has anyone ever done this? i have a welder, but no experience (practising) on automotive work. is it easy and is there any structural problems within the door i should worry about? also what material (metal type, thickness) should i use to fill the hole? any help appreciated.

cause its a large surface warping is the problem here dude i would pay someone to do it!!
cheers
rhys

just leave it alone. it is a piece of history as it is. practice welding up the floor or the battery tray which are away outa site!

unfortunately in getting my dual cab fix u find too many shitty jobs that have been done to kombi's!! all up my work on my kombi will be about $2000 worth but atleast its done PROPERLY unlike everyone else who has had a go at it!!
just remember that ur floor and battery tray are important area's (structual etc) so they should be done properly!!
cheers
rhys

If you still want to go ahead - have a look at the Metwiz site, and a bloke on DSK is doing just that atm! the welds have to be a series of spot welds to avoid heat warping, but it looks like a prick of a job, and i would be worried about all the pin holes between the welds, sucking moisture and rusting...you would have to be pretty bloody confident in your welding me thinks - but get an old panel cut a hole in it and give is a go!? or buy some '60's venitian blinds and camp it up

or if u can find someone who still does lead wiping and spot weld it in and lead wipe of it? food for thought
cheers
rhys

It is not easy. It can be done though. You would need about ten years of panel welding experience to have a chance at not ruining it.

I had to weld two cars together to make a limo and that took a year and a half!

get a donor panel and pick the seams and replace the complete side.
M

you can do it , just practice on similar guage steel and take your time make sure that your welder is set correctly make sure the steel is as clean as you can get it (no paint grease etc) and practice, if you take your time and dont heat up the areas to much you will be fine, if you do get to much heat into a spot a good idea would be to have a cool damp rag near you to put on the area to help it cool down , the most important thing is not to be impatient learn how to use the welder get the feel of it and take your time , anyone who has welded anything had to start somewhere i say give it ago.
there is no point owning a welder if you dont use it ,like i said get similar guage steel and practice enough untill you feel confident then give it ago , if you get slightly thicker guage steel for the replacement strike the arc on that then feed across onto the body steel where its thinner just dont weld for long periods trying to avoid burning holes in the body. i would also pratice welding at the same angles the bus is on ,so if its on the side of the bus practise on the scrap steel sitting the same way ,its different to welding overhead flat on the deck etc
at least at the end you learnt something new

[ Edited on 12-11-2005 by t2 ]

buy an intact panel.....

if u have lump of copper behind the weld, this absorbes the heat but doesnt stick to the weld. works well i have a copper mallet, its good because it has a handle which can be handy

and when are we going to see pics of this van or do i have to wait for the next club meeting

when i can find a camera, and the ability to resize pictures to 50kb... so probably next club meeting