Yorkshire Van restoration

Restoration projects and Austin related chat in here please
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

I decided to put the wing on hold until the grill panel was done. The returns for connecting to the wings were so bad, I chose to replace them with angle rather than repair them, making them very strong panels.
Although the grill fitted well on the bench, now it doesn't so there is a bit of fettling to be done yet.
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Bossing mallet.JPG
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Nothing been done over the Christmas break, but after reading Neil's excellent feature on remaking the rear seat panel, I was moved to buy the kit mentioned from "a well known auction site"
The sandbag is new but the bossing mallet is v. old and, despite its battle scars, probably superior to anything available new. The tape came from poundland.
All that's needed now is to put it to use.
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Neil Evans
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by Neil Evans »

That looks like duct tape? I have used this in an emergency but the most successful is the glass fibre reinforced packaging tape... :thumbs:
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

B----r, you're right! That's a pound wasted - Don't tell Tight Yorkshireman!
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by Andycars »

What's the tape for?
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

A method of creating complex curved panels detailed recently in Neil Evans' thread "A Racing Certainty".

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8726&hilit=racing+ ... y&start=30
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Just a tad parky Sunday morning, so first job was to pop down to town for a cheap fan heater.
Front Jan 16 - Copy.JPG
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With the temperature in the garage touching a balmy 8 degrees, I ground down the welds ,wire-brushed adjacent rust, treated with Hydrate 80, primed with two coats and securely hid the welding behind Tiger Seal.
Front 1 - Copy.JPG
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As can be seen, I did not totally clean the inner wing back to bare metal on the basis that if the underseal could withstand a knotted wire brush in an angle grinder, it could stay.
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Welcome dear Reader, another small burst of activity to report:
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This is the better of the two wings. The vertical flange had rotted off, and both wing bottoms were in a poor state.
I fabricated the front wing bottom and the flange which worked out ok. Then I tacked on the wing repair panel which I bought at the National. This is obviously for a car, so there is a mismatch in the widths of the returns. The return on the van is in a poor state up as far as the top and will need to replaced - somehow.

The same will obviously occur on the other side and I can't decide which is the best approach, make a wide return section to blend with the repair panel, or cut down the repair panel to van size. I am a little reluctant to cut down the repair panel as I (purists look away now) prefer the look of the car wings. I may end up splitting the difference.
Advice would be most welcome.
P.s.
I seem to be having great difficulty getting text and pictures in the order order so apologies if it looks odd.
Attachments
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

I decided to keep the profile of the repair panel and blend it in. I haven't access to a decent van so don't know how compares with how it should be, but I'm quite happy with it.
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Wing front os 99 - Copy.JPG
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Flushed with success after repairing the o/s front wing, I decided to attack the n/s one - the worst one. The bottom edge replacement panel was fitted successfully but the front proved beyond my skill level. I could repair the bottom, as with the o/s one, but there is too much missing around the headlight aperture to give me a start. I shall have to build up funds for a full length repair panel or look out for a donor wing with a sound headlight section.
Wing front ns 01 - Copy.JPG
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Whilst I awaited a solution to the front wing as above, I decided to make a start on the van floor. Aware of the need to work within the limitations of my ability, I shall not be replicating the original - I am not building a show-pony after all, just a sound useable van.
The n/s quarter panel is the neater of the two as there are the remains of the original floor forming a 20mm flange onto which I could plug-weld the new panel. The o/s quarter floor had corroded badly necessitating visible tabs plug-welded to the inner skin. As is the way things seem to be going as the moment, my (second) angle grinder packed in before I could grind the welds down on the n/s. I am now awaiting some brushes from "a well known auction site" which I hope will cure the problem.
Van floor 01 - Copy.JPG
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Van floor 03 - Copy.JPG
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Neil Evans
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by Neil Evans »

A35revisited wrote: ...but there is too much missing around the headlight aperture to give me a start.
If the off side wing is good in this area you can take a flexible shape pattern from that, then turn it inside out to get the information you need to fabricate the near side repair panel. Some pictures in this thread on how to make and use a FSP... :thumbs:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8726&hilit=racing+ ... y&start=30
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Will@Lisburn
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by Will@Lisburn »

what is tiger seal and why seal the welds. Is it to give additional corrosion protection. What do you use for your primer
William@Lisburn, A35,The Van that built Ulster.
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Tiger Seal is a brand of seam sealer suggested by Neil Evans, whose advice I respect especially, as in this case, it is a quarter of the cost of the stuff I bought at my local motor factors. It's function is to seal and protect the weld.
I haven't decided on primer or top paint yet. At the moment, I am just blowing over with aerosol primer for protection.
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A35revisited
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Re: Yorkshire Van restoration

Post by A35revisited »

Neil Evans wrote:
A35revisited wrote: ...but there is too much missing around the headlight aperture to give me a start.
If the off side wing is good in this area you can take a flexible shape pattern from that, then turn it inside out to get the information you need to fabricate the near side repair panel. Some pictures in this thread on how to make and use a FSP... :thumbs:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8726&hilit=racing+ ... y&start=30
Hmmm! You make it look easy. Watch this space.
You at NEC?
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