The wife was delighted with me when I came home one day and told her I'd just bought a C15 hy/lo camper 1994 that was until I told her the price of it? I paid £100 for her and she needed a fair bit of work done and the main bit was the previous owner severely neglected it badly, cam belt snapped and so did the cam shaft, (all that has been repaired now, new water pump and tensioners fitted, I even replaces the crankshaft oil seal, new cam belt supplied by previous owner along with a new camshaft.
when the wife finally got to see it a couple of days later she said "You really are mad aren't you? that will never be on the road again or are you planning moving into it" lol
The rust on her was pretty bad in all the usual area's for the C15. I opened the drivers door and I could see the chassis through the badly rotted sill but it still didn't deter my determination to prove my wife wrong. I've added the before and after shots of just the door sill repair although I've replaced the whole sill.
I've had to replace the drivers door because it was in such poor condition the guy gave me many spares that included 2 doors, 2 wings, windscreen, alternators, starter motor and many other spares.
The spare door I put on had a crease in it and on further inspection I notice that it had no door stay which caused the door to swing wide open and come to a stop against the wing. I cut out the door stop from my old rusty door and welded it on to the replacement door, I pushed out as much of the crease I was able to and repaired it with body filler.
I was quoted £200 to have the sill alone removed and a new one welded back and I had to supply the sill, plus there was much more welding to do even on the chassis, O/S wheel arch, I could just see the price for welding going up and up and costing me more and more, now I'm no welder but I have done some welding as a hobby in the past creating scroll work gates. I thought £200 was a bit steep, so I bought myself a new mig welder for £200, I bought spot welding removal drills and got on with the job myself and replaced the sill, so far I've welded the chassis holes, treated all the rust and primed everything that I've welded, repair welding done to the front O/S wheel arch, even the towing eye was all bent so I've welded a couple of reinforcing plates, one each side.
I noticed in the engine compartment where the jack sits there was a small ledge that had completely rusted away, I removed all the sound proofing behind the jack and removed the plate behind that only to find a rather large hole the size of a golf ball in the bulkhead, this meant when it rained or you threw a bucket of water over the camper the water would go down the grill below the screen and head straight inside by the drivers foot well, so I set about welding on a new plate bit awkward because I also had to watch I didn't set fire to anything under the dash board.
The previous owner lives next door to my daughter where I have the camper parked and I asked him if it ever got wet in the foot well, he replied when it rained heavy or he washed the camper it would sometimes flood and he insisted it was a leaky windscreen, that was until I pointed out this rather large hole that was out of sight, that now repaired primed and painted and the drain pipe also unblocked. I then set about welding a new ledge on (where the jack sits) and that is now also repaired primed and painted.
I have also replace a drive shaft that had a broken boot on it and inside full of grit and dirt it was also minus any grease, I replaced both track rod ends as both had split bushes and in my eye's it's quicker to replace the whole unit rather than just the bushes plus they aren't expensive.
While I had the door lining off I replaced the door lock with the original one and then decided I'd fit central locking, pity there isn't any room in there or I would have fitted electric windows as well but still looking into this.
The back door frame was damaged by someone reversing into something and now I have just removed the frame and I have a good friend who is repairing it for me as I called in one of many favours he owes me.
Still plenty to do yet but this is a very enjoyable project I have going it's just a shame it's 25 miles away from where I live and I don't get to go out there as much as I'd like. The wife is now coming around after I named the camper chitty chitty bang bang where it goes in as a wreck and comes out looking ace, mine won't fly or be able to float lol but she's going to turn some heads, once she's finished and is mot'd I have her booked in ready for a complete re-spray and I plan on putting new decals all around that I can cut myself on my plotter, my wife likes the idea of coffee and crème but I'm certainly open to ideas for a new design if anyone can come up with something.
I'll keep you posted on chitty's progress, I've taken many photo's of before and after as I've gone along and this has been and still is one hell of an enjoyable project.
I must also thank Ant for all his advice he has been very helpful with very good information.
Sorry it's been a long post
when the wife finally got to see it a couple of days later she said "You really are mad aren't you? that will never be on the road again or are you planning moving into it" lol
The rust on her was pretty bad in all the usual area's for the C15. I opened the drivers door and I could see the chassis through the badly rotted sill but it still didn't deter my determination to prove my wife wrong. I've added the before and after shots of just the door sill repair although I've replaced the whole sill.
I've had to replace the drivers door because it was in such poor condition the guy gave me many spares that included 2 doors, 2 wings, windscreen, alternators, starter motor and many other spares.
The spare door I put on had a crease in it and on further inspection I notice that it had no door stay which caused the door to swing wide open and come to a stop against the wing. I cut out the door stop from my old rusty door and welded it on to the replacement door, I pushed out as much of the crease I was able to and repaired it with body filler.
I was quoted £200 to have the sill alone removed and a new one welded back and I had to supply the sill, plus there was much more welding to do even on the chassis, O/S wheel arch, I could just see the price for welding going up and up and costing me more and more, now I'm no welder but I have done some welding as a hobby in the past creating scroll work gates. I thought £200 was a bit steep, so I bought myself a new mig welder for £200, I bought spot welding removal drills and got on with the job myself and replaced the sill, so far I've welded the chassis holes, treated all the rust and primed everything that I've welded, repair welding done to the front O/S wheel arch, even the towing eye was all bent so I've welded a couple of reinforcing plates, one each side.
I noticed in the engine compartment where the jack sits there was a small ledge that had completely rusted away, I removed all the sound proofing behind the jack and removed the plate behind that only to find a rather large hole the size of a golf ball in the bulkhead, this meant when it rained or you threw a bucket of water over the camper the water would go down the grill below the screen and head straight inside by the drivers foot well, so I set about welding on a new plate bit awkward because I also had to watch I didn't set fire to anything under the dash board.
The previous owner lives next door to my daughter where I have the camper parked and I asked him if it ever got wet in the foot well, he replied when it rained heavy or he washed the camper it would sometimes flood and he insisted it was a leaky windscreen, that was until I pointed out this rather large hole that was out of sight, that now repaired primed and painted and the drain pipe also unblocked. I then set about welding a new ledge on (where the jack sits) and that is now also repaired primed and painted.
I have also replace a drive shaft that had a broken boot on it and inside full of grit and dirt it was also minus any grease, I replaced both track rod ends as both had split bushes and in my eye's it's quicker to replace the whole unit rather than just the bushes plus they aren't expensive.
While I had the door lining off I replaced the door lock with the original one and then decided I'd fit central locking, pity there isn't any room in there or I would have fitted electric windows as well but still looking into this.
The back door frame was damaged by someone reversing into something and now I have just removed the frame and I have a good friend who is repairing it for me as I called in one of many favours he owes me.
Still plenty to do yet but this is a very enjoyable project I have going it's just a shame it's 25 miles away from where I live and I don't get to go out there as much as I'd like. The wife is now coming around after I named the camper chitty chitty bang bang where it goes in as a wreck and comes out looking ace, mine won't fly or be able to float lol but she's going to turn some heads, once she's finished and is mot'd I have her booked in ready for a complete re-spray and I plan on putting new decals all around that I can cut myself on my plotter, my wife likes the idea of coffee and crème but I'm certainly open to ideas for a new design if anyone can come up with something.
I'll keep you posted on chitty's progress, I've taken many photo's of before and after as I've gone along and this has been and still is one hell of an enjoyable project.
I must also thank Ant for all his advice he has been very helpful with very good information.
Sorry it's been a long post
You should see my first weld on the wheel arch all I can say is it's a good Job it's covered lol but grinders are a god send
Comment