VW Camper & Bus – June 2019

80 CAMPER&BUS

Wemightloveandcherishthemnow,butwhennewtheseCommercials

workedhard,if youwantproofof thatlookat thedropgates.Here’showto

makethemlikenewWords& PicsMarkWalker

HOW TO

e’renotsureif Pick-Ups,eitherSingleor

DoubleCab,couldbeviewedasrare,

buttheyareprettyuncommon,especially

ingreatcondition.Followa three-year-

olddropsidetruckthesedaysofanymakeandweare

sureyou’dfind95%ofthemhaveacquireddentsand

damagetothedropgates.Whenyoufactorintheage

ofSplitandBayPick-Ups,youhaverusttodealwithtoo.

Whenweboughtouroriginalpaint’72SingleCab

fromSweden,theoriginalreargatehadbeendiscarded

atsomepoint,laterbeingreplacedwitha bodged

upandhorrificrustymessofa gate.Sure,wecould

haveboughtnewgatesfromGersonorBBT,butwe

wantedtomatchthesidegates,whichweredented

butnotrotten.There’sa lotofhoursina fullmetal

restorationona dropgateandif youwanttoendup

withrestorationquality,we’djustpaythemoneyand

buynew.Wewantedthisreargatetomatchtheside

onesbetterandwereona tightbudget,sosteamedin

torepairwhatwehad.

JOBINFO

TOOLS

USED

MIGWelder

AngleGrinder

FingerGrinder

Spotwelddrillbit

WeldingClamps

Coldchisel

MATERIALS

USED

Weldingwire

WeldingGas

40 Gritflapdiscs

FingerGrinderBelts

BodyFiller

ZincPrimer

ColourMatched

Paint

SKILLLEVEL

(^12345)
TIME
TAKEN
2-3days
COST
DIY:£100
Pro: £500approx
labourplusparts
01
RemoveOGgateandorderparts
Beforeyoustartthisjob,it’sworthfiguring
outwhatpartsyouneedandgettingthemon
order.Ourgateshingeshadbeenbodgedwhen
theinnerlowerchannelrottedawaytoomuchfor
theoriginalonestohaveanythingtobewelded
to,soweneededtosourcea pairofuseable
hingesbeforewecouldbeginthejob.Thelower
channelis availablefromKlassicFab,butwehad
nolucktryingtosourceone,sogavetheever
helpfulRickatA.H.Schofielda callon 01457
854267 andhehookedusupwitha 1200mmlong
repairsection.
Beforeyoujuststeaminandtrytoremovethe
dropgatehingebolts,it’sworthspendinga few
dayssprayingthemwitha goodpenetratingoil
first.Despitedoing
thistoourtruck,the
boltsjustwouldn’t
budge,evenwithan
impactdriver.We
eventuallybought
someColdFront
puttyfromfrost.
co.uktoapply
aroundtheareaand
heatwitha propane
blowtorch,butthree
outoffourboltsstill
snappedandhadto
bedrilledout.
(^02)
Drill out lower spotwelds
As you can see from the pictures, our rear
gate was in a very bad way – almost what many
would consider too far gone to repair. Having
decided to repair this one however, we first
decided to remove the remains of the lower inner
channel. It will likely be pretty difficult to see any
spot welds on a heavily rusted panel, so run your
finger along the area to feel for the indents.
We used an 8mm spotweld drill bit sourced
through eBay – go slow so you don’t blunt the drill
bit prematurely and use some cutting oil if you
have some. Drill slowly and carefully and only go
through the top half of the metal – you will likely
see a puff of rust as you break through the weld.
Repair dropgates