to rebuild the back corner i had to open up a rear box section to cut out the rusty bit. This allowed about a litre of rust flakes and sand blasters garnet to escape.

once all the unwanted rot was removed it was a simple matter of sliding in the new folded piece and welding it in place and the adding a new corner piece.

Hi Jack,

Have been following your thread with great interest and must say I admire your great skill and workmanship with steel. You seem to be able to resurrect what others like me would consider beyond hope.

If I had even some of your skills I might have been able to save the floor of the 1500 CWT body I salvaged years ago. The deck was like Swiss cheese in a few places and the crossmembers were full of rot and scale also but I bet you could have saved it!

All the best,

Thank you Jacques. Mig welders and a lot of g clamps are wonderful things.

Fortunately the construction on most of these vehicles is very basic when you pull them apart. If you can get it apart (reasonably) easily, reassembly is (usually) straightforward.

Jake is aiming to have the ambulance at Corowa next year.

With the body back upright I was able to take a flapdisc to the weld just under the rib where I welded in the patch on the back corner. I should be able to get away with a metal finish and no filler.

Just a side note whilst I am on this side, you can see where the pioneer tool rack bolts on to the left middle lower side. Most ambulances you see have it bolted on the lower front right side. Jake had some protests on a Dodge forum that the rack was mounted incorrectly and they were never on the left side. The photos of the right side show no holes have ever been drilled in the right side.

A bit of google searching found what he needed to silence the detractors.

A bit more rust repair on the left upper area. This looked alright but the telltale bulge gives away its secrets.

Well you can't exactly see the bulge in the above photo but it was there. The inside was a bit more obvious.

I cut out the rust and patched it using both new steel as well assome of the steel I cut out from the corner patch job. In between I found time to prime the cab. It is now ready to add some colour. I will just do the dash area while it is easy to turn over so I can get good access inside and underneath it.

Another small patch on the front top left corner and two gussets behind it completed the rust repairs to the top.

Back in post 39 you will see where i drilled around the welds to remove the roof.
All the daggy remains need to be removed before the roof can be refitted.

The guards can now be refitted. A significant piece of the left guard inner panel was missing so I removed the rest and made a new one.

All I can say is WOW :note:

Guards in.

Using my gantry I picked up the floor Jake built and fed it in via the rear. A little trimming of the front right corner and it dropped into place. The right side looked correct so I tacked it in place just enough to secure it. It needed a little persuasion to square it up and the left side lined up. A bit of pushing in each side to eliminate a bulge on each side and once tacked in place it is all square and lines up perfectly.

Just for a look I picked up the cab and put it in position. The cab floor sits about 30mm lower than the rear body floor and there are a couple of folds to weld into place to join the two floors. The determining factor on knowing everything is in correct position is the roof mating up to the top of the windscreen. Once that is done we know whether these floor pieces are accurate. So this all goes together after the roof is repaired and fitted. There is still are few little niggles in the rear box to sort out but they can wait.

Roof next.

Jake dropped around with the roof still in the crate we knocked up to keep it supported and intact when it was sandblasted. Jake had primed it also still crated. The roof is very flimsy and difficult to handle unsupported. You can see by the daylight showing through indicating the rust damage to contend with.

the rear box has been put aside so I can use the trestle to work on the roof.
A few photos of the corrosion and dents to knock out. The worst is a large one where it looks like something has been dropped on the front part of the roof.

A few more.

aside from where I drilled around the roof welds to remove it, the remaining metal on the edges in many places is very thin or pin holed with rust. I decided to add a patch all the way around the edge to both fill the holes and reinforce the weak and thin areas. I want to avoid as much filler as possible as the drumming and vibration effect on these large panels will make any filler prone to cracking if it is excessive. I decided to press some raised areas in a metal strip so the finished surfaces will be level. I decided on a small patch and a larger one where required. A template was cut from a piece of metal and the applicable areas scribed and cut out.

The template also forms part of a tool I made from scrap. A 60mm strip of metal is marked on the side of the roof where the pressing is relevent. The tool s assembled around the scribed area and then pressed to form a depression 1 mm deep to match the gap in the side of the roof.

Each successive pressing is marked and stamped until that strip of metal is filled. The imprints are lining up perfectly and I only intend to tack weld around the circumference of each hole to minimize distortion. The surface of the patch and roof are level so the amount of filler will be confined to the circular groove around the patch. The strip behind should give sufficient support. That's the plan anyway.

I have welded in the first strip to see how it goes. The patches have ground up quite flat so hopefully with a bit of filler and a bit more dressing the finished appearance will be acceptable.

Have you considered using JB weld....
 

Rather than introducing more heat in the panels have considered the liquid steel from JB weld....... works better on horizontal surfaces as it tends to self level...... and hard as steel...... works great on bare scuffed metal.

Enjoy following your progress.

Cheers

Thanks Bob. I will minimise the amount of welding of the patches to simple tacks. The raised impressions should help stiffen the repairs and the repaired roof will be a snugger fit by two millimetres when refitted and rewelded to the body. It will need a thin layer of filler to finish off which has to be kept to a minimum as large panels like this have a problem with vibration which inevitably leads to cracking of excess filler. Being on a curved and reinforced surface should help. The original construction of these bodies has thin strips of bitumen like deadening between the outer panels and inner ribs. It was largely dried and cracked or missing by now and we intend to add a substantial layer of silicone in between those areas to assist gluing the panels to the ribs and reducing drumming and vibration. That as well as a decent layer of body deadener and insulation should further reduce heat build up as well. I imagine these tin boxes would get pretty hot in summer as originally constructed. And freezing cold in winter although they do come equipped with a heater. Jake will use this vehicle to camp in so now is the time to add what comfort we can. It will all be hidden once the masonite wall lining and ceiling go back in anyway.

The roof patches have all been added and I have tidied up the dents as best I can in this position. There is more repair work to do which needs to be done with the roof back on. I decided to refit it now to see how it looks at this stage. It is a difficult thing to handle.

The roof sat back with a little jiggling and the use of a hand winch diagonally to square the top up. The repairs had spread the sides and rear outwards a bit but fortunately it has a substantially strong gutter. With the use of ratchet straps to put downward pressure on the roof I was able to bang wooden wedges all around to hold it in place. I then ran a speedfile over the roof to check for dents. I then pulled all the wedges out and lifted the roof back up so I could get a curved dolly underneath and dress up the last remaining dents.

I have got the rear part of the roof pretty good. The front piece over the cab has a couple of cracks and some dents that should come out easily. These insert sections above the doors are a problem. Especially the right side.

The left side not as bad.