Dolly The Autosleeper

lol, he said he will probably show up at a meet/show or 2 for his free bacon butty and tea ;)

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
Day 2 is over ;)

first thing we did today was finish the back off better

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Then we done a couple of small repairs and some cleaning up of the new wheel arch then got it in place :D

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after that it was time to finish that side up by filling in the holes ;)[8D]

front

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rear

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under the rear (had not tacked the inner sill at the time) ;)

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Looky at my new spring hanger doing its job, all mounted up that side now :D

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so that leaves the drivers side finished now :p

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out came the other side ;)

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and off with the rear panel [^]

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after that we spent a couple of hours cleaning the metal up and rust treating where needed :) i made most of the repair panels for the other side this morning as well ;) we had some good and bad luck though. the good news is dolly's inner sill from the jacking point forward is rock solid (and so is the jacking point) [^] so there is a fair amount left to do underneath. the bad news is that the seam where the rear corner meets the panel is rotten and has been re built in fibreglass [:(!] we have a plan to repair this but its a pain [B)] as for the rear panel, apart from the bottom edge its solid so we will be cutting the bottom out and replacing the lower half :)

day 3 tomorrow, un fortunately dad has to go home tomorrow so we wont get it all done (unless we have a lucky day lol) but i was only expecting to get 1 side done so anything else is a bonus [8D]:p hopefully we will get the outrigger, spring hanger and inner sills done at least [^] me and dad are both shattered but again we had great fun out there [8D] and thats what its all about. its been great working with dad on a project again, its been way too long [V]

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
I'm well impressed, you guys are doing a brilliant job[^]
Wheel arch is on the wrong way round;)

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I WANT CAKE
 
quote:
Originally posted by Panky


Wheel arch is on the wrong way round;)

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I WANT CAKE



nice try john [^] im well chuffed:D

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
i got the explanation and theory today, im hoping he will trust me with his new mig tomoz ;)

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
Well Paul & Pauls Dad I think you deserve a couple of drinks after that incredible job. Meet me in the commern Inn and I will buy you one:p

Gladys & Bernie
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Wow that great work guys. Well done. Dolly will be solid as when your done. Keep up the fantastic work and just love the pix, looking forward to the next installment.
Just got to say good on you for getting out there and giving it a go.

I just need a good rootes...
 
cheers guys, well day 3 is here. and we are both sore and tired lol. lets see how much we can get done today :)

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
Looking good paul glad the welder has finaly come out.
Are you using a no gas mig welder?;)

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A commer with even bigger boost will be appering on a screen near you soon!
 
Looking good guys I always find that you get a huge boost when you start putting new steel back in !
Its like the light has been switched back on.
Keep going

www.facebook.com/MSAAutobodies
 
yh dads welder takes gas but we ended up getting some gassless mig wire. dad has gone home now at the end of day 3. didnt get the other side finished but we got all the structural stuff done and dolly is now sat on all 4 wheels with new spring hangers. just got to put the wheel arch and floor in and presto. we did have to repair the rear jacking point as when i pealed off the outer sill it revealed some hidden grot. pics to follow (uploading slow tonight lol)

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
first thing we did today was make this up :)

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then after a lot of prepping we chopped out the end of the jacking point outrigger and added a new section in :p

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Next we lined up and clamped the outrigger/spring hanger :D

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then welded it in and added the outer sills and new floor edging ;)

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then we added the cover plates, guess who tried the welder? thats right that bit across the bottom is my first EVER attempt at welding. dad decided the best way for me to learn is under pressure so he didnt let me practice til after this [B)]

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then he had me do this with 3 small bits of scrap

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by that time we were getting seriously sore :D so we decided we would call it quits and leave just the flooring and small repair in the corner til next time. we also decided to fit the spring hanger in place and put the wheels on to test our work :p

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after 3 days of non stop grinding, treating and welding here is dolly, off the axle stands and back on all four wheels with shiney new metal all over the place [^] me and my dad stood in the back jumping up and down just to show off how solid she is now :D[8D]

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and here is a proud papi stood beside my baby :)

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What a cracking few days. and what an awesome buzz you get from new metal [^]

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
cheers john, im knackered now but it was well worth it, i have found a few little rotten spots i didnt know about but nothing to major. mainly on the rear passenger quarter. but underneath is now solid as a rock and all the usual worry areas are now galvonised

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
Hi

I have to say very well done! You and your dad are doing a great job. There soon won't be much of the original van left!

I can remember my first attempts at welding - they weren't pretty either. Just keep practising!

A

A wandering commer blog - http://commerblog.wordpress.com/
 
cheers mate, im going to get myself a welder soon and practice a bit then i can crack on with the work. and dad is planning on coming down again in a few months, i did manage to keep a small amount of the old inner sill lol ;)

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Dolly Commer Is Here http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6833
 
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