Not ideal!

After a brilliant day on Sunday, cutting both the outer sill and the rotten bit of floor out I was all set up to start welding the new sill panel back.  I managed four runs and then I ran out of gas!! With it too late in the day to rush out and get some more it would have to wait for Monday.

With a phone call to dad (the first of many to come I think) I went out to get some gas bright and early Monday morning.  With it being a completely typical bank holiday the heavens were open and set on ruining everyone's day off, luckily we had a plan.

Some how we had acquired a outer tent for what looks like a small army so we threw that over the top of the van in order for me to do the welding.

I have to say it is not the best nor the prettiest welding I have ever done but hopefully it will do the job.

Luckily our makeshift awning held on through the downpour(s) and we managed to get the panel welded on and ground back ready for some filler.  Unfortunately by that time the tent sheet had become so sodden it was just dripping too much onto the van panel to even try and filler the panel.

Dad helped me with some odd jobs on the van before heading home rather soggy..

Thanks for your help dad, I'm sure you had better things to do than pretend to be a tent pole for a day!! :)

Making some noise!

What better way to impress the new neighbours by taking a grinder to our bus on the bank holiday weekend!

The Saturday was taken up with laying concrete in the garden for my new shed/store/workshop! 40 bags of ballast and some concrete later we had a base!

Sunday morning nice and early began with coverering as much of the fabrics in the bus as possible as I planned on making alot of mess!  With the clock hands pointing at a respectable hour to start grinding I began.

By midday I had most of the floor section out so lunch was called and my trusty grinder could have a break.

Fortunately for the neighbours the outer panel did not take that long to cut out so before long this happened!

With Amy off to do a wedding I was left to my own devices much to her worry! What could possibly go wrong...

With the outer sill panel now removed I was able to get a better look at the top part of the inner sill and decided that it would be better to cut that out as well.  A little while later I was left with two holes.

I managed to get every thing smooth and ready to fit the new panel with still enough time left in the day to make noise.  The panel

Bugger!

What started out as a hunt for some of the leisure battery wiring has turned into a 3 week dash to fix this before we go away to Cornwall.

When I first found the hole at my parents whilst inspecting the leisure battery wiring I had thought about leaving it until the winter, but Amy was so looking forward to having a fully functioning bus on our trip to Cornwall I decided to take the plunge and start ripping things out with the help of my mum & dad.


Luckily the cupboards didn't take that long to remove and within a couple of hours I was able to lift the floor to see the extent of the damage.

After the floor had been taken up I was able to inspect the area fully and soon realised I was going to have to make a hole in the side of the van... :(  The main floor panel was ok, with just surface rust in places.

Luckily the August bank holiday was just around the corner, so I got hold of a new outer sill panel from Cool Air VW and got started.