Van Restoration

06/11/2014

I purchased a 1988 Ford Transit 100 that was converted into a Campervan by Autosleeper and they named it the 'Frisky'. I didn't have a great knowledge of what I had just bought or the shire amount of work that was to come. Pictured below is what we had unveiled after stripping the bumpers and grills off and tapping the arches to find they were mostly body filler.

 The wheel arches all around and the front cross member are completely rotten.

The Drivers side spring hanger was almost non-existent! 

Both Drivers side & Passenger sills we rotten.

02/04/2015

Work had officially began on cutting out the old rotten panels ready to weld new ones thanks to the help of my Dads friends. We managed to order all of the panels we required online and came across some rear doors on eBay in mint condition for £100. That saved a lot of time and money as the original doors were completely rotten at the bottom and once again had previously been rebuild with filler. 

The Passengers side arches tacked in place 

Drivers side sill welded into place

02/05/2015

We now have all of the inner and outer wheel arches, new cross member and both front quarter panels welded into place. It took a lot of time to align the new panels to make sure they fit flush with the doors and bonnet. I spent many gruelling hours lay under the van making sure there was a decent covering of red oxide on the rusted areas and then making sure the whole underside was protected with under seal.

New spring hanger welded into place

17/05/2015
We also had two fresh battery trays welded into place. Once the welding was fully completed, I got the angle grinder out to tidy up the welding. I then used some P38 body filler to smooth over the arches. (I discovered after the respray I didn't do a very good job of this!).

Back left arch after the weld tidied up and beginning to fill. 

Back right arch after welding tidied up.

 Back right rear arch filled and sanded.

19/06/2015

Finally all of the panels on the van have been sanded down ready for respray.

20/06/2015
We set up a jungle of tarpaulins covering the van, masked it up, cleaned down all of the surfaces with paint thinner to remove any grease and used the air gun to blow off any debris stuck in the water gully. It took a few attempts but we finally got the undercoat on, but with a few drips so we spent a further few hours sanding down the drips and preparing the panels once again but this time for the main coat. Conditions were slightly damp which was perfect to make sure no grit blows onto the paintwork and just about a decent temperature to make sure the paint goes off.

Primer layers sprayed on.

28/06/2015

 We left the van just over a week to ensure the paint had time to set and completely go off. Panic was setting in as we only had 3 days until the vans MOT and we were far from finished.

02/07/2015

The van just after it passed its MOT! Interior will need some updating at somepoint, but let the adventures begin!!