Hi all.
Been posting my resto on the other website, so thought id share with dsk as well. Got this 11 window in Sept last year from John, who is a member on here i believe. Been slow going so far, but should be in for sandblasting in the next few weeks, after i switch the roof!
I have a spare splitty that is going to be the donor roof.
Body braced prior to roof removal.
I have cut the back 3/4 off at present, will remove the lot this week.
11 window single cab! looks kinka cool eh!
The extent of the rust in gutter rails, as you can see, a bit past the repairable stage!
The plan is to cut the roof off about 1 inch below the gutter line all the way round, and weld the replacement on. I am considering cutting off the whole front nose as well, and replacing with the roof and nose as one piece off the donor, due to the amount of rust in the window pillars and lower A pillars as well as windscreen surrounds. Keeping it as one piece should go a long way towards structual rigidity in the van.
as Morts says you have a huge job ahead mate, one thing is for certain though, DSK has some good people with all the skills to advise if you get stuck or loose your motivation, just keep posting your updates and you will get all the support you need
Stick with it mate and the hard work will pay off.
Would that donor be a more solid resto proposition?
I have been mulling over that one for months, but in the end the 11 won the battle. unlike almost every other split i have seen most of my rust is in the top six inches. not that the bottom is great! but once i swap the roof and nose cone, it will be pretty solid. the chassis is very good, only needs some work on one jack point, plus i like the idea of some windows! I need the roof and also the spare wheel section from the bulkhead, so its a bit hard to save them both unfortunately. whats left of the donor i will keep for future projects, its not going to go to scap!
Spent today on the van. Welded up some hinge location plates, so that when the new front goes on i can put a screw in each and get the exact position right for welding back on. That way the door gaps should be as close as possible to correct.
Just a shot to show you how bad the top of the windscreen at the pillar was, the job involved in repairing the roof, windscreen surrounds, a pillars etc was so great, whereas the big chop and paste is going to save a lot of time and money
Well I guess this is the point of no return, so off it comes. spent a lot of time dissecting the floor joins and dogleg joins, they will all be cleaned up prior to donor nose getting attached. The inner front panel and A post repair pieces will all be fitted first as well as some floor repair sections.
The back yard is starting to look like a chop shop! Will all be put in storage this week for future projects.
