I've been putting this update off as it meant I needed to add the cost of everything up!
Last year, I went around the van with the MOT tester and he showed me a few areas where it might need welding soon. It wasn't much, so during the latter part of lockdown, I set about repairing the few small holes in the front chassis leg. Armed with my trusty hammer, I started at the O/S front and worked my way back and around to the N/S front. Fucks sake, that was a huge mistake! By the time I was finished, I was left with with a Transit more holy than the Pope. Seriously, it was shocking what the mud and sealer had been hiding!
After 19 years, the grot had got to the old girl in a bad way. Transits are prone to rust and I was very close to sending it away to the scrappy, especially after finding what I thought was a terminal hole in the top chassis leg. It was huge, in a critical structual area and extremely difficult to get at. However, after several beers and sleeping on it, I decided to have a do or die carack at it. After stripping the whole front end down and removing the engine mount, I was able to just about get in there with the grinder and my new favourite tool, the nose sander, and was relieved to find the metal around it was perfect, so I welded in a 3mm plate for good measure and sealed it up. Measurements revealed no movement had occured despite the severe corrosion.
In between sporadic bouts of work, I was able to work my way around the van, replacing both front inner steps, inner and outer front sills, inner rear sills, patch up the O/S rear wheelarch, replace the N/S rear wheelarch and rear panel up to the bodyline, rear chassis legs (big job), rear spring hanger chassis rails (even bigger job). I also had to patch myriad other places, notably the front cab floorpan, inner wings (upper and lower) and the rear wings below the lights.
Some of the rusty parts removed:
With the welding complete, I etch primed the new areas, wire wheeled the entire underside of the van (a horrible dirty job) clean, and the sprayed the entire underside and cavities with rubberised underseal with a Shutchz gun. It looked brand new! I then turned my hand to the bodywork and smoothed over the areas I'd welded with filler, replaced both front wings with new and then wraped it in gloss black and painted the grey tired bumpers with Motip black bumper spray (which is excellent btw).
Being able to do the work myself was a godsend, as there's no way on Earth this van would have been economical to repair at a garage.I was also gifted the time from lockdown. I simply could'nt have completed it if I was working normal hours. As it stands today, I think I may have one of the most solid MK6 Transits on the road.
The cost to repair it was £1078.67, and the cost to wrap and signwrite it was £357.50. Total cost to restore (as that's what it feels like it was!) stands at £1436.37.
I don't think that's too bad considering the price of a replacement van. If I get another 5 years from this, I'll be well pleased. It was also nice to be able to get my teeth into something that felt worthwhile in the time that my business had become static.
Other than that it's been pretty quiet on the fleet front
