg in total and im guessing the van isn't even going to be 700Kg fully stripped.
I got them down to my garage and with the help of my beautiful although slightly unenthusiastic assistant got to see how they would look in place. It was exciting to see all the hard work starting to make sense and feeling worthwhile.
My brother and I went to the garage last Wednesday after work and started to strip the front suspension out. We got the whole front end out but by that time it was getting quite late and i had an operation the next day so thats as far as we got. Im hoping next week to get back along and bolt the plates i have cut to the mounting points and weld more box to join the chassis to the dodecagons and fingers crossed it should go to plan. I also have to brace the inside of the van extensively as i plan to chop the roof of first. Thats why i have 3 sheets of MD, im going to join my 2 benches together and make a huge 12ft x8ft table, screw the roof down and repair it.
Hopefully I'll have another update next week and a video of it in action.
