The rest of this one looks really good too, underneath and on top, it's really straight, with a polish and some bullshit spray on the bumpers it'd come up really well. It was the first time I had driven one the other day and thought it was great, plenty of torque, decent ride and seats, I can see why he wants to carry on running it.
It's never exactly ben Fords strong point has it? A strong drive train that lives on and on and the rest of it dissolves around you The sills are thin, you're right but water must be getting in from somewhere. Saying that iirc there are holes in the original sills, did it originally have sill covers?
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I got as far as that at the end of play. A few pinholes from porosity due to being really bloody windy but not looking too bad considering there's not one bit of filler on it yet. I should have bugged those bloody pop rivet holes first really but they came In handy pulling the sill out as I went in the end. At least it's not rippled to fuck.
I can't say I've ever been in a Maestro van? A local painter had a really bloody tidy one up until a couple of years ago but not seen it lately sadly.
A mate had a Maestro and I honestly don't remember it being too bad. Apart from the sunroof hole being full of taped over hard foam. Apparently the sunroof was whistling while on the way back from work one day doing about 70 mph. He tried adjusting the handle to quieten it down, at which point it very dramatically jettisoned itself into the air apparently Thankfully the car behind was far enough back not to get hit.
Maestro vans were great, way better than Escorts.
A mate of mine who was prominent on MacDroitwich, was an engineer on the Transit Connect programme. Apparently, the Yanks had started it, committed parts to tooling, then realised they'd properly fucked-up, so the final design was sent to the UK to be finished. There was a lot to be resolved.
paulplom wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:09 pm
Very neat. Does it have to be seam welded?
I believe sills now have to be fully seam welded? I've spot welded the bottom of the sills on as so had the manufacture. I've used the same spacing they have so I'm going in if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.
Hopefully by the time I'm done and it has a load of white stone chip or similar over it you'll be hard pressed to tell it's had the sills done?
If they fail it I'll just have to run a bead across the whole bottom of each but that seems totally over the top tbh.
paulplom wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:09 pm
Very neat. Does it have to be seam welded?
I believe
"I believe" is Hooli patter. He starts sentences all the time with those two words.
Let's look at the facts instead of imagination.
what is in the fucking manual wrote:10. Acceptable methods of repair,
Repairs to structural components must be properly carried out and appear to be as strong as the original structure. This requires the use of suitable materials and any plating or welding extends to a sound part of a load-bearing member.
You can only pass spot welded repairs if the original panel was spot welded and the original panel or section has been removed. Stitch or plug welding can be used instead of spot welding.
In all other circumstances, patch repairs must be continuously seam welded.
Some vehicle manufacturers have recommended repair methods that use MIG brazing, a combination of adhesive bonding and riveting, or amalgamations of these with other joining methods. Such repairs are therefore acceptable unless they are clearly inadequate.
11. Unacceptable methods of repair,
You cannot accept the following bonding processes for repairs to load-bearing members:
gas brazing
soldering
adhesive bonding
fibre reinforcement
body filler
If you cannot tell which the repair method, you should accept the repair and tell the vehicle presenter.(e.g. if it's covered in enough shit, pass and advise)
tl;dr your work is fine for the man from the ministry.
The sills are thin, you're right but water must be getting in from somewhere. Saying that iirc there are holes in the original sills, did it originally have sill covers?
Thankfully the car behind was far enough back not to get hit.
