At last....an update !!
Due to more travelling and family commitments, I have not been able to get to MotorRetro to continue my learning......until yesterday !!
I was like a kid anticipating school holidays....just couldn't wait to get back amongst it
As I mentioned previously, the next step in my last challenge test was to replicate a rust repair.
A 100mm x 100mm corned was cut off my panel :
Then, I had to re-radius (2 ways) a piece of flat 1mm steel to match the profile and fold the corners up at 90 degrees.
After that, I had to fit the repair section to the original panel, ensuring that everything was square, in line and parallel before TIG-ging in place.
In my haste to get welding again, I really did not spend the proper amount of time aligning the long edge of the section.....this would cost me 4 hours in stretching and shrinking later on.
Valuable lesson learned: DON"T RUSH FITTING OF SECTIONS !!
So, hours of planishing hammer, slapper and dolly work saw the finished product in sight....
As Vaughan said, " Hey, you learned a valuable lesson.......and you were able to recover the project ..."
I had to agree !......and another reason why doing this sort of Workshop is so valuable. Learning the pitfalls and how to recover will be invaluable when I start on the kombi.
I got the Project to about 95% complete and Vaughan said that he was happy with my progress and that he thought I was now ready to start on my kombi.
I can't recommend this place highly enough...( I know, I know, scratched record syndrome....
) The staff, equipment and workshop facilities make the Learning as easy as possible and whilst it was not without a few frustrating moments, I really, really enjoyed the experience.
Next Saturday I'm back to start on some rust repairs in the front wheel tubs.....and I'll start a separate Thread for that journey.
Hope this has helped a few people gain an insight into the skills required to properly work on a bus....
For the best possible outcomes, the process in my experience has certainly been more than Cut, MIG, Grind, Fill and Paint !!