LDV convoy minibus conversion

jauntyjock1

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We bought an LDV minbus with a view to campervan hols in our old age (73) and the conversion has progreessed well...so much so that it has been re grouped as a motor caravan by DLVC and there fore on to a group 4 MOT. So far so good!! It was MOT'd when we bought it and we drove it home 200miles from Wick and took it off the road for the work. Inside all finished and I started looking at requirements for mot and spring and found that the cab floor is crap! but the chassis members look ok so have metal bought and shaped for floor to be welded on...the problem comes with other bits ....there is a hole in the outer sill....does this need continuous seam weld or is spot weld of new and fibreglass ok for mot...
there is a hole in the rear wheel arch...not big but there....does this need continuous weld? Can any one give me guidance on standard of body for mot purposes??
 
Take a look at the MOTUK website for a general description of what the MOT tester is looking for. Your van is probably of monocoque construction which means its strength comes from the shape of the body shell itself, ie the body doesn't have a seperate chassis which is the alternative major method of construction.
This means that the hollow sections of your van body are going to be mostly load bearing, so that rusty sill must be welded not bodged with fibreglass and not brazed or soldered. A continuous seam weld is best but if the manufacturer used spot welds at flanges eg, then you can do the same.
If you're not too fussy or the weld is going to be unseen you could just lap weld new sheet metal way beyond the rusted areas instead of attempting difficult butt welds. The wheel arch hole may be OK to merely use filler, but it just depends on the extent of the corroded area and how near to a loadbearing member, you can't leave sharp rusty steel sticking out for obvious reasons. Don't forget, if the rust is coming thru the panel from the inside it's likely to be of a much greater area than you see on the exterior. If in doubt it would probably best to let a pro give his advice and then DIY.
 
Hi if your corrosion is with in a prescribed area 30cms of a steering, suspension, seatbelt mounting point etc then any repair must be fully seam welded. But speaking from experience as a mot station manager, if you can't see it you can't fail it. So in theory you can get away with tacking plates on and spending ages hiding the fact there not seam welded with loads of sealer and underseal. As long as the mot tester dosen't find any holes or plates hanging off then he has to pass it, but that kind of repair just never lasts. If you don't want to do it all again next year do it right first time. Cut the corrosion out and seam weld new metal in then seam seal the weld to stop water ingress and wax oil the whole van
 
I couldn't agree more. When I did my Merc 207D prior to selling it, even though I knew it was going, every bit of rust was removed and all new metal welded into place before fitting the new wings etc...

If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly, and the rules about parts near steering etc.... are presumably there for safety reasons, so you would not want to compromise in any case.
 
thanks for the replies guys Help much appreciated...now to learn how to weld!
 
On my old van there was a small rust hole on the wheelarch - by that I mean the corrugated sheet steel 'mudguard' that goes over the rear wheel. Because this was within 30cm of the shock absorber mounting this was considered to be structural I would rather trust bolts than welds, so put a plate over the hole, surrounded by about twenty little bolts, making the area stronger than new. But I discovered that would be an MOT fail because the only way it could be done within the regulations was to cut a piece of metal the shape of the hole, and weld it in all the way round the edges. Imagine the difficulty in doing that when the metal is corrugated!! - and it wouldn't have been any stronger.
Fortunately I spoke to someone off the record who told me if I presented it for test with the wheel arch covered, it would pass. They don't dismantle it for test, and as had been said 'if they can't see it, they can't fail it ;)
 
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