removed the complete interior today, a friend of mine who's lays
carpet in homes for a living is coming over next week to put new
carpet in my Van

the floor looks pretty okay, found some small change, and a few rust
spots, maybe in a strange place, or are these rear-corners at the back-
doors a common rust problem ?

the previous owner tried to stop rain or moist getting in by sticking all
this window seal strip (you use on your home windows / doors) around
the backdoors, didn't help or it was too late...just look at the pics,

don't know what to do with it, weld in new pieces or just grind away the
surface rus and paint some rustoleum over it.

thanks, Gus

oh yeah, polished and waxed the other side too, just the roof needs to be done
too bad that battery acid blew all over the Vans side, otherwise it came out pretty
good, no big surprises on this side (except for that chunck of bondo in the rear lower
corner.. )

Von
That is a common spot for rust.I would cut out the rust and weld in new steel.That will be a harder job but worth it in the long run.Thanks Don

I'm with Don... I'd cut that area out and fix it right.
The worst one of these vans that I've owned, was my 70 E300. Both sides rusted loose completely in that area,, and the rear doors wouldn't latch anymore. The side walls of the van actually moved outward enough to create a 1" gap between the doors. I ended up leaning a board about 10 feet long against the side of the van (like a ramp) and walked up the board to push the side of the van back where it needed to be.. Then welded in some thick steel to hold it there.. Obviously, that van was in really rough shape otherwise,, or I wouldn't have done that to the poor thing.

Just trying to give you an idea of what you may be in for if you don't fix that right.

It does not look too bad. I think the best option is to sandblast or wire wheel the area to remove all the rust. Then repair it with fiberglass matt. It is very stong and water proof. And it done right the rust will not come back. Doing it this way is much easier and a welder is not needed.

Clayton

Yesterday I started cuttin out the corners, the holes got bigger as planned,
also the floor on the gas tank side had a rusted area so I started cutting
that out too....

until work came to a sudden stop when the angle cutter bit me in my finger,
pretty bad too...it went straight trough the skin, cut the tendon and into the bone,
after 3 hours in the hospital I realised not much work willbe done in the next 6 weeks,
I've got to wear this splint for 6 weeks to let the tendon grow back together..

so you see..always watch out for those angle cutters, I've been working with that
thing for years now, guess I was hurrying to much.

work safely !
Gus

OUCH!!.. I've been bitten by those things too,, but never that bad!. Here's to a speedy recovery...

I have done that too. Twice. Never cut a tendon though. Were you cutting material out to weld in a new section or are you planning on using fiberglass matt?

Get well,
Clayton

That could happen to any of us, work safe, and get better.


Mike

Thanks !

Clayton, I was cutting out sections to weld in new pieces,
as always with rust, the corners were rusted out more then
I hoped for, took some pictures but my camera is still in the
garage some 3 mls. from here...so is the Van, hate it when
I can't finish something I started....will have to be patient.

Gus

just returned from checkup in the hospital, picked up
the Econo at my friend's garage and drove it back home

wasn't to easy I tell you with no PS and one hand, guess I
need one of those "Brody Knobs"

here are some pics on how far I got, my buddy already
cut all the templates but he didn't had the time to finish it

just have to be patient....that's kinda hard, I called sick
for work but can't work on the Van either with just one hand


a lot of sand fell out the pillars, guess it was swept up by the rearwheels, just don't know how it ended up there ?




this is the area around the gas filler pipe, it's got some holes in it too, I'll cut it out (carefully) weld in a new piece

well, it took a few weeks but the new carpet is finally in, and some new front seats too,
the lowbacks were in pretty bad shape, and because it's nearly impossible to find new
ones here in the Netherlands I'm pretty happy I found a pair of good hi-backs at a local
car-salvage out of a Chevy camper, the color matches pretty good too..also installed a
new steering wheel from Mooneyes to match the gold/white color scheme, while I was at it,
I painted the seat supports, the bench frame and the doghouse flatblack, installed a cd player
and the whole thing looks a lot better now !

Wow!!... Very nice!

looks awesome! the seats look like they are factory. cool!

Von
That is a great job.Looks super clean.Thanks for sharing! Don

Von, the carpets & the seats really look good in your van. I noticed both seat bases have the ashtrays. With that steering wheel you have I doubt I could turn a sharp corner. The factory ones are as big as a bus & still a pain with manual steering. Thanks for the pictures.
BTW, did you immigrate to Holland from the US? You don't type with an accent and you use miles instead of kilometers

Bri

Glad you guys like it, and Bri, I was born and raised in Holland...I've been drivin' classic American cars for 20 yrs or so,
should know the difference between miles and km's by now ;-) although I lived in Houston for a year I always felt I was
more at home in the US, maybe in a former life ? maybe that's were the language skills come from