CAMPER&BUS 81(^03)
Cut and grind
Once the spot
welds have been
removed, you can
take a cutting disc
and slice through any
areas still attached
to the outer skin –
you can remove the
steel remnants after
the large pieces by
grinding through
them.
(^06)
Tack repair
sections into
position
When you’re happy with
the repair section, you
can clamp it in place
and tack into position.
Whatever clamps you
choose to use, try to
ensure that both pieces
of steel are in perfect
alignment before
tacking. If the panels
aren’t aligned properly,
then you’ll likely blow
holes with the welder
and the repair won’t
be very pretty. Sure,
you could try to correct
this with filler, but why not try to make the repair as good as
possible, so you only need a thin skim of filler to make it good?
Tack in 20mm intervals and move around as you work, so as
not to warp the panel, or allow too much heat to build up.
(^04)
Remove outer skin rust
Before you can fit the new
inner skin panels, now is the best
time to carry out any repairs to
the outer panel, while you can still
get at the back of the panel to
grind and paint the back side of
any repairs. Plan out where you’re
going to cut, then carefully use
a 1mm cutting disc to carefully
remove the rusted metal. It should
go without saying that you’ll need
eye/ear/breathing protection here
and some thick gloves. If it helps
you, then either draw cut lines
with a Sharpie or pencil or apply
masking tape to work as a cut line.
(^07)
Join the dots and grind
Once you’ve tacked the repair section into position and
allowed it to cool, you can go around and continuously weld
it. Rather than weld in a seam, use a series of tacks to join
the dots, while moving around the job and allowing to cool
regularly. If you find that it’s hard to see where more tacks are
needed as you progress through the job, either shine a bright
light behind the area you’re welding or gently grind the welds
back to expose the gaps.
When you’re happy that the whole thing is welded, you can
use a new 40 grit flap disc on an angle grinder to grind the
welds back – take your time so you don’t warp the metal. If you
work carefully, you should be able to metal finish the repair,
so the joint isn’t even visible, but be careful not to grind the
metal too thin. When you’re happy with the front of the repair,
carefully grind down the back side too. It’s likely that you’ll
need to do at least a couple of repairs like this to the front of
the gate before you can move on to the inner repairs.
(^05)
Make repair pieces
Now that you’ve neatly
cut out your rusted metal, it’s
time to make a repair piece
out of sheet steel, using your
rusted piece as a pattern, or
at least a guide if it’s really
bad. If this isn’t possible,
then thin cardboard, such as
a cereal packet, along with a
pen, steel rule and masking
tape will work for a pattern
that you can then transfer
onto sheet steel. Take your
time making the pattern
pieces and ensure you leave
a gap around the edges to
weld in position, otherwise,
it’ll buckle the panel when
you weld it into position.
If you need to form the
lower folded area as we did,
then you’ll either need the
use of a sheet metal folder,
or a vice, panel hammer and
cold chisel. Keep offering up
the repair panel as you work,
until you have it perfect.
Don’t be too scared to throw
it away and start again if you
mess it up.