Ancient camper van repairs

[James1979]

Hmm, two threads, same issue.

In the words of the Virgin Mary - “come again?”

 

[slim_boy_fat]

If we're talking about a VW camper van you can get the panels to repair the gutter/roof above the door:

Roof Panels

www.heritagepartscentre.com

Sounds like it may be eating its way down the B pillar, by the wording "just scraped it through an MOT" and that by the time another 12 months have passed it will be too late without 'surgery'

 

[John Edwin Porter]

If we're talking about a VW camper van you can get the panels to repair the gutter/roof above the door:

Roof Panels

www.heritagepartscentre.com

Fiat Ducato, 30 years old, Fibre glass Elddis roof.

 

[John Edwin Porter]

In the words of the Virgin Mary - “come again?”

Sorry, thought I'd forgotten to add title so posted again!

 

[Barking Mat]

Best get some photos tomorrow, me thinks.

 

[James1979]

Found t’other thread.

As per other thread, roof off, weld it up, roof on.

Budget for more time than you think as when it’s off there will always be other things to do.

can the mods combine the threads?

 

[John Edwin Porter]

Sounds like it may be eating its way down the B pillar, by the wording "just scraped it through an MOT" and that by the time another 12 months have passed it will be too late without 'surgery'

Plenty of other things needed repair! This was a bit of a afterthought I think. The only obvious rust is above the door. Only a cm short of what you say is B pillar, so, yes, needs doing.

 

[John Edwin Porter]

Best get some photos tomorrow, me thinks.

Yep

 

[Barking Mat]

My camper van is 59 this year, you'll manage, hopefully.

 

[Paul.]

Duplicate Threads merged

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Cut a big section out of the roof above where you need to weld then rebond it into place after

 

[badabec]

A Citroen DS has a glass fibre roof, either bolted on or bonded on with Sikaflex type stuff. You first notice something is wrong when the central self tapper holding the screen trim in place falls out. With the roof off, you soon realise that the main thing holding the roof in place was gravity and rust.

The water will have wicked all along the join. Cutting out a piece of the roof is the easy bit, putting it back a bit more difficult. Much better to just take the roof off.

 

[winchman]

As above really Cut the fibreglass away weld then glue back together, I have a similar age Talbot you will find a bit more rust but its all repairable, if you need parts and have a pattern Weldingwood on Facebook is fantastic, he remanufactures mostly Landcover bits but would make you a gutter repair patch. The Repair panels from Costal Motor homes are good too, some others on Ebay etc are very poor

 

[Shoggi]

Welcome to the forum John
As my grandad used to say (nothing is impossible)

 

[John Edwin Porter]

As above really Cut the fibreglass away weld then glue back together, I have a similar age Talbot you will find a bit more rust but its all repairable, if you need parts and have a pattern Weldingwood on Facebook is fantastic, he remanufactures mostly Landcover bits but would make you a gutter repair patch. The Repair panels from Costal Motor homes are good too, some others on Ebay etc are very poor

Thanks. I'm assuming the internal roof is a separate skin to the external one. How do you get a neat finish on the cut out bit?

 

[John Edwin Porter]

Can do pics, too dark now!

 

[James1979]

Sort of how I imagined it but I’d still go roof off. You may get away with undoing the roof and lifting it clear on bearers (4x2) rather than totally off and putting fire blanket in the gap.

 

[John Edwin Porter]

Thank you. How is the roof attached? Nothing visible inside.

 

[John Edwin Porter]

Pictures would help, but I don't see why not.
You would need to be careful not to allow the metal get too hot and burn the fiberglass but it's always a good idea to keep repairs cool to limit distortion anyway.
If the alternative is scrapping it, it’s got to worth a go.

And welcome to the forum.

 

[Stuartg1]

The roof will be bonded to the van, you may find that it isn't that well stuck anymore! Did similar with an old vw and 2 of us managed to pull it off. Be prepared for more rust as condensation collects there.
It's certainly doable but it will be time consuming as there will probably be 3 or 4 layers of metal in the structure