Thread: Bella's new start

Good advice Nitemare, my plan was to repair the rust area and then have the chassis sand blasted and undercoated( the sandblasters do this at the same time) I was hoping to be there as I thought the blasting would reveal any other rot. Do you think I should blast before I repair?
Thanks again,
Marty.

i'm guessing you're planning on fully stripping the chassis of the rest of the bodywork, engine etc', if so you might as well get it blasted before repairing as then you'll not be trying to remove rust so you can find clean metal to weld to ...

you could still have it primed as primer is easier to remove than rust with a twisted wire cup mop on an angle grinder (and less messy) when you get round to the welding, then just touch it back in after repairs are completed...

i haven't got a secure space to do my rebuild so i've had to repair my 109 chassis in stages, stripped the front end down first, repaired and wire mopped all that then brush painted it, once the front end was finished i've lifted the tub and roof as a complete unit and sat it on four wheels...

the only bit of my build that has been able to be blasted is the bulkhead, i really do hate scaley chassis rust now as every square millimetre of my chassis has been wire mopped, so not only have i had it flying up and all over me, i've had to lay under the chassis with it falling all over me as well, i think i spent about 10-15 hours getting covered in rust particles

[QUOTE='76swb;1487123]So emptying the back of Bella, not only revealed some nice spares, but also this beeyoouutiful carpet


Which of course is held down with 87 cans of contact cement


What were they thinking!!! Mmmmmmmmm that carpet looks good..... hope you are going to "pop it" back in!!?

[quote=Lostkiwi;1487366]

Originally Posted by '76swb

What were they thinking!!! Mmmmmmmmm that carpet looks good..... hope you are going to "pop it" back in!!?

Darn it, I accidently "popped it" in the bin and the bin just got collected. I mean, what was I thinking?!?

Is anyone else in agreement, that the project vehicle in the Haynes manual (and don't get me wrong here 'cause I'd be lost without it) is a brand new one?

I've finally got the lower fascia out of Bella, a job rated as a "one spanner" job, and I reckon it's been one of the most challenging so far in the dismantling process. I guess they don't take rust into the spanner rating equation.

Anyway, on with the show, what do the good people of Land Rover world think I'm up for here?




The rust you can see is paper thin, basically a stain on the back of the vinyl.

I've had a bit of a search for lower fascia parts and drawn a bit of a blank. Are new ones, or good used ones still around, or am I up for a re-modelled air box?

Surprisingly enough, the dash panel behind the lower fascia is in pretty good nick.






Cheers for now,
Marty.

Hey Marty,

I'm inclined to agree that they use new or near new vehicles in the Haynes etc manuals. Some pics in some of them are drawn so maybe they do this when demonstrating on the real thing is impossible!

If your vinyl is ok and the structure of the metal is fair to good, why not remove the vinyl and treat/repair the rust then refit and reglue the original vinyl, or redo it if it is tatty (I need to redo the wiper motor corner, just need to source some suitable matching vinyl). I wouldn't think you'd get them new (in oz at any rate) but I'd certainly have a go at fixing it first.

I've done similar repairs by using fibreglass inside to reinforce any areas that are beyond help, it will stick straight onto cleaned rusty areas, on the inside nobody will see it and it lasts longer than the steel plus is cheap and easy (relatively) to do. If the vinyl is all that holds it together you can still do it this way using the vinyl shape as a sort of mould for the fibreglass, as long as the vinyl is still usable this will work, you may need to stick down some fibreglass and while it is still wet, fir the fascia back with a couple of screws so it sets in the right way, then whack on a few more layers. Did a complete floor pan in a couple of old VWs like that and the pans outlasted the rest of the car.

Good luck, buy some beer or something stronger and settle in for the weekend.

Originally Posted by pfillery

Hey Marty,
I've done similar repairs by using fibreglass inside to reinforce any areas that are beyond help, it will stick straight onto cleaned rusty areas.

Yes, fiberglass...I'd forgotten about fiberglass.

I did some fiberglassing a long time ago, but that was, er...a long time a go. We repaired some canoes at school before a trip, but it was just crack repairs. I do remember that it was very easy to work with but I'm wondering how you'd go repairing bits that aren't even there.

Some of the rust is that bad that, if I "cleaned it up", there'd be nothing left.

A quick bit of research suggested using mesh to form a shape, and then fiberglassing that. Do you think you'd 'glass both sides, or would enough resin soak through?

Originally Posted by '76swb

Yes, fiberglass...I'd forgotten about fiberglass.

I did some fiberglassing a long time ago, but that was, er...a long time a go. We repaired some canoes at school before a trip, but it was just crack repairs. I do remember that it was very easy to work with but I'm wondering how you'd go repairing bits that aren't even there.

Some of the rust is that bad that, if I "cleaned it up", there'd be nothing left.

A quick bit of research suggested using mesh to form a shape, and then fiberglassing that. Do you think you'd 'glass both sides, or would enough resin soak through?

Marty, when I did my vee dub floorpans I was 15/16 years old, so it was 20 years ago. About 4 years back I did some more on something else, and it comes back to you pretty quickly. The last thing I did was a wine barrel turned into a water feature. I lined it with fibreglass to make it waterproof and actually used concrete colour powder mixed with the resin and even a few years later it was still glossy.

When I did the floorpans, they were more holes and rust than steel. I used tape to stop the resin coming through initially but was working with gravity on my side. Once the first layer was down, I shaped it and then used it to layer upon giving me the correct shape, so each subsequent layer was formed correctly. It ended up being 10mm thick and solid as a rock, once painted with black enamel you couldn't tell the difference except where you tapped it and heard the difference in the sound between the steel and glass. Never rusts again though.

With yours, I'd leave the vinyl there, put one layer of glass on the back to give you the shape, fit it, cut and modify as needed, then once the structure is there, if you want to take the vinyl off and do it from the front you can, but that will change the thickness where you can see so maybe not great. If you get plenty of glass in and around it you should be able to layer a couple of runs inside and should get the strength you need. I'd use chop strand matting (rather than the woven cloth) cut up into smaller pieces so it doesn't crinkle and an acrylic resin which is pretty cheap at a marine shop (cheaper than a hardware shop). If you want to use some relatively fine mesh (5mm square holes) to give you shape and hold that would work ok I think but if you do the first layer with the vinyl still there I don't think you'd need it.

I don't think you need to clean too much of the rust off, just the paint where it exists. I reckon a little patience and steady hands might yeild a good result. Your only alternative would be if you found a good used one but I'm not sure how likely that would be. Surprised there wasn't one in the back with all the other spares!