Body work

[l3314n]

Hi again.

 

Now that we managed to do our road trip, I'm confident with the mechanical side of the Valp, but now the body need some serious work.

 

We have the typical problems:
- the bottom parts on the sides (where you put your foot to enter the door) are rusty to the point that the entire metal sheet need to be replaced

- the body at the bottom front of the car is not straight (probably some old collision badly repaired)

- the rear corners at the bottoms are also pierced with rust

- the "tectyl" (asphalt/bitum) treatment under the car has to be redone

- we have some bad rust points around the handles on two of the doors

- there are rust holes around the windshield frame

etc...

 

we also want to get rid of the existing camo paintjob, because during summer it gets very very warm, so we would like to repaint cleanly the valp to some lighter color.

and finally, we have a swedish aluzinc top on our norwegian bottom, but it's one without any window that can be open, so replacing one or two windows by sliding ones would be kind of awesome.

 

So, imo, what's necessary is some sand/soda blasting to expose the metal, cut away the rusty parts and replace the metal sheet, then filler, rust treatment, good coating.

 

 

The thing is, I'm living in an apartment, and I don't have access to any garage or workshop, plus I never actually did real bodywork: I don't know how to use a grinder, or mig welding, or how to get metal sheet straighted or how to put filler or even how to repaint with a spray (but I wish I could learn how to do that).

 

Does any of you know where I could get this type of work done, how long it would take, and how much it would cost (ball park figure: Are we talking 100, 1000, 10000 or 100000 kroner?)

 

My gf and I would also be totally ok in participating in the work, if only to learn how to do that!

 

Thanks for any suggestion (and I can take photos of all the rusty parts I saw, if that can help in the assessment)

 

 

 

[kristaga]

Det er et bilverksted som heter Trollstein feltvogndeler som har spesialisert seg på Volvo felt. Det ligger mellom Hamar og Lillehammer, så det er en bit å kjøre hvis du bor i Oslo. De kan både levere deler og reparere L3314N.

Nettside: http://www.trollstein.no/

 

Neste alternativ er Olav Teigen motor og maskinforretning. De har også det meste av deler til Volvo felt, men jeg veit ikke om de reparerer biler. De er i Skotselv, litt nord for Drammen.

Nettside: http://www.olav-teigen.no/

 

Et tredje alternativ er Hof bilopphuggeri. De har mye deler, men jeg kan ikke anbefale dem da de er rådyre. De reparerer ikke biler. De er i Hof som ligger litt vest for Holmestrand.

Nettside: http://www.hofbilopphuggeri.no/

 

 

Skal du ha gjort en stor reparasjon for en billig penge er det vanligvis mye billigere å gjøre jobben i Sverige. Du får se om noen av svenskene her anbefaler et bra verksted nær norskegrensa.

 

 

Edit: Forgot to write in English, but I suppose you understand Norwegian pretty well after eight years in Norway.

Redigerad 31 Juli , 2014 av kristaga

[Beau]

  Ledsen att behöva göra dig besviken, men rostlagning sidor, bakhörn, rost två sidodörrar, skev front, rost runt vindrutan, övrig rost och Tectylbehandling under. Att utföra detta på verkstad kostar minst 20000 kr. Så tillkommer sprutlackering på verkstad. Det blir väl cirka 10000 kr till. Men du kan nöja dig att rolla bilen själv.

Det går inte att ekonomiskt försvara att lämna bort ett så omfattande jobb!

 

Jag ger dig tre förslag.

1. Sälg bilen och försök att få tillbaka det du betalade. Köp sedan den finaste valp du kan finna.

2. Reparera sidorna och det värsta för max 10000 kr och lev med resten av felen

3. Lev med rosten.

 

Ett problem är att bilen stiger inte lika mycket i värde som du lägger ut på reparation på verkstad.

[JDW]

Ris bilservice i Vålberg, strax väster om Karlstad är en Litauer med rimliga priser, darvydassimkunas@rocketmail.com Trixar både med plåt o mek.

Ekonomiplåten och delar är det nog bäst att du fixar hos någon av ovanstående eller i Sverige.

[l3314n]

Thanks for the answers:

kristaga: Yes I understand written Norwegian, I still have problems with spoken Norwegian, but mostly because I do have audition problems - not only in Norwegian. I've been to olav-teigen already, they do not normally repair cars, but for things like replacing an engine top to run with unleaded fuel they sometime do it if their mechanic guy has time for it. I did not know that trollstein did repairs, I knew of them but was kind of put of by their website that seem to not be showing half of the pictures half of the time

Thanks for the note about the cost, regarding Hof bilopphuggeri.

Beau: The problem with #1 is that you can never really be sure about what you get. Our valp looked nice when we bought it, because it had been recently repainted... over the rust. The actual body problems appeared the next spring after a harsh winter that made all the rusty areas to pop from under the paint.

At this point, we have a car that has a decent under carriage, a working engine that runs on unleaded fuel, new brakes, new exhaust, and the camper conversion inside (bed, solar panels, fridge, lights, ...) has been successful and is working fine. So I think it make more sense to continue on the base of what we have.

Having the valp has never been about being economically rational, we do it just because it's fun, and if the price of repairs/fixes stays around 20000 nok per year, it's still cheaper than owning a real car in Norway. Hopefully if the body is correctly fixed and rust protected, we should be good for a number of years 

JDW: Not sure about what "plåt/ekonomiplåten" means, I guess "mek" is mechanics, so "plåte" would be "metal plates? metal sheet?". Vålberg looks close enough from Oslo to be worth investigating. Thanks!

[Halfsafe]

Our valp looked nice when we bought it, because it had been recently repainted... over the rust. The actual body problems appeared the next spring after a harsh winter that made all the rusty areas to pop from under the paint.

 

 The use of salt in Norway and specially the Oslo-area is extreme. Sorry I mean EXTREME. Any old valp you buy and put through a winter here will be the same after a short while. The reason is the paint that the army use after rebuilding, and the paint often used by the next owners dont seal very well. Specially the camo paints which are ment for breathing (because they are also for use on wood) but also the Arcanol that is sold. I know some will protest on this but I have learned this the hard and expensive way. To stand up to salt you need 2K-paints that seal completely. The soft steel in the valp is also very prone to rust making it a real challenge.

 

The use of salt is too big of a business for the Government here that a reduction is very unlikely. Perhaps we need to start protesting the French way, burning tires in the streets and chasing the politicians across town

[l3314n]

Halfsafe: Thanks for this information.

 

Basically if we just repair the metal and put the usual green paint it's going to rust again soon?

 

So, based on what you wrote, I understand it would make sense to:
- have one of the usual valp repair places to replace the sheetmetal on the body side (the \_____(==)__/ shaped ones) using the available replacement parts
- then bring the car to a real car paint specialist to get a real paint job (sanding out of the old paint, repair eventual holes, rust treatment, filler, and then real car paint with base and "cooked" paint) ?

Guess that's going to be costly, but if it guarantees we don't have to do a never-ending fight against rust, that may be worth doing. And I guess the benefit would be that we would get some nice "normal" color, instead of the hunter camo pattern which makes everybody around look at us when we drive in town

[kristaga]

My experience is that the fight against rust is never ending. That is why I bought my C303 with alu-zinc body. My old L3314N just rusted apart.

 

The plan of restoring your car instead of buying another in seemingly better condition is good, because, as you say, you never know what you get.

 

I would indeed pay someone to replace the rusted body parts and do a proper paint job. Since this is your only car and you are able to afford it I think it is sensible. The value of the car itself will not increase much, but the value for you will increase a lot.

 

In addition I would get the car treated against rust every autumn. There are several companies in Norway that sprays the underside of the car with a special oil that seeps into all cracks and narrow spaces. It isn't very expensive, and then your car will be prepared for the winter salt.

 

This is one company that does oil spraying. I have no connection to them, and I have never used them actually, but I have heard that they are popular: http://www.vestfoldantirust.no/faq/

[Halfsafe]

Halfsafe: Thanks for this information.

 

Basically if we just repair the metal and put the usual green paint it's going to rust again soon?

 

 If you drive in salt, yes.

 

 

So, based on what you wrote, I understand it would make sense to:

- have one of the usual valp repair places to replace the sheetmetal on the body side (the \_____(==)__/ shaped ones) using the available replacement parts

- then bring the car to a real car paint specialist to get a real paint job (sanding out of the old paint, repair eventual holes, rust treatment, filler, and then real car paint with base and "cooked" paint) ?

 

 

It will help but there are still so many hidden areas than is impossible to seal with paint or undercoating and the salt will always get inside and keep eating up your steel. There is really only one solution unless you want your body to only last a few years and that is to stay far away from salt.

 

Note that the road salt you encounter in Norway is far more agressive than the salts used in most other european (including Sweden) or american (US/Canada) countries. Norway use the cheapest and most agressive form of salt (Sodium Chloride) while other countries have laws to use more expensive types of salts mixed with anti-corrosive agents.

 

Hope I dont sound too grim (just hate salt (on the roads, that is))  

 

[JDW]

"Note: Varför får jag inte med det "gamla" vid reply??? Nyss bytt dator m Win7??"

 

 

Sorry about words

 

"Ekonomiplåt" a common Word for replacement metal sheet, ready to replace a rusty part. (often 3rd party supplier)

 

Plåt o mek: The mechanic works both with welding and repairs.

[l3314n]

My experience is that the fight against rust is never ending. That is why I bought my C303 with alu-zinc body. My old L3314N just rusted apart.

 

Regarding the alu-zinc, I do have some question

What exactly is alu-zinc ?

 

At olav-teigen, I was told that my version of the car was an hybrid of the Norwegian L3314, on which a Swedish top was installed, you can see a photo here:

 

Is this a 'alu-zinc' top? It does not rust like the rest of the body, but there are definitely some small rusty patches in some areas.

If it is, then obviously the doors are not, because it's rusting like mad.

 

On this type of top, is it possible to add insulation (foam, or something like that) between the outside and inside sheets, and is it possible to replace some of the windows with sliding ones like I've seen on some online screenshots?

 

Regarding the oil spray, that seems interesting, never heard of that before!

[JDW]

Alu-Zink is a body coating (AlZn). Some years around 1990 Swedish army modificated many TGB11 (13?), including changing of the whole body due .