Hi fellas / gals,

I removed the front bumper of my bus today (72 panel) and found the extent of the previous owner's dodgy repair.

Basically, I'm asking for advice on what replacement panels will be needed to fix it. I have access to welding equipment etc..

Looking through the various catalogues I'm uncertain which pieces will be needed for my bus, (especially to fit the early style wrap around bumpers)

I will post some crappy photos to give you an idea..

I did some exploratory prodding with a screw drivers and found lots of filler and rusty shite behind. Should I get out the grinder at this point or wait for the replacement panel?


Cheers

ps as you have guessed I'm a bodywork noob

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[Edited on 6-1-2005 by wezley]

[Edited on 6-1-2005 by wezley]

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The only way to tell what you need to do the job is to remove all of the old paint and filler from the bottom section and work your way up until you have solid metal. You cannot assess the situation properly until this is done.

You may find there is only the one hole and even looking from inside you may or may not be able to confirm this.

If it is just the one hole, then you may be able to proceed to replace that one piece if you are confident in welding panel steel. To do the job properly you should butt weld the new section in.

If you have to replace the lower section the it is all on a larger scale. Again you may be able to use a sheet section of panel steel, or if it is up too high, then a replacement section may be required. You will then have to source a very nice second hand section or a lower rust replacement section if they are available.

Hope that helps.

cheers helbus,

guess a long night of sanding for me oh well maybe it's an excuse to buy some tools...

Actually now seeing the underneath having a plate welded in that would confirm that there is more rust than meets the eye. You may find you will have to remove the inner panel that has been tack welded on as well.

ok well i did some more investigative work, it certainly seems someone loved their bog and fibreglass!

I'm not sure what I've got myself into here, but I guess these things are best fixed as soon as possible...

I think I will have to untack the back sections, although I'm done for the night due to the orbitol sander throwing off disks like no tommorrow and pissing me off..

What do you guys think? Replace the entire lower panel?

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You have a bit of work ahead of you.

The old repair is the way the cookie crumbles. Someone had no money and had to get a roadworthy, so instead of having a bus they cannot drive, they got it on the road.

People wonder why I want to charge them $400 a day to do full metal work on vehicles when doing resto, and that is so it is done NOT like the photo's you see.

So I suppose in the scheme of things it is not a bodgy repair unless good money was paid for it?

yeah, you're probably right helbus, I guess these type of repairs are borne from neccessity.

Although at times I wish I had never started to prod there, this will give me a good opportunity to learn some bodywork skills.

It's also in an area that is hidden from sight (due to the bumper) so if I f*&k up the first time, I can still drive around without causing too much unwanted attention

I'm going to have a go at fabricating the panels I need, cause it seems to be (hopefully) pretty straightforward.

The plan of atttack is to get rid of all the tacked on panels under the bus, remove all rust and weld in some nice new metal.

I will draw up a template of the outer panel or skin somehow, need to find a good bus or picture to work from methinks..

I will post here with results and hopefully you guys can provide some critique cause I really don't know what the hell I'm doing..

Thanks for the help