Commercial Panel Disaster

[makeitfit]

Ah well if you have the panels to copy it'll be dead easy If you're not refitting as per OEM then you may need to cut the new panels a bit bigger perhaps ?
Tiger seal will fix 'em and be structural in 12-24 hours in the right temp / humidity. No need for unsightly rivets. You can use ratchet straps round the whole truck and then use wedges or packers between the straps and against the panels, so you get localised clamping pressure. OR park up against a wall and cut battens to wedge in the panel

 

[cncfabs]

Yep, cut the straight edges with a grinder. Then cut the curves roughly then sand to a nice curve.

Wouldnt use grinder on ali could be painfull jigsaw much better

 

[exosteve]

I'm nota mechanic.but it sounds easy to me.
If you need me comes down for some help give me a shout.

 

[rakerman]

Sorry to hear your having trouble with your conversion Zac. Wondering if your van panels have the fibreglass bit bonded to the inside of them? You should have some galv steel parts that stick to the inside of the window openings first then bond the van panels to the outside and screw together from the inside into the fibreglass part. Have a dry fit first to get the gaps right for the seal strips right. When you do the final fit you should be able to shuffle them around before the sealant cures too much. If you haven't got the right seals you'll can get them from Vic Young Northern Truck Bodies. The fibreglass is stuck to the alloy skin with something like a white seam sealer and that's stuck to the body and galv sheet with a polyurethane windscreen adhesive. Once all stuck and screwed together they'll never move which is why I was surprised you got them out in one piece!

 

[Banshee]

Thanks for all of the replies guys

Steve if that's a genuine offer then I may take you up on it when I'm back from the lakes :thumbs

I have the commercial boards still which I presume would be easy to trace round once I've sourced some aluminium, as said it would need to be made slightly larger so that it could be riveted in, and then hopefully to keep it aesthetically neat I'd pop the seals back on as well.

Can anyone recommend somewhere where I could order the correct sheet aluminium?

When riveting the sheets in, is it as easy as literally shooting the gun where you want to attach it and thats that or will I need access to the back of the rivet to attach something to the back of it?

 

[puddle hoppers inc.]

Tiger seal will do the job, lots of modern vehicles use bonded panels these days. Maybe put in a couple of self tappers to hold it until set then whip them out.

 

[makeitfit]

Tiger seal will do the job, lots of modern vehicles use bonded panels these days. Maybe put in a couple of self tappers to hold it until set then whip them out.

Yes that's a better option as rivets will pull in the panel locally . then you'll squidge out too much TS and get an undulating panel
If you do want to go for rivets then use a washer or packer behind each rivet to stop it over tightening :thumbs

 

[Banshee]

Tiger seal will do the job, lots of modern vehicles use bonded panels these days. Maybe put in a couple of self tappers to hold it until set then whip them out.

Yes that's a better option as rivets will pull in the panel locally . then you'll squidge out too much TS and get an undulating panel
If you do want to go for rivets then use a washer or packer behind each rivet to stop it over tightening :thumbs

Great points guys many thanks :thumbs

I have no doubt that the tigerseal will hold the ali panels to the car as I already know it's strong stuff from trying to use it to bond the boards in, they are just too bent to do anything with they just banana no matter how much you bend them

Puddle, do you know anywhere local that sell ali sheets?

 

[puddle hoppers inc.]

Sorry no i dont. That vw place in oldbury do a lot of custom fabrications, maybe they could help supply some?

 

[makeitfit]

Dony know where you are but google will :lol
Have a search
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...=Zaaw7WJhZfwuPIZ9PCs_vA&bvm=bv.67229260,d.ZGU

 

[cncfabs]

Great points guys many thanks :thumbs

I have no doubt that the tigerseal will hold the ali panels to the car as I already know it's strong stuff from trying to use it to bond the boards in, they are just too bent to do anything with they just banana no matter how much you bend them

Puddle, do you know anywhere local that sell ali sheets?

So do you ,have some old panels to draw round then?

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

We are going to a steam fair in Strumpshaw, which is Norfolk direction. There is a guy there, who deals in scrap, and any good sheets he gets, he sells on his stall for just over the scrap value.

What size do you need?

Last year, I got a nice 4 x 2 foot 1.5mm sheet of Mini Chequer plate, for £7.

I could try and find what other places he goes to, when we see him if it would help.

 

[Banshee]

Dony know where you are but google will :lol
Have a search
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...=Zaaw7WJhZfwuPIZ9PCs_vA&bvm=bv.67229260,d.ZGU

Chelmsley Wood :thumbs

Thats about 10 mins from where my girlfriend lives, I'll certainly be giving them a call, I did actually give that site a look last night but didn't spot where they were at the time, i was shattered

 

[Banshee]

So do you ,have some old panels to draw round then?

I do buddy, I still have the commercial boards which I've had sprayed and planned on fitting, so I presume you want me to draw round them and trace them onto something else, thing is I don't know anyone who would be able to autocad these for me

I do have access to Plotter paper on the plotters at work, what if I traced around them and then rolled it up and posted it down to you, problem is as makeitfit has pointed out they may need to be slightly larger if they are to be riveted in or self tappered in :nenau

We are going to a steam fair in Strumpshaw, which is Norfolk direction. There is a guy there, who deals in scrap, and any good sheets he gets, he sells on his stall for just over the scrap value.

What size do you need?

Last year, I got a nice 4 x 2 foot 1.5mm sheet of Mini Chequer plate, for £7.

I could try and find what other places he goes to, when we see him if it would help.

Anything the same size as the side rear windows mate on a SWB :thumbs

 

[puddle hoppers inc.]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium...plies_ET&var=580357875242&hash=item417fefa441

may be worth a call?

 

[Banshee]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium...plies_ET&var=580357875242&hash=item417fefa441

may be worth a call?

Cheers buddy, just got back to the cottage and thought I'd give them a call before they closed for the day and spoke to a guy named Chris, he was more than helpful and even offered to come in on the weekend whenever I got back from the lakes as long as I gave him an hours notice after telling him my horror story :thumbs

I told him that I didn't have exact measurements at the moment and that I couldn't get any until I got back but he gave me a rough guide and said that a 2m x 1m sheet of non-anodized sheet aluminium would be £59 a sheet

Would someone with a SWB be kind enough to measure their rear side windows for me?

I need to know how long and wide they are in mm at their widest points and then i'll add a little extra for where they will need to be riveted in

Cheers Guys

 

[Banshee]

Right I'm having a complete U turn on this on the grounds that sheet metal is just way too expensive to take another punt on for the boards to potentially not fit again.

Instead im going to James' farm tomorrow night to pick some parts up but have to remove the windows myself but will be against the clock so need to ensure that I have the right tools and technique before I attempt it.

The hinged window is a sinch to get out now I purchased a set of box spanners and the catch is just small bolts, if you've read this whole thread you'll have read that when I attempted to remove my original window I got 1/4 of the way around and it shattered :doh

So what tools and technique should I employ for the speedy and intact removal of the window?

Then there is the question of what I should be using to re bond it back to the body with?

 

[makeitfit]

The words fat and chance come to mind :augie
The rear window is bonded in and there's not a millimeter of goo to play with ! I guess you could try one of those wriggling cutters to "try" and get between the glass and the metal work.
You may be better off ringing auto glass and see how much a side window is ?
Bonding back in is easy, just use Tiger seal or a Siekaflex for glass.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

The way they removed the bonded tailgate window from my Maestro many years ago, was using a thin cheese wire wrapped around 2 wooden handles.

He poked a hole through the bonding, slid the wire through, re-wrapped it round the wooden dowel handle, and then set to work sawing the window out.

He did it in one piece, but I would think he had a few years of practice, and I have never tried it myself.

Only problem I can see, being the tailgate, he could easily access both sides to hold the two handles, for your side windows you would probably need one inside and one outside pulling in turn like the old fashioned saw loggers.

 

[makeitfit]

Good idea
One more for the thanks list