Date:         Tue, 19 Apr 1994 8:51:02 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Dove - VAX Master <JDOVE@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu>
Subject:      Re: battery tray replacement story

> On Mon, 18 Apr 1994, Green Eric L wrote:
>
>> Why your job was unsatisfactory:
>> 
>> A very professional job could have been done with the right equipment
>> and an experienced weldor (person who does welding for a living, as
>> vs. the guy down the street who has an oxy-acetalene torch). You chose
>> not to have it done the right way. So be it. I agree, if you're not
>> going to do it right, just treat the thing with rust remover and then
>> fiberglass it. But that doesn't mean that welding new panels in is
>> necessarily a disaster. You just have to know what you're doing.
>
>Well... I kinda got the feeling that he didn't want to spend $200-250 for 
>the profesional.  As nor would I.  I just have a piece of 3/4 inch 
>plywood.  And that's all I need unless I want to (or can afford to) do a 
>full restoration.  The battery tray is not what I consider a critical 
>component, and at this time, I wouldn't even spend $45 for the sheet 
>metal.   But then... I really do need to spend $150 for a crankset 
>for my bike. :)

When we used to have a '72 bus we used the plywood method.  Eventually we
replaced using an aluminum sandwich.  This may not work for those vehicles
that have any material left but it worked for us.  First we removed all
the rust and loose metal.  Then using two sheets of aluminum cut it to fit
the area with one sheet inside the compartment and the other outside
underneath.  We also put in aluminum caulking and plastic sheeting to help
seal it against the steel.  When everything is in place then pop rivet the
whole around the edge of the sheets.  We also did this on the inside floor
near the sliding door and in front driver's wheel well.  This held up for 
several years until we sold the bus.  We developed this idea working on an
old Datsun B210 that had no driver's floor board many years ago.

Jonathan

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Jonathan Dove   jdove@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu
82 Rabbit PU, 83 GTI, 85 Vanagon, 87 Golf
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