Mk1 VW LT 35 Tipper Truck 'Lucky Lloyd'

[austinpowers]

Nice work as ever. Sorry to hear about your loss.
It would be great to catch up with you again. Not so easy to do with the current situation.
I have to admit the Austin has taken a back seat for the last few weeks. As we have decided to sell the bungalow. But we are only moving about a 100 yards up the road to a bigger bungalow.
Hopefully you have your mojo back and can crack on with Lloyd.

[tofufi]

Top notch panel fabrication! Looking forward to seeing it progress

[commycouper]

Sept 8, 2020 21:30:41 GMT grizz said:

Excellent.

You really are doing this truck justice.

Thanks grizz 👍

[commycouper]

Sept 9, 2020 5:44:08 GMT tofufi said:

Top notch panel fabrication! Looking forward to seeing it progress

Thanks tofufi . There's a lot of previously completed work that I still need to add to the thread. 

I'm currently working on some major chassis rot to get it through it's MOT.

[75swb]

Loving this. I can only imagine the horrors it's hiding! How are you making the panels? They look great. Shrinker stretcher or hammer and dollies? I couldn't think where to start with those complex shapes.

[commycouper]

Sept 9, 2020 9:21:31 GMT 75swb said:

Loving this. I can only imagine the horrors it's hiding! How are you making the panels? They look great. Shrinker stretcher or hammer and dollies? I couldn't think where to start with those complex shapes.

Thanks for the positive comments. When I formed the drivers side arch, I used only hammers and dollies to stretch and shrink the shape into the metal. The one thing that really helped a lot when shaping the curved arch lip was my trusty bead roller pictured below.



However, I have since purchased myself a deep throat (as it were) shrinker/stretcher. It certainly has come in handy as I'll show in later updates.
Also, as it happens, I was in the garage last night and decided to started forming the passenger side arch panel. So I now have some pictures to hopefully show how I went about it. The shrinker/stretcher only really seems ( in my limited experience ) to be helpful on flat surfaces and not for any of the curves. So most of this was done with hammers and dollies again.

The metal looks a lot more rusty in the pictures than it actually is for some reason. All of my panels go into a citric acid bath, then a coat of metal ready acid etch before they get welded in. 

I used the same pattern that I made for the drivers side and flipped it over.










As you put the panel through the rollers, you lift the metal to form the bend/fold.
















Then after a bit more bashing and offering it up against the original panel countless times.......it starts to resemble an arch section. 





There's still a bit of work to do to it, but I hope that it gives you an insight into how I went about it.
Regards Dan. 

[commycouper]

So.....while I was sorting the arch and lower rear of the cab out, I couldn't help but notice that there wasn't much in the way of 'good' metal to weld to. That's when that all too familiar game of chase the rust began. The ' quick ' cosmetic repair soon became a full on rescue mission. I removed the driver's seat and the air filter housing that sits behind it......and this is what greeted me ( or though I had a fair idea what to expect as I could see the horror that lay ahead from inside the wheel house)

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.








From underneath after a poke with a screwdriver.......











I started with the area behind the seat where the air filter sits. 

So I made up a pattern. 






Then set about forming a replacement panel.














I then started to cut bits out.......











This is reinforcement that the rear seat mount bolts to.....








Then on to the next panel........which was the one that joins the air filter trough to the upper section that the seat sits on.
This was made from one piece of sheet steel and took a lot of working and stretching to get it into shape. 
























I had to get this panel to fit perfectly into this corner......here's the original.....




Then test fit the new......




Not bad if I do say so myself 😁

Then a test fit of both new panels in their rightful places. A bit of adjustment required......




Then it was then back to the air filter trough........in fact it was the ' trough ' bit that needed to be fabricated into the panel I'd already started. 
















Then weld it in.......







That's it for now........more to follow. 

[joem83]

Awesome work and truck 👍🏻

[grizz]

Just bloody brilliant work mate.

Really impressive

[grizz]

Just bloody brilliant work mate.

Really impressive

[commycouper]

Thanks joem83 and grizz , as always, I really appreciate the comments/feedback 👍

[OAY842F]

Just like that! Cracking panel work!

[mrbounce]

I love reading about people making amazing things out of something flat. It's a skill I would love to learn, although I fear it'll take significant time and money! This is a fascinating rebuild and hugely interesting.

Carry on!

[commycouper]

Sept 23, 2020 19:54:38 GMT OAY842F said:

Just like that! Cracking panel work!

😂😂.......thanks 👍

[austinpowers]

Top fabrication skills as always.

[commycouper]

Sept 23, 2020 20:16:54 GMT mrbounce said:

I love reading about people making amazing things out of something flat. It's a skill I would love to learn, although I fear it'll take significant time and money! This is a fascinating rebuild and hugely interesting.

Carry on!

Thanks for the kind words 👍.  Yes.....certainly,  when you first start out trying to form panels, it does take a fair while to ' get the knack ' so to speak. But, it's only through trial and error ( and generous helping of patience ) that it all starts to make sense. I started with a cheap set of hammers and dollies from Machine Mart......which I still use.  Hollowed out bits of wood and off cuts of RSJs are handy shaping aids. I also tend to use just a basic ball-peen hammer for a lot of my work.....they are great for stretching metal. The only specialized tool I've bought, which was only a few months ago, was the deep throat shrinker/stretcher for £200 off Ebay.......which is worth it's weight in gold. The bead roller is another handy tool....but not absolutely necessary, especially when first starting out. I was lucky enough to obtain mine when the company I work for threw it out! They thought I was the mad one because I dived head first into the industrial bin to hook it back out. 

I'd say give it ago with basic tools and then work up from there if you take to it 👍

[commycouper]

Sept 23, 2020 21:26:32 GMT austinpowers said:

Top fabrication skills as always.

Thanks mate 👍

[georgeb]

Fascinating to watch the shaping of metal like this. Always a pleasure to see.

[commycouper]

Sept 23, 2020 22:11:12 GMT georgeb said:

Fascinating to watch the shaping of metal like this. Always a pleasure to see.

Thanks 👍. I know what you mean, I like to see how others approach similar tasks either here on Retro Rides or on YouTube. Quite often I'll find new tips and tricks to take away with me.

[commycouper]

Once I'd got the air filter trough and upright piece to fit together properly ( as shown in my last tread update ) it was time to move onto the upper floor pan that the drivers seat sits on. It was rusted out along the back half as was the reinforcement bar for the seat and handbrake attachment.

As always, make a paper pattern and transfer it to sheet steel. 





Then, to form the ribs, I screwed two pieces of bar to the bench spaced at the right distance apart. 




Next....get the air hammer out and get it doing what it does best. 











A quick test fit, with a few adjustments needed.





Then form  the edge where the panel meets the door shut and where the handbrake leaver sits.









Put that panel on the backburner for a while as.....surprise surprise......there was more rust to deal with before everything can be married up.

The lower rear corner was cut off to reveal the horrors that hid beneath. 
























Nothing for it but cut it all out and make a new panel. 













Add the seat belt mount......









Next was to give all the panels that I had made a dip in the de-rusting bath ( citric acid ).
This is what they looked like after. 










Right......it was time to start stitching it all back together.......















































A protective covering of epoxy primer......









Then seem seal. Not pretty......but it's to serve a purpose.....not look good.












That's all for now........more to follow........