MontyVan

[Retromotorsport]

Ok some of you allready know about this , and know how far along it is ... i'll add Pics each morning with my

In Montymans words

So here it is, bought in December last year and a few of you might have picked up on me asking certain questions about colour schemes, YB set ups or buying up bits and pieces that gave the game I away I was up to something? It's a low mileage (22000) 2 owner mk2 van that hasn't seen the road for about 15 years but will be back with a vengeance later this year.

Pics when collected, pretty clean eh? Mint original strut tops too. The close ups of rust bubbles were all that could be seen on a visual corrosion inspection.

Plans? Quite a lot really. A YB turbo motor is in build near me at JRE racing engines and Gary's going to work his wonders on the shell in preparation for tubs, arches, big fat wheels and rubber, fostek axle and a turreted linked rear end with coil overs all round.

I'm getting excited about driving it already!

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[Retromotorsport]

The shell was delivered to me in late April after having been stripped by SPL, this is the first dip, which removes all the paint , filler, and shows where any suspect rust areas may be by letting the orange leach out.
The chassis will be re-dipped when its completed and then E-coated for full protection .





















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Work starts in May

[4parajon]

Wondered why you had'nt put it on here as well

[alladdin]

Wondered why you had'nt put it on here as well

same here, i think people will enjoy this

[Sunbmw]

I woulud love a Mk2 Van again. My very first car was a dark blue 45 van on a "T" plate, in not so good shape really, although the back was mint cos it had been a Library van and had only ever carried books. Came to me as a 1300, soon had a 1600 on 40's in it. I just might need to get this Estate done and have a look around.............

[Dan]

great to see a van retromotorsporterised

always wondered with these, could you swap the wings and front panel to mk1 stuff. obviously it'd look odd with a newer reg but then the front would match the back so to speak.. not that i mind a mint mk2 van

[dangerousdave]

Yep theres a few about, iirc rodneys cossied van is a mk2 converted

[mallspeed]

its a good old van and it will be very nice finnished

[Montyman]

The cats out of the bag

always wondered with these, could you swap the wings and front panel to mk1 stuff. obviously it'd look odd with a newer reg but then the front would match the back so to speak.. not that i mind a mint mk2 van

Yes you can, quite easily there's one driving around near me like that.

[angliaant]

wheres the up to date piccys then ? this thing is genna be wicked...

[Adam B]

looks to be in pretty good condition, wish my mk1 were that clean when i got it

[Retromotorsport]

A clue to the rear end that going in , Fostek (http://www.fostek.co.uk/) have built the Atlas up to my 5 link spec .. and very nice too









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[cossymax]

Mmmm Cosworth YB Van. . . . Happy days

Very nice indeed, very clean, and will be the nuts when done

[david_white]

Glad to see you got a thread going on this, gonna be a mental van

[dobuy]

this is going to be good

[Retromotorsport]

So saturday, 9th of may, the vans shell is lifted onto the ramp,





Minor repair needed to the windscreen aperture



Nice mint original sills but the shell strength can be increased by reducing the gaps between the spot welds, which as can be seen in the first pic are quite large.
I prefer doing this to seam welding, its just as effective as proper seam welding, and more effective than the seam welding we see nowadays where the edge is welded and then ground away .. if you put your hands together as if your praying and then imagine that your fingertips have been welded together, pull your palms apart, that fatigues the ground off weld . With the extra spotting you have increaded the welds at the palms, they cant pill apart and you have a 8mm contact area, where as with the edge welding you have a very thin line.





Kick panels aren't too bad anyway but will need modification for the wheel and tyre combo I'm going with so most of what little rot there is will disappear as part of that upgrade leaving just a little repair required at the top




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[Retromotorsport]

So with the van mounted on my shell jigs (these pick up on the few bits i dont cut out and stop the shell from warping ) I started to cut out what the dipping had shown to be rot.



And new material let in, I make most of my small repair panels as normally these fit better than the pattern parts





Now the kick panels, I modify theses anyway, so as this one needed attention i decided to replace the whole side, and this allows me to sort the seam out too.



New piece fabricated for the front of the sill, a little bit of hammering and stretching/shrinking



And in place

[Auld]

gona be keepin an aye on this one,looks like it gona be sum build!!

[Wessie]

you boys know i love this van

[tezscort]

That's one of the cleanest Escort van shells I've seen, looking forward to seeing this one when it's finished.

[mk1van]

your much more advanced than this gary...get them pics right up to date

[Montyman]

collections of goodies that have been building up at Gary's while he's be doing the real hard work







Even the wiring loom on it is mint

[Retromotorsport]

A pillar and kick panel complete and ready for some big rubber under the arches



So what's next?

Yikes That's where the rust has been hiding!!





Rusty floor all chopped out to reveal good chassis rails underneath



And a nice new shiny floor in place.





New piece manufactured for the outside edge of the front panel



All welded in place



Offside wing rail



All sorted



Near side kick panel, A pillar and footwell







All chopped out





Repairs under way
















Time to look at the nearside footwell and sill.



On closer inspection, a couple of pin holes were found in the outer sill, it's likely these would have been missed but were highlighted by the acid dipping.



So it was duly chopped out



And repair sections fabricated





All done, footwell / floor next



Rusty near side foot well / floor



All gone leaving a mint original chassis rail



New floor in place



And last but not least, out with a slightly rusty outer headlight surround



Ta daaaaa

All welded in place complete with nicy shiny new metal in the kick panel




Now the fun begins where big holes are cut in the sides for my fat boy wheels

[105Ian]

Glad to see you have started a thread on here as well now Gary , this is going to be one very special van :-)

[GAZZAMK2]

Great work there Gary - you make it look so easy!

Be watchin this one with great interest

[dobuy]

Gary you are really cracking on with that, lovely to see how to do it the right way

[Montyman]

A few minor repairs needed to one of the NOS wings as it hadn't been stored very well:





Jobs a goodun!



Wings bonnet and doors refitted to check alignment...........all looking good there too.........







So the fitting of the arches begins

Big hole cut out of a NOS wing



Anyone need an arch insert?



And Off side front bubble arch fitted



Front arches all fitted up, wings on and doors all aligned nicely panel gaps all looking good too :thumbsup:








And doesn't it look good with some fat rubber under the arches?

[mk2 wizard]

Thats lookin ,,,,,,,,

What size front wheels are you going for because you have modded the front splash shield's and are those tyres Avon CR500, and if so where did you buy them from if you don`t mind me asking

[Montyman]

Re the CR500's (245/40/15) I got them from someone who'd bought a number of sets for racing a caterham but had abandoned the idea. Got them at almost half price too They are available from Avon motorsport though

http://www.avonracing.com/road_legal_page.aspx

Oh and yes Gary modded the splash shields and arches for bigger wide wheels. I'm planning 9J x 15" rims but the choices of them available are fairly limited unless you spend big bucks on Image wheels

[oldskooler]

one word........AWESOME unreal build.

[mk2 wizard]

Re the CR500's (245/40/15) I got them from someone who'd bought a number of sets for racing a caterham but had abandoned the idea. Got them at almost half price too They are available from Avon motorsport though

http://www.avonracing.com/road_legal_page.aspx

Oh and yes Gary modded the splash shields and arches for bigger wide wheels. I'm planning 9J x 15" rims but the choices of them available are fairly limited unless you spend big bucks on Image wheels

I will be running 10x15 rears and 8x15 fronts of 5 spoke Rev`s but might go for 9x15 fronts lucky sod on the tyres

[mustang86]

that is one mean looking van, i'm keen to get one for a daily

[Retromotorsport]

Time to move to the rear, and unpick the floor.. its minty mint, so is going back in once the mods are done underneath ..

Front section all unpicked and removed to reveal a very nice clean floor









And rear corner sections the same





And now the floor's completely out the way, the fun and games can begin

[Montyman]

As Gary said, tubbage takes shape





Note in this pic that the fuel filler hole has been welded over, this is going to be transferred to the near side as we plan on fitting a replacement custom tank to keep it away from the exhaust. Plus the original van tank doesn't lend itself well to use in supply a fuel injection system.



Ok now we have a rear arch on, I reckon I'm going to need extra wide parking spaces to fit this fat boy into







Oh look, more big holes appeared, the mice around Gary's place must have enormous teeth!





A bit more arch and rubber porn anyone?

[PIG]

lookng lovely as said on o/s/f m8,gave it a 5star rating as i thought it was well worth that

[cossymax]

FOOKING AWESOME!!!

[trig]

Fooking hell where did this come from?

I love me vans but dont see why you feel the need to arch every thing gary

standard arches will take 8in with some tubes 9-10s maybe?

I can see the point of bubbles on race cars but not vans even if your planning on racing it it just dont look right sorry but love the rest of it the shell looks minty?

[Retromotorsport]

Trig... stand on a wine bottle ... now stand on a beer barrel, its all about the footprint and stability

Or go up the pod and watch the Pro-Street car that hasnt slowed enough take the exit... and fall over.

[robrs2]

Just the photos of the A post i needed.

[mk2 wizard]

That is how FORD should have made them

Have you decided on what wheels yet,,,,,,,,,

this is just one awesome lookin van