T5 transporter sill panel

[T5 TDI]

I have a T5 transporter that needs a N/S outer sill panel. You can buy a repair panel but only for the offside so only the centre section of that is usable because the ends are shaped/handed. So I have bought a cut panel from a T5 specialist salvage place. He asked exactly what I wanted and he sent me a video of the donor van and as it progressed he sent another video of the cut panel which I ok'd from what I could see. I had asked especially for it to include a vertical spot welded seam under the van so I could drill out and plug weld the new one rather than have to butt weld a 3 foot run. When the panel arrived this seam wasn't on it. I could complain and go though all the faff of returning it but really it's my fault for not checking the video carefully enough.

Anyway, I'm keeping it now but I am trying to decide if I should bite the bullet and do the long butt weld to the floor or perhaps extend its depth and make a new right angled/seam. It looks like a fairly simple fabrication. For the MOT rules this would have to be a continuous butt weld I presume, but at least I could do it on the bench. Anyway, I'm just interested in any ideas anybody has really.

I should say this van is 18 years old and has very little rust. This rotten sill is the result of a quick bodge for an original sill which got crushed about 10 years ago. The rather grim pics make it all look worse than it is. The sill panel on the other side is perfect.

I have hoovered up all the great threads here with interest (especially Screwdriver's T4 resto).

I have a Clarke 100e which I converted to gas with a 10 litre cylinder which I now own rather than rent. The refill is £40. I am getting better at mig welding and have been practicing so the welding part I think I will cope with but cutting out of the old sill accurately enough worries me! Any tips about this gratefully received! I have no access to air tools, just an angle grinder, dremel and one of those vibrating multi-tools.

Anyway, here are some pictures to try and help explain things. This first one is the pic I sent to the salvage guy. The spot welded seam marked in yellow I wanted to come with the new panel but when it arrived it had been cut just to the right of the yellow line. So I am wondering if I should just suck it up and go with the long butt weld or try and make a new flange so I can plug weld it as with the original. I will take a picture of the new panel later on and post it up.

Thanks for reading, sorry it got so long!

 

[T5 TDI]

Here are the pics promised of the salvage sill. The green line shows roughly the piece I would have to add. It's only a simple shape but it is horribly long and narrow (about an inch.) Do you think I would run into bad distortion or other issues trying to weld on something so long? I suppose I could beat it straight as I clamp and tack it into place. This new metal would be under the van. If I can weld this strip onto the sill panel on the bench I hope I can plug weld it place under the van using the original spot weld holes. Any suggestions about any part of the job would most welcome.

 

[Myles1970]

If you're concerned about distortion, you could cut the new section much wider to dissipate the heat and trim it to size afterwards

 

[roofman]

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/and-finally.119515/
Many parts on this old girl for your delight

 

[T5 TDI]

If you're concerned about distortion, you could cut the new section much wider to dissipate the heat and trim it to size afterwards

Good idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that, I had visions of an inch wide strip coiling up at the first tack!

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/and-finally.119515/
Many parts on this old girl for your delight

I used to own one of those in the nineties. It was about 5 or 6 years old when I got it. It had a brand new engine because a VW dealer trashed it after fitting a new cam belt. It was a great van but it did suffer much more rust than my 18 year old T5 has over the years. I loved the smooth quiet 5 cyl engine. My T5 also has a 5 cyl 2.5 engine and it goes like the clappers but the PD system makes it sound noisy and doesn't have that nice slick sound the T4 (ACV engine) had. Mine is quiet from inside the cab though. And it tows a ton or so of caravan really nicely.

 

[T5 TDI]

One more question about this if you don't mind. If the weather improves in the next couple of weeks I'm going to be getting stuck in.

The rear of the sill becomes the bottom of the rear wing, and the rear wing has a folded edge. Google seems to suggest it is called a 'folded hem'. My salvage yard sill panel has a cut off edge. I will butt weld the new sill panel to the wing but the end of the sill needs 'hemming' somehow to match the wing. Is this something possible without any fancy bending machines? I have even thought of fitting the sill and bonding a fabricated dummy hem and match that to the sill. The rear of the sill is in mid air at this point so well past any point of support so I don't the edge could be counted as structural.

A couple of pics to follow...

 

[T5 TDI]

The new sill will come roughly up to the red line and I will butt weld this. (this pic is the other side of the van so is reversed) The new sill has been cut off as you can bottom pic.

The red arrows show that needs to be folded. By a stroke of luck this new sill is from a long wheelbase van so it is identical but has an inch or a little less spare on the end which would allow some bending to match the wing.

 

[daf45]

Hi. Have you seen Fitzees fabrication on YouTube explaining what he calls Cut and Butt? Well worth a look and he gets far neater results letting panels in like that than anyone I've seen trying to make two cut panels fit together. I think you are on the right track making the lip on the bottom of the sill back to original on the bench before fitting up. Much easier to do the long weld there and can be dressed up to virtually invisible / dollied flat etc. Made wider to dissipate heat as someone else suggested, and trimmed after fitting. Good luck