The Transit.....

[MoreWellie]

mk2 twin wheeler gets my vote

I presume mine was a mk1 long wheelbase twin wheeler with the V6 engine (nice but oily). I think it may have been what started people drifting. I used it for discos and pa work so it spent a lot of time empty and wet roundabouts were always huge fun

 

[gavcarter]

I would have left it with the scrap man, but your dedication is to be admired. Having said that if your time has a value how much would the van be standing you at. Doesnt take many hours at say 10 quid an hour!

I wouldn't even like to think!!! But if you actually found one with the welding done half decently, and not just patches of beer cans tacked over the holes followed by stone chip then it would probably be around £5000 currently scrap ones are £1000...
Anything on the road with an MOT is £1500-£2000 and no matter how good the seller says the body is, and won't need welding for next MOT etc, they always do....

This isn't gunna be a show van, full restoration etc
It's not a mk1 cortina or escort....

Just my favourite type / year van!!

Just need it to be solid enough to last another 5 years or so....

 

[roofman]

If they never turned to red dust i would have a nice MK6 over any van out there..btw i have owned about 20 Transits at last count going right back to the bull nose MK1 pick up with a Capri 3 litre V6 which i fitted in it

 

[gavcarter]

If they never turned to red dust i would have a nice MK6 over any van out there..btw i have owned about 20 Transits at last count going right back to the bull nose MK1 pick up with a Capri 3 litre V6 which i fitted in it

They are the best van I think. Just made with crap metal, and too much foam!!

 

[OJCar]

Was there not a work Transit refurbished on here by a member with a Hire Company.
Reckoned it was money better spent refurbishing the old Transit than buying a new one IIRC.

 

[gavcarter]

Was there not a work Transit refurbished on here by a member with a Hire Company.
Reckoned it was money better spent refurbishing the old Transit than buying a new one IIRC.

I didn't see the thread but yes the newer ones are money pits!! And they rust nearly as quickly

 

[OJCar]

I'm sorry if this offends you.

And I do aplologise in advance.

Why are you restoring a Ford Transit Van ?

I aplologise in advance.

Nice work. Just curious.

Why ???

@Barking Mat How is the Camion coming along?

 

[Richiew]

Was there not a work Transit refurbished on here by a member with a Hire Company.
Reckoned it was money better spent refurbishing the old Transit than buying a new one IIRC.

Jim Davey's, it is worth a look.

Another rotten vehicle thread

Those of a sensitive disposition, turn away now.....

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[OJCar]

^ That's the thread, Thank you for finding that, I looked but ...

 

[gavcarter]

So a little bit more done today. Was going to continue along the inner sills until I realised I best do a couple of crossmembers first, while I have better access

This is a bit of inner sill behind the front door....just tacked for now, will seem weld when the outers are on so it can't move as much.

I need to make a small section of the bottom b pillar area to reinforce It but we'll get to that just before the outers go on

This is my front spring hanger for the rear axle

And as you can imagine an inner sill would make that harder to get into...
Also the cross member behind it is gone as I found out when using to stop the Tbar turning when removing the rear shock

Was hard to see spot weld from underneath, drill was taking forever from inside, and locked in the back of a dusty van in this heat is no good....
Scruffy as hell but the plasma cutter made short work of the spot welds

I'm going to make my flanges a few mm bigger and see if I can just weld them back up from inside... if not then the floor can have a few patches

Seemed to take an age of cutting, hitting grinding etc etc but eventually I managed to find all the spot welds and get this off

Another age spent cleaning up the atermath (next post im out of attachments)

 

[gavcarter]

It's not sparkling clean. But usable I think....
I've started making one of the support sections from 2mm plate..

There is 2 fillets to go inside it which I've cut but not yet Welded in....
My bender has a little too much give to get this a nice 90 degrees but I can sort that with some big clamps....
I have cut the flanges off the ends, did originally plan on bending them but I'm thinking they'd be more accurate Welded on now....

 

[roofman]

Jesus mate you must love that van..one look at that underneath and i would of been on my toes thanking the lord of a lucky escape Having said that i tip my hat to your dedication and quality of work your doing with that lot

 

[gavcarter]

Not having a great morning but managed a little bit more....
I've pulled the box into finished size with a big pair of clamps and Welded in the reinforcers

Welds have a weird look to them but I'd say they where hot enough!!

Started adding flanges by tacking one end

And moving the clamp along and tacking more

Full weld the opposite side as the tacks on tip will need to be ground flush

Did it small runs alternating ends to try not to buckle it completely out of shape

Welds still seem pointy, wire speed a little fast maybe??

Repeated other side, smaller flange as it ends on a wheel arch and can't be made bigger

It is warped a bit, but a chunky hammer should flatten it enough

 

[gavcarter]

The next one, I thought I'd try and improve may accuracy a little, and remember to deduct the material thickness when marking out!!

Sharpie and a scriber to get a better line

Although my "cutting table" needs some work as it's not the most comfortable thing to use!!

Soaked some oil into the bender hinges, and thought I'd grind the clamping edge a little flatter than it was....as I haven't ground it all

So we have something that resembles 90degrees rather than the rounded edge of the angle steel

And then low and behold the hinge pin snapped.....

I made this years ago, and has bent a fair amount of patches and sill sections. I've let it rust up and just used brute force to free it, time and time again....used it as a paint stand, stepping stool, I've even clamped flat bar in and jumped on it....
And it was all knocked together with scrap as my first welding project so it's no surprise that it's given up, but WHY does it always happen mid-job???

 

[slim_boy_fat]

but WHY does it always happen mid-job??? ..........

The Law of Sod...

 

[minimutly]

View attachment 355920
It's not sparkling clean. But usable I think....
I've started making one of the support sections from 2mm plate..View attachment 355921View attachment 355922

There is 2 fillets to go inside it which I've cut but not yet Welded in....
My bender has a little too much give to get this a nice 90 degrees but I can sort that with some big clamps....
I have cut the flanges off the ends, did originally plan on bending them but I'm thinking they'd be more accurate Welded on now....

Truly frightening. What year is this? (Shivering at the thought of mo '13 motorhome turning into this)..,

 

[gavcarter]

Truly frightening. What year is this? (Shivering at the thought of mo '13 motorhome turning into this)..,

It's a 2005 although I have seen vans 3-4 years younger in similar states

 

[stuvy]

Did you clean the mill scale off before the weld on the new steel?

 

[arther dailey]

nothing but admiration for the work your putting in on this , totally undersand the reasoning as well , although labour wise it gets spendy its your labour and at the end you will have a totally trustworthy work horse that you can rely on for good few years without actual major cash expenditure (hopefully) , good luck to you .

 

[gavcarter]

Did you clean the mill scale off before the weld on the new steel?

I didn't actually as it was still silver and not brown I just Welded it lol