1967 VW Variant.

Very proud of both of them, they have done meself and the missus more than we had hoped for. Johnny's recent achievements with the Emmy has put him in a small talented group of people worlwide. And my other son is also at the top of his profession in financial circles on a global scale.

What more does a parent want or hope for. We made sure they had a good college education which is a must, and they embraced it whole heartedly.

Maybe its about time for me too shine too🤣🤣

Looks like i wont be at the vw for a couple of weeks. Took the Doblo in for the test yesterday. Failed on a rust small hole on both rear corners on the inner sills. I am not too sure as to the extent until I get it on the lift, which I cant do as the variant has taken up residence there for the past couple of years.

Option 1. is outside on axle stands up in the air. Not the most comfortable welding laying down, and I am way too old for that shite anymore.

Option 2. empty the pit of all my vw stash and do it inside standing up with plenty of lite, and a bit of heat.

Option 3 kiss it goodbye as its now 18 years old and we got good service from it.

I suppose you sussed it already....................................gonna go option 2. and repair it if remotely possible. And i also have my own car due its NCT this day week. Looks like a busy time ahead.😁

You know what else they say.

Just when you thought you could see light at the end of the tunnel, you suddenly realize its some fekker with a flashlight bringing you more work🤣

I managed to inspect the rust damage and was very surprised to see its a minimal repair thankfully.

So both sills are damaged in an identical area so presumably this is where its common area to fail. I took a couple of pictures and once I get them cut and cleaned up for the repair, it shouldn't take long to weld in. But like many things on car bodywork the prepwork is often longer than the actual welding. The sill edge has surface rust which I am going to wirebrush and clean up just to make sure there is no rust there.

Two holes here over a 6" length so planning on a 6" x1 1/2" strip. This is the drivers side, and the passenger is identical.

As i always disconnect the battery, and alternator when I am welding on any car, I checked out the net just to see what common practice is now. It seems i may have been wrong to disconnect all these items when welding, and that the battery actually acts as a buffer for mig welding cuurrents, and its best to leave them connected.

Everyday is a school day.😉

I have the Clio up for the nct this week. I am confident that it should go through ok. And then back to the variant all going well. I just have to remember to SORN the Doblo at the end of the month, and then its into hibernation for a while.

Nearly finished all the cill repairs welding on the doblo. Not the prettiest because access with the rear axle on and from a pit is tricky to say the least. Grinding the welds is gonna be tricky, I am tempted to leave it as is for the testers to see that its been welded and not silicone masticed instead.

Its a total pain with the axle in the way, but I think it will pass all the same once they see welding. Fingers crossed

Yeah, thats what I am thinking, 2 small end patches at the end of the sill tunnel at the wheel arch is all thats to finish. tester said its ok to put a bit of primer on it, so long as they can see the weld.

Tester was happy with the repair, so was I when i heard that. So back onto the aquareback monday. Friday i will be traveling to collect an alternator and bracket for the kombi so back on track.

Major interruption.

Mum has just been diagnosed with dementia so 95% of my time now is on mums restoration😁

Thanks guys. Toughest part is to organise a proper assessment to make sure the medication is correct. Seems to be the norm that the general GP assessment is sometimes misdiagnosed, so its imperative to get the proper guys to do the assessment.

But at the moment thats proving nigh on impossible. But at the moment mum is no 1 for helping, after all she is 91

I have decided to put the squareback on the back burner, and cull the herd, by moving on my 78 VW T2 kombi.

I have a bit of engine work to get the T2 running, as the previous owner cross threaded number 2 plug, so that needs sorting. Normally its an engine off job, but the type 4 2 litre engine has good access to do it directly in the car without removing the head. I am going to reverse chase it with a tool that chasers the thread from the combustion chamber outwards. So I went off to buy the chaser, but not available locally. So it had to be ordered and wont be here until late next week, so I said to hell with it, I will make one.

Off i went to get a suitable 120mm bolt with a 14mmx1.25 thread and we were good to go.

First job was to drill a pilot hole the full length of the bolt on my woodturning lathe.

Bolt drilled, then it was time to countersink the threaded end, and then slit the bolt. Then i had to recess the bolt at start of the threads for clearance. The3n add a long threaded rod that allowed for adjusting the correct amount of flare to start the chase. And this is what i ended up with.

And then all i needed was a cylinder head with a damaged head to try it on, and I had a candidate. I offered in the tool to the head in a closed position, and once it was in i tightened the inner rod and the end started to flare as you can see in the pic. I reversed it out and actually repaired the damaged head that had been taken off this engine before I bought it.

So decided to go directly to the damaged engine in the bus and give it a go. And it was complete success. The top damaged threads are always going to be damaged if you want to use the same size plug as the original, but luckily 2/3rds of the threads lower down are clean and in perfect order. The plug seat was cleaned up and a new crush washer installed. Plug was torqued down to the correct torque and tightens nicely. Good result. And the tool after removing looks like this

Just re read your thread. I always knew about the thread chasers but could never source on near me, so had to order from the UK. Still only 35 euro. On the subject of loaning your thread chaser, thanks, but I would never borrow someones expensive tools. I think its the biggest way of falling out with good friends, so neither a borrower or a lender be is my motto. But thankyou for your kind offer. I assume the merc is still performing well.

Ah sure you know yourself working on a vw dub is great therapy😉

I decided to check plugs 3 & 4 on the opposite head for good measure. I needed a 2 foot breaker bar and a fair bit of swearing to remove them. I cannot understand why folks put so much brute force when replacing plugs in an alloy or aluminum head. There really is not need lads. Hand tight, then gently with the ratchet until its firm, then 1/4 turn thats it.

There is no need to fusion weld the crush washer with force, it doesnt need it, if it does then there is something wrong with the plug threads or the seat, or both.

Good point on the bolt type. I used a 10.9 high tensile steel bolt, and it was a tough cookie to drill the pilot hole through. Plus the fact that the head is made from a soft aluminum alloy and it was only clearing the thread as opposed to tapping a thread i think I was safe enough with small increments of chasing. But fair point, the last thing you need is a bit of a thread disappearing into the cylinder.

Every day is a school day.😉

I will update a few more photos of the kombi later this evening , if i dont get bogged down with other things.