[Zebedee]

Few more bits made with the usual blood sacrifice to the garage gods.

I still need to make the 90 degree bend for the flange.

 

[Zebedee]

Got a few bits of metal weled in this afternoon before the rain came down.

 

[Zebedee]

Got the other side of the rear valance inner structure welded in this afternoon.

Bit annoyed i trimmed the top left edge down slightly too much. It'll still work though it means i need to be extra exact drilling the holes for the plug welds.
I made a couple of templates for the outer skin too. Just need to buy more steel as theres not quite enough left to fit it.
Welded up some of the holes in the D pillar too. Seems everything is covered in silicone sealant down the passengers side of the D pillar along the rear hatch.

I also chopped the tailpipe off though to be honest it only needed a little waggling and it fell off. Had to tie the silencer up with some rope as theres no drivers side mount left on the end of the silencer. Its also missing the mounting rubber off the mount on the engine too so i'll have to make something to bridge the gap and support it.

 

[Zebedee]

Starting to loose the love of this camper. Where ever you look theres just more rot hidden under the rubberised sealant.
Got the bottom of the snorkel box welded up this afternoon.

Put new welding wire in (a different brand than i usually buy) and struggled to get good welds with it. Same spec as the other stuff i usually get too.

This should be fun to fix as theres very little access on the engine bay side of the panel due to the plastic airbox and intake manifold. Tried to get the plastic airbox base unbolted but even after all the bolts were removed it wouldn't come off. Theres two snapped bolts which i assume are still holding it on but i can't get them out.

 

[Cat]

we all get to the point where we fall out of love with them i reckon.

i find it's something stupid like attaching a shiny bolt and then i'm in love with them again.

gutted for you about the welding wire, hope you can fix it, it's crazy how something so trivial can make all the difference isn't it x

 

[Zebedee]

we all get to the point where we fall out of love with them i reckon.

i find it's something stupid like attaching a shiny bolt and then i'm in love with them again.

gutted for you about the welding wire, hope you can fix it, it's crazy how something so trivial can make all the difference isn't it x

I think it was down to the fact the new steel i used has a coating on it. Tried welding a piece of old stuff and it was fine. Must remember to give the weld edges a bit of a sand before welding.

Gonna have to get the lower part of the air filter housing off as theres no space to get in to weld the engine bay side panel up. I think the M6 mounting bolts just screw into a nut so the broken ones shouldn't cause it to be stuck. I assume its been silicone sealed into place like everything else is. Atleast once its out i can get the remains of the snapped bolts out easily enough and just replace them with new.

How it should look vs how it does look.

 

[Leigh d]

Starting to loose the love of this camper. Where ever you look theres just more rot hidden under the rubberised sealant.

I know that feeling having the same on my beetle. Bought lots of panels prior to starting, had to buy more, or try make like yourself.
tidy little repair panels your making there as well.

 

[Zebedee]

I know that feeling having the same on my beetle. Bought lots of panels prior to starting, had to buy more, or try make like yourself.
tidy little repair panels your making there as well.

I had a lot of practice making panels when i did my beetle. At least these are mostly flat.

Had a dry afternoon (the calm before the storm ) so got a bit more done. The rear valance outer skin is now solid again, though it needs a bit more sanding. I was loosing daylight so quickly gave it some epoxy primer. It needs a bit of panel beating on the N/S where its taken a whack at some point on the underside of the valance. I think it was maybe reversed into a wall or a big rock.

 

[Zebedee]

Made up a new exhaust tailpipe to replace the rotten one.

New support made from 2mm steel welded to the end of the silencer and bolted to the bracket using a new mounting rubber. Much better than a section of steel hanging it off the back valance.

Looks much nicer with the silencer level with the back valance.

I also welded some new steel into the chunk that was cut out the valance at some point and gave it a quick coat of black paint.

 

[AntB]

wow some nice work there young man.

Tony

 

[Zebedee]

Cheers. Its still mostly a rusty sh!tter but slowly becoming more solid.

Not done much today as i went to a local cars and coffee meet instead.
Found some M6 bolts and nuts to fix the tailpipe onto the silencer and made a couple of small patches to close off the rear ends of the sills where they've rotten out around the rubber grommet.
Not sure if i'll work on it tomorrow as I managed to crick my neck working on it yesterday so woke up this morning unable to easily move. Think i've also pulled a muscle in my chest too as i can barely lift my arms above my head.

 

[Zebedee]

Rear corner looks a little bit tidier now.

 

[AntB]

Nice work sir.
I do like the T25, miss mine.

Tony

 

[DK Bug]

It is now spring. Summer soon to be and out camping. Just a few patches. Nice work.

 

[Zebedee]

Brother in law really wants it done in 3 weeks time as they're booked to be going away in it then.
Not gonna have a chance to paint it but it should atleast be solid again by then. All the windows really need to come out to sort some rot but they had all new seals last year (without first sorting the rust) and its storage place isn't 100% or even 50% watertight so its really a job for the summer when theres the likelyhood of 2 days of dry weather in a row.

I think theres just the sliding door seal on the sill to weld on, a couple of closing panels on the rear ends of the sills, the panel at the back of the rear arch to weld in and the rot hole next to the airbox (which i still haven't managed to remove ) to sort.
The cab door also needs a section welding into the inner skin as its got a hole the size of my hand.

Got a can of gravitex to spray onto the underside of the arches once its seam sealed.

 

[Zebedee]

Finally managed to get the airbox off and cut out the rot in the side of the engine bay.

Found some more rot under the other arch though.

 

[AntB]

Yeah you tend to find that.
Rust is good at hiding behind things.

Tony

 

[Zebedee]

Yeah you tend to find that.
Rust is good at hiding behind things.

Tony

Its the bloody factory applied rubberised crap thats the problem. A tiny crack in it when it dries out, water gets in and just munches away behind it, hidden away until all of a sudden theres a huge stinking great hole.
Hopefully its not as bad as the passengers side.

 

[Zebedee]

Got the engine bay welded up and filled.

Repaired the back end of the rear arch and welded on the new lower rear corner.

Welded a little repair into the lip on the wheel arch on the other side too.

 

[AntB]

Loooking gooooood sir.

Keep fighting.

Tony