A bit of background

For a while now I've been trying to build up the courage to get started on my vans body work. Over the past few years the rust has started to make it look a bit tatty but I don't have the kind of cash to pay someone to do a complete weld / respray job. Despite this I still wanted to make a proper job of it and make the repairs the highest quality I could so that they last until I can afford (or am capable of) welding and spraying properly. I am a completely novice at body repairs so if I have done something horrifically wrong please let me know! Please note also: Filling rusty metal work is not the best method of recovery. Rusty metal ideally needs to be cut out and replaced.

 

So... a trip to Halfords later and we're ready for off. This is the first article of a few in which I'll attempt to (yikes!) do up my '79, late bays body work. This article addresses the front grill and also the flaps which open and close to let cold air in when you move the blue leaver inside the cabin.

 

What you will need

 

• Various grades of wet and dry abrasive paper (you will need a p40 or p80 grade to get rid of the tough rust and paint)
• A rust removing course sponge (this is not essential but I found this to be good at getting the large flakes of paint off)
• Phillips head screw-driver to remove the vent flaps
• Flat head screw-driver or paint scraper
• Kurust (this is a chemical that reacts with rust and stops it spreading anymore)
• Grey primer spray paint
• Some Isopon p38 filler or equivalent ( if it's getting really bad behind there)
• A Dremel tool is quite useful for getting rid of paint and rust in the narrow grooves but not essential.

 

Ok, first things first, use the phillips head screw-driver to undo the 4 screws holding the metal grill to the front of the vehicle. You may need a 3rd hand here to catch the grill as you undo the screws. Behind the metal grill you will see a second grill made of plastic which just sits inside the front one and prevents smaller objects from passing through. Put these both to one side and don't lose the screw!

Behind here you may be pleasantly (or not as the case may be) surprised. In the image above you can see both grills removed (plastic and metal) and the flaps in the open position. To shut the flaps push the blue lever in the cabin to the down position.

 

First off use the course sponge and compressed air if you have a compressor to get rid of the large flakes of rust and paint. This is also a good time to get rid of any dirt etc that you don't want blowing down your vents.

 

It gets a little tricky here. Open up the flaps again and look under the left flap. You should see a metal rod with a spring attached to a plate on the flap. To get this spring off you need to slide the top of it sideways with a screw-driver.

 

Pull the spring off and then unhook the rod.

Next up your ready to remove the vents. Use the phillips head screw-driver to undo the four screws holding the 2 vent flaps on. Make sure you don't drop any parts into the vent holes. 

 

You should have 4 nylon hinges and 1 connecting piece to join the spindle of each flap together. Below you can see the front of the bus with the flaps removed. As I didn't want any removed rust etc. from around the vent holes to fall inside, I created some cardboard covers for the vent holes. You can secure these with some tape just whilst you're sanding.

Tesco kitchen foil boxes and a pair of scissors do the job nicely!

Because I was being picky I also cut a slot for the spindle to fit through.

 

Now comes the part where you want to get as much old paint and rust off as possible. If you can manage to get the surface back to bare metal your doing well but just try to get most of the crud off, especially around areas of rust. Rust can travel under what appears to be decent paint so it's best to be over zealous here. If you have a Dremel or small multi tool this is where it'll be most useful. Get into all the corners and don't forget the ceiling of the opening aswell!

 

After you've cleaned the thing up nicely, get rid of all the dust / loose material (again a compressor is handy here) and whip out the magic stuff (Kurust). Paint the surface thoroughly with the stuff and stipple it into all the small cracks and rust spots.

 

 

The purple areas above show where the Kurust is reacting with the corroding metal. As you can see there is quite a bit of corrosion here. Good job I took that grill off!

 

On the Kurust it says to leave for 3 hours before adding a top coat, but on a nice-ish day it should be ready in closer to 2. Make sure it has all soaked and the surface is dry before you go any further. I forgot to mention: at this stage I noticed the rust had creeped all the way to the indicators so I removed all the pain and rust and Kurusted around them aswell. Whilst the Kurust is drying you can get to work on the vent flaps.

 

 

You need to remove all of the old paint from the flaps in order to get a good finish. To get started use a paint scraper or screw-driver to scratch away at the old stuff. 

After that pull out a wire brush and get to work. As you can see above the foam seals on the rear have completely perished. Keep going with the wire brush until there's no more paint. You can also use the Dremel here to get into the smaller grooves.

 

Once you have demolished all the old pain clean the flaps up and then stipple some Kurust on them. This will give them a nice protective layer and stop any rust in its tracks. Leave these to dry and go back to the grill hole. By now the Kurust should dried up, if it's left any unsightly bumps, use some wet and dry paper to take them back down and smooth of the area ready for painting.

 

If you also found rust around your indicators you'll need to prepare that area also. If your spraying in there make sure to to cover up the bulb holders somehow. I made some card circles that slotted in nicely. 

 

Now for the spraying... Mask off any areas you don't want spray paint on (especially the windscreen) and give the surface a nice even coat of primer. Don't over do it with the spraying! There's nothing worse than paint runs. If your not sure about the paint it's much better to do lots of light coats. I ended up doing about 3 or 4 on the grill section. Again don't forgot the ceiling of the opening.

 

 

I gave the same treatment to the actual grill. Wet and dry paper to remove old paint, Kurust, prime, and then a few coats of white Hammerite.

 

 

The same goes for the vent flaps.

 

 

As you may have noticed in early photos, the flaps didn't have any foam sealing the vents at all. The 30 year old foam had basically just turned to dust. So to cure the classic case of windy cabin, I made some seals myself. All you need is some thin foam. The stuff pictured is a touch to thick and is around 8mm so I think some foam that is about 5mm should do. Make sure to cut a slot to allow the hook to attach to the flap.

 

 

This carpet spray held the foam in place wonderfully but I'm sure there are many other adhesives you could use.

 

 

Here you can see the full flap mechanism with the new foam seals.

 

 

Re-attach the flaps with the 4 screws either side. Ensure that the flaps are inserted fully into the connecting piece in the center.

 

 

And now the tricky bit of re-attaching the spring. If you can get your fingers inside, Push the rod through the hole in the flap and hold it from the other side. Then with you other hand push down on the end of the spring. It should (hopefully) pop back onto the end of the rod.

 

 

Because the reflective material on behind the indicators had completely disintegrated, I sprayed the casing with some more reflective silver paint for ultra flashy flashers.

 

 

Here you can see the finished front section with the grill now attached. You may have noticed that I haven't applied a top coat to the van yet. This is purely out of indecision as to wether to keep the van the tangy orange colour or to give it a nice lick of blue when all the body is done.

 

 

For the indicators I noticed that there was no seal around the edge and water could quite easily get to the bulbs. I dug out some double glazing tape. ( the adhesive double sided foam)

 

 

Peel off one side of tape and stick it around the perimeter of the lenses. Make sure you don't obstruct the screws which hold the lens in place. Trim round the edge with a pair of scissors or a Stanley knife and you've got yourself a descent seal. 

 

 

Here's the new front end of the bus. Note the far brighter indicators aswell!

 

I hope this article has been a help to some of the more novice van drivers who are left with a van that is getting a little tatty. As I do more work on the body of the van I'll keep posting updates.

 

Cheers,

Sam.