Hey Marty. Any part numbers on the clutch cover or can you post or sms a couple more pix please?

I text"d Paul earlier today about the clutch..

It time to make the fibreglass parts, front quarter bumpers and spoiler


Strange thing is as soon as it was trimmed up, I got a call from a fella looking for one.. Looks like I gotta make another one..

More undercoating, this time the outer panels



Next on the van list is some big sheet metal welding , this will make the van more desirable..

I been chatting to a friend who lives way out country and has a mk2 for me to repair... He was going to chop it for spares but I noticed it is a rare Denim Pack so it's going to be spared ... Even if it's a more door...

"time to make some fibreglass parts" he says casually.
Nice skills mate.
 
Without giving any trade secrets away, do you normally use Epoxy or polyester resin?
And just woven cloth I presume? I've done a bit of glassing on various boat stuff and models, using both, but have it on my bucket list to try some carbon cloth as well.
You wouldn't make f/g mk2 dash pads by any chance Marty?
 
The yellow is growing on me too.

Thanks Deano

Fibreglass was my trade (composites laminater is it's technical name!) Back in the 90s till '03 when I changed jobs , I was the the guy who solely made the seats for Velo Racing .. we started making them in his dad's garage... Now the owner is a multi millionaire!! History lesson over .
With doing some glassing, first you need patience, a paint brush then the equipment , polyester resin is best for car and non stressed parts , it's the blue one that goes clear/brown when setting, also you need catalyst MEKP of between 2-5%,. Gelcoat is also needed but if just repairing something, it's not required. The glass I use is regular CSM chopped stand mat of either 450 , 600 thicknesses 450csm is better for curves etc. Woven mat is best for saving weight on stressed parts (seats, boats etc)or big flat parts like a bonnet . If making a mould or a part from a borrowed mould you need a parting agent like PVA release which is brushed on and let to dry, another is wax polish, carnuba designated for gelcoat to release without locking together.
Epoxy resin is for those trendy spider gear knobs and other stuff. If you want to try carbon you should use vinylester for strength tho polyester is ok for looks parts... Expect lots of bubbles and lifting as it works like wrapping a part in gladwrap lol.
As for a mk2 dashtop , unfortunately I don't have a decent one to copy so out of luck.. Sorry the long reply..😎

A trip to a local steel shop and $75 later, I have a 1.1mm annealed sheet 2400x1200

Up next was too cut the centre strip between the the window slots and tidy up some not very straight cuts done by the Ford jigsaw crew... Yes the window slots are cut by hand.. then take a template of the gap with a big piece of paper

Climb inside and draw the gap with a pen, trim with scissors and transfer to steel

Carefully install the cut sheet into the hole, out come those panel clamps , check, trim, check, trim.. Check again

Tried to keep a 1mm gap all the way around

Work is progressing well on your project.
Those metal clamps are one of the best inventions.
Are you using annealed sheet or zincanneal?

it might have been zinc annealed  , wil need to chase the receipt....eather way , the stuff dont rust

Pulled out the magic wand to end up with this, I learnt that welding corners first on these big sheets ain't good as it pulls the steel straight so I cut most welds on the first side and started in the centre working to the corners... Much better result

Bit of a linnish back and quick etch prime we end up with this. I didn't fully weld as didn't see the need to.
A bit of filler here and there to smooth things out


Inside view all smoothed down and primed


This was the most worrying modification I've done on this van, glad it's turned out good.. my last van has a severe dent behind the passenger door so bad I needed to pull the skin off a mk1 4dr back door and connect it in... That's gotta be my best repair yet ..

A little bit of pinto sump mods

Ordered a alloy radiator, hope it won't fail !!

Getting the sides nice and flat and in 2pk primer

Another day on the spray gun , now things are starting to take shape

Next was to black the dash panel and B pillar along with most of the under car parts



Bought some real cheap trestles, they weren't tall enough so I added a ft in the leg length !

.... And then they weren't long enough! So I added 12ft long planks , brilliant !!