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The outside of my sliding door on the van is coming away at the bottom, it looks likenthebweld has sort of rusted away ( it's an old old van!)
How best to fix it? Should I use some reinforced body filler, or would sqirting a load of sikaflex / soudal fix all up there and clamping the bottom together be a better option?
Pics would probably help. But whipping the skin off and sorting any issues on the frame is probably the longest lasting approach and not terribly difficult.
Cheap fix tiger seal.
It's a proper bodge thou
^^^ I don't mind that, the whole van is held together with bodges! If it's easy to do and will work for a bit, (and ideally repeatable) then it's fine by me 😀
Gaffa tape for the sharp edges then!
Seriously though, it's just detaching along the bottom edge. Looks like it's been repaired with a bit of filler before, I'm just wondering if an adhesive silicone would stick it better than a filler. I was planning on packing a load in and clamping the edge together. Then if there's any kind of really sticky waterproof tape I could cover the seam with?
PU adhesive (Tiger Seal is just branded PU).
Silicon won't stick that well.
Make sure to wear disposable gloves though, as PU is very hard to get of your skin. It absorbs moisture as it cures, so it cures quite quickly onto your hands.
And this is why no one can buy an older car without the risk of it being a shed as no one want to repair things properly. Sounds like it hasn’t been repaired properly in the past and you won’t do it properly either.
Skin needs removing and whatever rot is behind it replaced with new metal properly then welded back up and painted properly.
If someone has bodged that in the past I bet there’s a good chance there’s something structural rusted away too and covered with patches/chicken wire/under seal to hide it.
^^^ it's a 23 yr old builders van with 250k miles on it, probably worth about 1000 quid max, I've no intention of selling it just need to keep it going as a cheap camper for a few years. I don't have the skills or money to do proper repairs and as I only do a few thousand miles a year in it I'm happy bodging it.
Our other car, a 12 yr old fiat which is used every day does get proper repairs and servicing.
^^^ it’s a 23 yr old builders van with 250k miles on it, probably worth about 1000 quid max
Not a dub then ? 😂
Ok so the bodge plan is this:
Tiger seal ontondoor where seammhas opened up, clamp together until set
Then a strip of this tape wrapping over the door seam, says it's waterproof.
Gorilla 105292 Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape White 100mm x 3m
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08PVCTYGB/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_VKEM7RXF8AAW6NJRZG3H
CT1 fixes everything.
just be aware, you fill/seal/adhesive the bottom then it traps the rain water that gets in and rots more. that is why the repair is short lived