| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
 Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:30 pm Post subject: 1972 Ford powered VW custom Baywindow pannel van rebuild |
 |
|
Well for the past 6-8 months I have been busy beeavering away modifying my van and giving her a bit of an overhaul and restoration. I didn’t plan to do so much work but as is often the way once you start looking you find too much!! Lol.
Initially the van came off the road because I split an airbag in the suspension system but while I had her off the road, and use of another car, I thought that I might as well fit all the bits and pieces I had been collecting over the years. So with that thought in mind I began work.
This thred isn’t in the order that I did all the work but hopefully it will show what I’ve been up too. There is so much that I have broken it down into a few categories so we’ll start with the Body and paint work.
Like I said I hadn't really planned to do all this but I kinda had no choice! The van certainly would not get an MOT with the metal in the state it was and it seemed like no extra time to go the full hog and just remove and replace all rot.
Its worth me mentioning now that I wasn't trying to get the van 100% perfect in the body department-thats next summers job- I just wanted to get it it solid and in over all good shape. Like I said next summer I plan to go over the whole body with a fine tooth comb and fine fill any little dents and wobles and then respray her properly.
I couldn't afford the rising cost of new panels so I made my own. I started with both front wheel arches-I made them out of sheet steel and welded each piece together to get the shape the steal is 18 gauge so a lot thicker than the crappy Brazilian steel you get from cheap repro panels so if nothing else I hope these last!
I also painted a few bits in a few bits and painted the windscreen wipers and airial
I then worked my way down the passenger side replacing the whole cill, inner and outer and while I was there I extended it 1.5” down and 0.5” out-the van now has more vertical sides and then a tight raping cill-I wanted the van to look a bit tougher/meaner which I think I have achieved! It’s quite a subtle mod but you defiantly notice it more up close in the day light. This mod has been blended into both wheel arches (front and back) so the whole bottom of the van is slightly wider and lower now.
Next was the bottom of the sliding door I replaced the whole bottom 20”!! And again made all the panels my self including the bottom of the inner panel and the out side skin-again quite a lot of fabrication to get it all to fit and look right.
Sorry I dont seem to have any interesting photos for this bit!
Also did the bottom of the door and bottom of the door skin.
I then had just a few patches on the floor upfront on that side and a bit of inner wheel arch to make.
Next was then the driver’s side. I had already done the wheel arch and next was to attach the cill-but what I soon found out was that the whole cill inner and outer was completely rotten and the bottom of the side panel wasn’t too hot either. So with out hesitation I chopped it all out! Now this side had a lot of filler in it so it was the ideal time to chopping it all out, I basically chopped the whole side out and then started to go to work with the old sheet metal working from front to back fitting reinforcing bars and then laying the sheet steel over the top.
This was a pretty hefty task as the area was so big and I was desperately trying to do it without getting too much heat distortion and with out loosing any of the shape I had created.
I started by building my cill like before. I found a bit of solid bracing to work off and used that as my marking point to extend down 1.5” and out an extra 0.5” just as I did before on the other side. Once I had my down and out piece in I then rolled some steel to make a curved facing plate for the actual out cill.
Once the cill was all boxed in I then laid up the sheet steel and aligned it to the new cill at the bottom and then grafted it into the top of the side of the van and tacking it to my frame as I went along. I later seem welded it up before filling and smoothing it in.
And Then I thought I might as well spray in the white sections too as it had got a bit covered in grinding dust! So a quick rub down and 30 ratle cans later-one sprayed roof and top section! I actually used 58 cans in total to re spary the whole van  I got a great deal on them!  Thanks to Trago Mills! 
My favourit bit!
So seeing I was in the mody work mood I also tackled a few other things! First off was to fit a race/rally style tow eye. (Some thing I've wanted to do for ages).
And then I neatened up my engine door by welding and plating a few cooling holes that are no longer needed. 4 in total were filled and I just left 2 holes at the bottom- The whole on the passengers side houses a reverse camera.
And then I made some carbon fibre scratch plates for the bonnet pins to finish off the back.
And then I filled in any excess gaps, around the tail pipe, with steel and fitted my tail pipe properly so that it would not rub or rattle against the bumper.
Ok next Up is the steering and brakes I have already covered this in the tec and moded area- here is the link to it…. http://vwkd.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2269 if you want it in a bit more detail.
But in a nut shell the brakes are a blend of VW old and new. I have used VW Corrardo vr6 callipers mated to the 288mm brake discs which have been cross drilled and are already vented. I think the discs actually come from a VW Toran. Thank you Mr Futbus for getting the machining done for me and sourcing discs to fit.
The push rod is made from 25mm steel rod, I cut a clevis style end on one end to join it to the brake pedal and had a hole machined in the other end so that it would slide snugly over the golf servo push rod-I then secured it in place with 2x stainles steel bolts.
Ok next up then is the steering. Again this has been covered more deeply in the thred linked above, but again in a nut shell I used the Neil-C Bedford rascal steering system. I got the castings done locally, using Neil-c’s buck and then Rich Baker and JP got the machining done-thanks guys to every one who helped out here-it was a true group effort to get all the bits sorted!
I then had a local machining company to put a thread on some more 25mm bar for me to fit a VW camper track rod end ball joint and a thread to accept the Beford rascal eye that Rich had got machined for me.
Then I just had the task to link it all into a new steering column. I wanted to position my steering wheel further back and in a position more like a modern day car so that I could sit further back in my seat and have a more comfortable driving position.
So I opted for a SEAT Ibiza MK1 steering column which I mated a Renault LD35 steering coupling which fitted the top of the Bedford Rascal steering rack. Again more detailed info can be found here….. http://vwkd.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2269
And this is it with the modified housing-I've also fitted my air suspension controles in here too.
So that’s most of the mechanics done for now but I also had some battery isolators that bought ages ago so I fitted them too. 1 for the leisure battery and one for the main battery.
I've gotta take some more pictures tomorow so will continue to update the thred in the morning, hope you've enjoyed it so far!
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com
Last edited by Alex (FTS) on Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:41 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
Ok So taken a few more pics today.
Well Whilest I was working on the battery area I decided to neeten things up and fit a couple of bus bars for all the contact for the leisure battery, I also got a couple of new batterys to run as leaisure batterys that I am running on a home made split charge, again for more info on this check out...... http://www.vwkd.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=507
I've got a couple of pics of the interior too. This was actually the first thing I did to the van. I got the hump a bit when the air bag split so I parked the van up around the back of my house and forgot about it for a few months!!
During that time I got a lot of surfing and skating in and then the desire to have my van for surf/skate trips came back in vengeance so I started to make a minimalist interior. I already had panelled the van and fitted the rock and role bed so I just needed to carpet the sides and get a sink, cooker and storage in there. I wanted to keep it to a minimum as I often carry large loads or bulky things like lots of bikes, surfboards and skateboards so I wanted plenty of room to be able to stack thinks up and hold extra bags etc.
So I got me an Eiberspacher handy wash off ebay-this seemed like a perfect solution for me as it has hot and cold water and it has its own water reservoir that holds 10litres of water so no messing around with plumbing.
And then on the other side I made a box/unit that houses a 40litre fridge/coolbox, a gas bottle, 4 way attached to a 240volt hook up, storage space, mobile phone charging points and the cooker. The cooker stows away under the work top too so I can use the top as a work surface/table too.
I managed to get some BandQ kitchen top off-cuts for the top but it was super heavy because it was 2.5 inches thick! So several hours later I had routered off 2 inches of wood!!! That was hard work but I did save a lot of weight!
I also spent 6 hours with a needle and thred re triming an old sofa bed cover that i dyed black with some dylon. This is just a temporary cover until I can aford to get some proper covers made.
I havent done to much to the dash but you can see the new steering wheel set up and I added afew extra buttons to turn the electrics in the back on and off.
Ok so I'm pretty much there for now bar a few tweaks to the air suspension set up. I managed to get my self an extra air tank off eBay (in preparation for the rear air bag install) and the good guys at Duchy Hose sorted me out with all the couplings and bits to link them up plus a water separator with replaceable filter, an air gauge and they made me up custom stainless steel hoses to link my 2 compressors up to the dryer unit. I also instaled a schreder valve so I can inflate the tanks manualy should my compressors break down or fail!
If you ever need any parts for air sus etc then check these guys out-they certainly know there stuff and they have always had everything I’ve ever needed in stock.
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
A photographer Friend of mine,Rick Davey, came round last week and took some photos for a project he is doing so I got some free pics!Hope you enjoy.
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jp
Darth Admin
Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1984
Location: Chippenham, Wiltshire
|
| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Looking fookin ace mate and blooming brilliant write up thanks for taking the time to do that... great read
Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh  you should be showing your work off at v'fest you know 
Has it still got my old engine in ?
_________________
1971 Devon Bay with 1800 Ford Turbo Diesel Engine (wip)
1983 VW Golf GTI Campaign
1979 Mini 1275 GT
2013 Scirocco TDI GT |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
illzlee
Jedi Master
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 282
Location: Derby, youth.
|
| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
traaaaaago mills, nobody beats tra-go mills....
got right sick of that ad on atlantic FM when we were in the the wall of corn last month!
sounds like a quality place, they were offering industrial air-con units at 25% RRP while we were down there. Is it like a massive wilko's? (ah, is wilko's only a northern thing?) think 'iceland' of the DIY industry 
_________________
'79 Bay running citroen 1.9td and phat tyres! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks for the props guys. Oh yes she is still powered by your motor mate and still going strong! I've gotta a turbo and all the bits to fit to her too now!
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com
Last edited by Alex (FTS) on Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
A couple more bits that I forgot to add.
I've been wanting to do something with my front lights for a while now and finnaly I managed to come up with a simple solution that works! I've fitted some retro fit sealed beam units designed for the original mini. I like these ones because they have a BMW style Angel eye side light and for the main beam they use H4 halogens. I also drilled the unit to fit my indicators in there.
The indercators are high voltage brake light bulbs, painted with orange nail varnis, which fasten into some ford escort side repeator bulb holders. These just simple push and twist fit into a hole I drilled in the light unit.
The sealed beam units are the same fitment as late style vw units so any one with a 73 onwards would be able to fit these in there existing light bowls (I think) with no extra modification. I on the other hand had to do some welding to get mine in but I used some mitsubishi majero (mk1) head light holders (from the scrap yard) and fited some tabs that slide up and down some threded rod that I've welded to the original light bowl. This means using some nuts I can adjust the units in every direction to get the angle of the light right.
Unfortunatly you cant realy see the angel eye very well in this pic-but I'll find one online to show you.
Here you go I found a pic online
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Ok so I got the Air tanks in after alot of jigging around and a few more trips to Dutchy Hose!
But I'm pretty pleased with them although I cant fit my little jerry can in any more!
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Alex (FTS)
Jedi Guardian
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 992
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Not too much going on this weekend mainly just tying up loos ends. I had a fad few minor leaks to sort in the air suspension and a few bits of trim to secure and some bits of paint to touch up. But the main 2 things I did were-Get my hi beams working, which was the last bit I needed to do for the mot and I also layed a bit more carpet to help neaten it up.
_________________
www.faltownskateboards.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hansend23
Jedi Master
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
Posts: 333
Location: Washington state
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
the things you[ukers] do to your vdubs!im still
amazed!havin fun!
_________________
just do it! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
