I tore the remaining carpet out of the front of the van yesterday, so she's now completely bare inside. Unfortunately, doing so yielded the discovery of some pretty nasty rust in both front door thresholds and around the gas pedal. I had previously been amazed by how rust-free this 25 year old van seemed to be, so I suppose a few problem spots were to be expected.
Q's copious power tool collection came to the rescue, and following an afternoon spent grinding away at the unsightly brown stuff, I managed to wake the bare metal underneath from hibernation.
That's the gas pedal area post-grinding. In the case of the door thresholds, quite a bit of daylight was poking through by the time I had removed all the rust, so I'll be pausing to learn all about body fillers and how to repair rust holes in the next day or so. All part of the adventure.
On the upside, now that I've completely exposed the van's interior from head to toe, I am reasonably confident that all rust issues have been found (fingers crossed). On the interior, that is. The body's exterior has a few minor rust issues that I'll be dealing with at some point, but they can wait until the interior is more or less finished.
I drove alongside a late model year Vanagon (a Westfalia) yesterday morning on the I-80 in Fairfield. Knowing what I have, I'll stick with my Chinook -- but I salute you on your efforts and will continue to follow your progress reports.
ReplyDeleteBTW -- While having a late lunch in China Lake on Monday, I had the following fortune cookie message:
"Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought."
You're a braver man than I. That's all I'll say. Mind you, I have done some of that work a long, long time ago. Back in the days of my "youth".
ReplyDeleteYouth is still on your side.
I found sand blasting to be the method of choice for getting things really "rust free", but grinding works too. Not as messy either. "Messy" being a relative term.
Have fun.
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ReplyDeleteI too am loving this adventure. Very informative, particularly for those of us considering a van conversion.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot to ask, but a short phone video of the "before" condition of the van, plus maybe a commentary of what you have in mind (and I'm sure we all understand that these plans almost certainly will change) would be very cool. Great for posterity too.
No pressure though, I know you've got enough on your plate.
I'll give this some thought, but I'm pretty uncomfortable on video if there isn't a saxophone in my mouth.
DeleteBe thankful you don't have significant rust inside, below the FW fill door, the surrounding insulation falls to the bottom after repeated fills and the absorbed water does it's magic at the seams.
ReplyDeleteYou got a nice chassis color Glenn. I'm enjoying the vicarious experience.
That seam rust issue only seems to exist in the Westys, and not the hard top Vanagons. The hard tops contain zero insulation in the walls, and of course, there is no FW fill door either.
DeleteIf you need to borrow a welder, I have one. It's 120v MIG. Can't show you how to use it, I bought it at Harbor Freight and haven't used it yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I doubt that'll be necessary, but even if it was, that's something I'd have done by a pro. Good to know one's limits.
DeleteRemember, Glenn: "Rust never sleeps." My dad owned a 1966 El Camino throughout my childhood, and that was printed on a sign hanging in the garage.
ReplyDeleteBondo's good stuff but you have to be extremely sure to get all the rust taken care of. If you have a chance to get a welder to look at it, it would be great to get his impressions. Some steel patching would be a lot better than bondo, if you can swing it.
ReplyDeleteI know you are a good researcher. Look into POR-15. I haven't used it myself but I know folks who have and report it is fantastic for converting rusty metal to something stable. There are other rust converters, and I've used a couple of them by Rustoleum. The water based version in a plastic bottle seemed worthless. The spray can version, petro-based, seemed a bit better but didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy either. In the end, it didn't get all the rust converted because it came back. Maybe I was expecting too much. Your rust doesn't look all that bad, so I think you'll get it handled.
Replace the step wells- they are cheap and readily available and fairly easy to replace. Here is a link for the left side- They are also available from other vendors. Use the search on thesamba.com (I know you are on that board) and also the FAQ's at the top of the Vanagon forum page- they are your friends.
ReplyDeleteLets try that link again
ReplyDeletehttp://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VNG%2D95%2D57%2D32%2D1
Thanks Neil. How does one install one of these anyway? I assume it must require cutting out the old step and having the new one welded in? Sounds drastic enough that I'd likely only do it if my current stab at repairing it doesn't work out. I couldn't find anything on thesamba about this, so would appreciate your pointing me to any threads you know of.
DeleteHi Glenn- Here are a few threads. That area gets plenty of stress when stepping in and out so I would not use bondo as it will crack and hold moisture then you will have a real rust problem in that area. You are correct that you cut out the old step and either weld in or panel bond in the new step. Don't let these links scare you as most of us have far worse rust problems than you have on your very nice Vanagon. Good Luck.
DeleteFritz
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=532725&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20
http://www.benplace.com/panel1.htm
I commend you on not letting the details of the job scare you, and learning as you go! Best of luck with your project!
ReplyDelete