BUGA Community
Technical => Exteriors and Interiors => Topic started by: jesus_is_alright on June 28, 2010, 08:36:28 AM
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Hey guys, Just bought a Beddy of ebay. waitin to get it trucked over hopefully this week.
By the looks of it, theres a fair bit of rust in the gutters, which i'm sure is a very common problem.
My question is this, can i just take them off?
I have no intention of putting roof racks on, but are they necessary for keeping water out of the doors?
Modern cars don't have gutters. Any thoughts?
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hey jesus, in my opinion you can remove the gutters and not worry about water. I removed mine across the front and rear, here are a couple of pics to help you decide. Also a tiger pic thats floating around.
george
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looks a bit silly without gutters but some people seem to not mind the no gutter look.
also the roof is held on by the spot welds inside the gutters. cut the gutters off and your roof will fly away. unless you weld it flush all the way around which looks bald. in my opinion anyway..
make sure you at least see a van without gutters before you do the mod.
check out strez gallery. his van has no gutters but it does take away from the no gutters cause of his air brushing..
i have a van here im wrecking i can supply sections for you to repair if they are not too bad.
ben
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i removed the frony gutter from my van too but have kept all the rest rust is now coming though on the back gutters think i will repair them to help keep the water off the back doors ( i am in sa aswell so if you want to look at my van or need a hand with your van at all give me a call will be glad to help )
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Thanks, i think the main reason i was considering removing gutters is because they are just a place for water to sit and cause rust.
But if by removing them, it just causes the water (and therefore rust problems) to move to the doors etc, perhaps its best to keep them on
Grandad, can you recommend anywhere in SA that does good rust removal / panel beating?
I don't want to just hide everything under bog, as im sure it will bite me in the long run.
I'd rather get the body straight now, before a coat of paint, so i know its all good underneath.
Also, my plan is to completely strip it, panel beat the whole lot, paint inside and out, then put the engine back in and work on the mechanical side and finally interior.
Does this seam like a logical plan or would you do it another way?
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Dont make the same mistake that i did, if you are dead serious about stripping the van, save up and get it soda blasted. i did this after i'd done the body mods, panel work and she was in primer - i had to do something due to paints not gelling properly - i just so wish i had of done it first - blank canvas and you see all in front of you, no hidden bits. check my gallery to see what it comes up like.
Mezz
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How does soda blasting work? And how is it different to sandblasting? does it strip all the paint and leave bare metal?
Do i do this before or after and rust removal/ panel beating
And finally cost?
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Soda is not as harsh as sand, less chance of warping large panels and it's the place to start
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If i'm looking at doing a quality job i really need to soda blast don't I? otherwise i'm just covering problems rather than fixing them?
I've recieved one quote for "Around the $1000 mark" Does this sound reasonable?
Also once soda blasted i'm asuming the metal is all bare, and i'd need to get a move on with the panel and paint work.
I.e, i don't want a freshly soda blasted van to sit in a shed for 6 months
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Hey JIA I have been building/modifying cars for over 25 years now and we always do them in 3 stages 1#mechanical 2#body and paint 3#interior that way theres less chance of damaging fresh paint and no overspray on interiors Cheers Neil
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Thanks merlin. Yes i agree interior last, but if i'm changing from a white van to (who knows what colour) i'll need to paint the engine bay so the engine will need to be out?
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you can clean up and paint the engine bay while the engine is out .the reason for doing drive train first is you are going to be fairly rough on the body (climbing all over the car,greasy hands) also if you are like me and cant help modifying then you're going to be swinging grinders ,drills and gas axes all over and also it gives you scope for change Cheers Neil
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Soda Blast is the best, as soda wont generate heat, your panels will not warp at all, once its done, simply wash over the van with soap and water, then wipe over with wax and grease remover and spray a really light coat of etch primer - this will prevent any surface rust.
Unlike sandblasting, soda will not remove the rust, which i think is a good thing because it allows you to see first hand exactly where it is and how bad it is.
i paid 2K for mine and i couldn't have been happier with the job, if you've been quoted 1K - go for it!!!
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Mezzmo, i've only just bought my van, and its a long way from being anywhere near what i want it to be, but a few of the guys told me i should be focussing on drivetrain first.
Was wondering what order you did things in. As i'm wanting to change the colour of the van, i want to spray the engine bay too, but i cant do that till i know what colour i want.
Am i trying to run before i can walk?
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Oh, and soda blast the interior cargo area / engine bay as well or not necessary?
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If it drives Doo the bodywork first because if you find something nasty you havnt wasted all that money on mechanicals
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Hey jesus, in my case i am starting from the bottom and working up. A great thing to have b4 you do anything is to have a list of things you want to do. I have 4 pages on my lap top, and we are working through them in order of construction. For me the easiest way is this. We are fitting everything up, ie: engine, we did the mounts, gearbox and tailshaft, doing the body work, welding up everything, then when we are happy we will strip everything back out, and send the shell off to be blasted, and final prep and paint, while one team are doing the paint my mechanic will be rebuilding the motor, gearbox and diff, so by the time my van comes back everything will be there to put back together again with very minimal drilling or cutting. The tip is to mock the whole van up, then strip it down and finish. You may say doing the job twice is time consuming, but the beauty of this is you are not cutting and drilling and scratching fresh paint and finishes, most things should bolt and screw together nicely.
george.