Re fitting cargo floor chassis rails Pt 2

Once both sills were fitted I cut the chassis rails out any way I could, trouble is I needed the tubes embedded within the rails. With a tiny 1mm cutting disc I delicately cut them free from the welded frame brackets.

I also removed the brackets from the centre of the I beams that securely hold the gear link tube in position. To do this I again unleashed the 1mm cutting disc very carefully and gingerly (see what I did there?) using plenty of light to see what I was doing cut away the weld, wobbling the I beam regularly to break the weld. Once each rail was slid off the tube I drilled the 8 spot welds off each side.

With the main chassis rails cleaned I placed all the cross members in their positions and using the datum marks and laser I marked out the centre and handbrake cable tube holes. When I hastily cut and folded all these parts originally I didn't order enough material to fold all three top hat sections, so the other two I picked up from the Autocraft engineering stall at Van Fest, the quality of these parts is spot on, and surprisingly fitted perfectly between my new fitted sills.

I had originally decided to manufacture many of my own parts and save money, this was decided before I knew what parts if any were available, or the quality of the ones that I could buy, and also because of my previous crap panels I'd bought before. This meant I created for myself a few problems- marking and cutting a 31mm tube hole without a pillar drill accurately in bent 2mm and 4mm sheet is not easy, requires patents and can be very time consuming, the only tool I thought was available for a pistol drill was a tapered drill bit. Backed up by wood I started drilling slowly, straight away skidding off my markings, then unable to control the awesome speed of the cutter I burnt out the drill and hardened the sheet steel, like an apprentice fitter I once was. All this trauma and it was still my first hole! I was having a bad day, it felt like I was wasting precious garage time on these parts that I'd made and I was getting really grumpy. I decided I would bit the bullet and order all the chassis parts I needed. The prices online came to over £200, again I changed my mind and decided that my local machine shop would save me, and do the drilling for me at £10 a hole (over £40 total). They sent me away with the advice to try an electricians' hole saw and come back if I had no success, or produced yet more warped glowing red sheet steel. With a good lunch and large bottle of Coke (other brands of pop are available) inside me and my new tool in hand I tried one more time. I was surprised how tough and accurate the hole saw cuts were but I do need to ask Santa for a pillar drill (if you're in New Zealand it's pronounced Sinta by the way). It's all about using the right tool for the job. Or buying one.

Refitting cargo floor transfer cassis rails

Having been away from the garage again for another few months, I finally managed to find the time to continue putting the van back together. With all the old cargo floor cross supports cut out of the way, I just needed to grind away the remaining metal from the front cross member I left spot welded to the lower part of the forward bulkhead. This took all day to carefully grind the spots off the thicker steel of the cross member without damaging or ripping the thinner front bulkhead lower skin. Getting a bit impatient I did chisel a couple off, making holes I'd need to tidy up later.

With all the chassis cross members and transverse chassis rails removed I then ground away all the welds on the heater, clutch and accelerator cable tubes where they had been attached to the cross rails, then cleared the rust from where the new rails are going to sit.

Starting with the I beams or "transfer chassis rails", I paired up the C shaped sections I'd bent earlier from 2mm sheet steel, I then folded the ends using a block and mallet to fit correctly between the sills, clamped together I then trial fitted them onto the chassis using the earlier markings, making sure the tops were flat, square and level for where the floor would sit.

With the chassis rails all lined up I then seam welded in a few places along the top and bottom. They are now ready to mark out and drill to fit the hand brake cable and gear shift tubes, before final assembly to the chassis.

cutting cargo floor cross supports

Here are a few photos of the cargo floor chassis being removed, I'll add a better description when I get more time.

Just like Austin Powers, yes that is a frickin' laser !

Right Inner Sill Repair

With the left side cargo door sills now in place it was time to turn the van around so I could access to work on the other side. The inner and outer sill on the right side have seen repair panels before, the skin panel was a repair panel I cut off along time ago when the van was first taken off the road (over 10 years ago) and the patch work of galvanised sheet metal shelving and filler I'm ashamed to say was my first attempt of van restoration may moons ago. hopefully my quality of work has moved on.

The steel at the back of the inner front arch is a popular rot spot, despite my earlier efforts I cut away the many layers of panels holding this corner together. This is a lot easier with the wheel arch removed but again forming all these panels by hand eats away any precious garage time. I had to joggle the flat patch panel again(see previous blog entry) and to form the bottom of the B pillar correctly I needed to cut a hard wood bend block with the curve shaped from the other pillars. I then used a blow torch to soften the steel allowing me to shrink the sheet while forming the curve around the block. This really helped get the contour of the bottom of the B pillar correct.

As you can see the rear arch inner where the sill attaches needed a smaller patch than the mess at the front. The cross struts for the floor were left in place to ensure the inner sill was clamped in the correct position. The new sill that Id previously folded from a thicker gauge steel just needed the ends bent up to fit the length. With the front and rear arches repaired I aligned and leveled the sill; tacked; checked and welded it into place. I now have to decide If i should fit the outer skin before or after I've finished the cargo floor.

Crago Door Sill Repair

With the door gap braced along its' length with a piece of angle iron I cut away the original outer and an old repaired inner sill. I then welded the strengthener sill to the outer sill that I got from Auto Craft, cleaned up any welds and trimmed any excess metal from the van and the panels that prevented a comfortable fit for all the parts.

Trying to get the sill aligned just right to the doors, current chassis and curve of the body took a lot of trial and error until I was happy with a position I liked. Although this meant the rear wheel arch patch I'd fitted earlier didn't match at the lower lip and had to be reworked to align. The outer sill was then tack welded, checked for alignment with the door gaps, their closed position and the outer curve of the van, and then finally the sill was welded in position. I worked out from the old floor that the top of the outer sill sits about 8 mm higher than the top of the chassis rails because of the step in the floor panel.

When fitting the inner sill I had to pull the sill into the center with rope (!) to get the outside bodyline straight and to reduce the gap between the sill and the chassis rails. Although I supported it with the angle iron it still bowed out at the rear cargo door hinge line. Unfortunately at the moment I'm not welding the inner sill to the current chassis as these pieces will be replaced later, so with the inner sill positioned correctly and just welded at either end I have to sort the gaps to the chassis again later.

Manufacturing Chassis Supports

Although I haven't been in the garage for a while, I have been able to get into the workshop and fold up a few more parts for the cargo floor chassis. The hardest part of hand forming is getting two parts the same. If your first fold is a little off it can become a big error on the last fold.

I had to cut away the tab that should run along the full length of the top hat section because I would not have been able to fit it into the folding machines jaws. But that's not too bad as this is where the jacking points will be. The others tabs I will fold up when I get the parts to the garage so that I can make sure the fit is correct.

 

Here's the drawings I made.

A is the I beam

B is the top hat sections

C is the inner sill

D shows the angle for the aft cross section to account for the chassis rails widening.

E is the capping plate for the rear cross section because it has no other pieces below it.

 

 

 

 

The outrigger I mad a paper template from the measurements taken from the hole left and used this to get the angle of the fold correct.

 



Chassis Patch Repair

With the extra piece of steel the metal supplier gave me I was able to neatly patch the hole in the left chassis rail.

It's great to be able to weld decent gauge steel without having to worry about distorting it.

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.