Labor Day Week-end with the Bus.

I've partially installed the new jack port under the drivers'side rear.  This is weld-thru primer, so that it would not rust while I am tackling other small jobs. I am sort of running low on argon/CO2.

 This is the inner wheel well that I am patching in. The original one was rusted and it is easier to replace complete, rather than trying to cut out a lot of small little patch sections. The piece is tacked in, secured and ready for full welding on the next weekend.

 Here is the side view of the work to be done.

 Again, making sure the inner rocker fits well before I progress to the next stage.  I'll just need to remove the rust under the cargo floor and pop in some spot weld holes on the top of the inner rockers.

 I have the replacement (driver's side) B-pillar welded in on the driver's side. So far, this all looks good.  I'm looking for a way to deal with the A-Pillar before I work on the dog legs.

Wrong Part - UGH!

I ordered a single item from Wagenwerks, a jack support for at Bus and I received a jack support for a Beetle. This kills the work that I had planned for today. The main goal was to seal up the inner rocker and to prepare for the side panel replacement.   I'm a bit annoyed by the oversight. The two looks completely different and are not interchangeable.

Beetle

Bus

As you can see, the bus jack port is completely different, it has a lip to weld the inner rockers to.

I've order parts from Wagen Werks before, and never did this happen.  I guess we are all human.  Will I order from them again?  Of course!  They have fair prices and never have there been anything wrong with anything I order but this jack part. I forgive them, only because I like their site and products. :-)  I'll think of what else I can work on tonight and recover once this is fixed and I have high confidence it will be.

The photos link to their site, as sort of a recommendation, apart from me supplying the visuals for this post.

Jack support port removal

 This jack support port is almost in possible to get off.  Well, not impossible, but in an awkward location.  You need to remove the welds mounted under the cargo floor and the welds to the bottom hats.  I ended up cutting it like crazy and grinding off what was left.

Well & Rocker configuration check

Part of the wheel well was removed from the rear driver's side.  I had to also cleaned up the floor pan line that mates up to the replacement rocker panel.

I tack welded the replacement panel into place for sizing. I needed to run the inner rocker to make sure it would line up when I am ready to weld both of these pieces into their respective places.



Here is a picture of the rocker partly in place.  I had to remove the jack port, as it bent to the left and causing the rocker not to be able to sit plush against the mounts.   I removed the jack port which you'll see in a photo below (see photo below).  Also, I'm starting to clean up the lip in which the rocker will mount to the underside of the cargo floor.   But, before all of this, I need to bend the cargo floor straight as there are a few dips in the floor that would show up after painting and look bad.  I'll post he device that I am building to help with that.

Here is a complete side view of the repair work in progress.

This is the undercarriage. As you can see, it is lightly rusted. I am going to paint this rust with POR-15, which bonds to run and makes it harder than the original metal (hammer resistant). Since it seals and encapsulates, it should never rust again. Underneath will look very luxurious.  I'll cross that bridge when I get there.