Manufacturing cargo floor cross members

All the floor cross members had some sort of rust and rot. I could patch and repair what I need to, but if it's ever going to need replacing I figured now is the best time to go for it. Pricing up all the individual parts varies between £324.50 from Schofield to £483 from Muscle Bus, that price includes jacking points, which I have no intention in trying to make myself.

So I set about measuring up and sourcing the material. My initial quote was £125 uncut sheet, but I managed to find a local supplier who could cut to size and only charge me £50 cash with a small piece of scrap for another repair.

I was going to let you know how to calculate the bend allowance to work out the with of material required for 90 deg bend but in the end I just ended up winging it. I was able to get access to a workshop metal folder but only late in the evening after I had spent a couple of hours setting up the folder and bending a few practice pieces.

The first part to bend was the inner sill, at the time of buying the sheet I decided to use a thicker gauge than that fitted. This caused the problem of bending nearly a metre of 16 swg (1.6mm) thick steel which is very hard. I also forgot to set the grip strength evenly along the folder, this meant the edges rolled up as the material slipped back into the jaws. I had just the right amount of material so could not afford a mistake like this so I left these pieces and moved on to the I beam sections.

Without boring you too much I was up till 04.00 measuring, adjusting,  cutting and bending until my brain stopped working. I managed to get most bits folded and will have to do the box section later. You can see on the left the edge that slipped in the folder, I'll give this a bit of friendly persuasion to get flat.

B pillar repair and inner wheel arch left side

I think the pictures below show what I spent the last two days doing in my garage. Although It wasn't exactly all day, I did get a lie in each morning.

I pulled the rest off the left dog leg/wheel arch off and removed the lower support behind the front jacking point, this revealed the hole in the chassis. I also ground the under seal away to find a few more holes and a couple of patches that had got me through a few MOT's in the past.

For anyone replacing the bulk head panel/back inner arch panel in worse condition that this you may need to notice the tab that protrudes down, (click on the first 2 photos below to enlarge) this rests on the top hat section that sits behind this bulkhead allowing for a small gap along the rest of this edge. Cutting, forming, bending and filing can take up so much time, then welding, grinding and re-welding any holes then take up the rest of the day, giving you just enough time to spray on some primer before bed. Tip of the Day:- the best grinding disc I use is the disc with the small layered sheets of abrasive paper, they are so much easier, faster, smoother and even a little quieter than the conventional metal grinding discs.

I had to put 2 Joggles in the lower patch Id made, the outer was easily made with the Joggle pliers but the inner was too deep for these. I don't have a set of joggle wheels so I placed two similar thickness sheets of steel either side where the form line was required, then held with tape I squashed them in the vice (a fly press would have been better) that had several layers of tape on the teeth to protect marking the panel. The result came out OK, I had to finish the edges with a mallet and block and I should have placed the sheets a little closer together.

Cab Door Hinge Repair

As with most jobs at the moment one job has to be done before the first job can be finished. To repair the lower part of the bulkhead panel behind the front seats, I need the inner skin of the front wheel arch repaired, for that I need to remove the old wheel arch (dog leg) and to do that I need to align the door before the old wheel arch is removed. This leads me onto another job I've been avoiding, fitting the cab door hinge pins. But of course the hinges are cracked on the door skins so they need welding first...

The damage is both inside and out, so a quick clean with a rotary wire brush revealed all the cracks. I then clamped the skin and tacked a few spots, then turned up the welders' power so the welds along the cracks got deep penetration. A quick grind and tidy and job done. Then moving onto fitting the pins I couldn't find the correct size reamer to fit the interference fit for the hinges on the door so that's another job I've had to put on hold.