Saturday, April 20, 2013

LDV Pilot - smashed mirror... and temporary fix

Someone's done that to the mirror of my van and ran away.

The cast alloy is smashed. The mirror itself is fine though.

Lucky I.

Looks like a dodgy fix?

It's holding on pretty well so far.

(Rope, metal wire, cable ties and inner tube cuts)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Welding metal

Slightly off topic although a good skill to have when you own a van or any vehicle. Even a bike. And you are good enough with your hands.

Good FORUM: http://weldingweb.com

wiki How-to > helpful read to chose the correct electrodes

A rare trade with info on how to weld aluminium correctly.

Loads here on all type of welding

videos

videos on metal and welding (Arc and MIG)

DIY welding for punks

on equipment

uk welder forum

gasless MIG

Extract from wiki 18 steps
(warning from my instructor: "never weld without protection gear on."):

Learn the steps for creating a successful weld. Welding is more than dragging a welding rod across a piece of steel and gluing it to another one. The process begins with properly fitting and securing the work pieces, or metal to be welded, together. For thicker pieces, you may want to grind a bevel so subsequent beads can be placed in the groove to fill it completely with a solid weld. Here are the basic steps for completing a simple weld.

Strike the arc. This is the process of creating an electric arc between the electrode and the workpiece. If the electrode simply allows the current to pass directly into the grounded work piece, there will not be enough heat produced to melt and fuse metal together.
Move the arc to create a bead. The bead is the metal from the melting electrode flowing together with molten metal from the base metal to fill the space between the pieces being joined by welding.
Shape the weld bead. This is done by weaving the arc back and forth across the weld path either in a zig zag or figure 8 motion so the metal spreads to the width that you want your finished weld bead to be.
Chip and brush the weld between passes. Each time you complete a pass, or trip from one end to the other of your weld, you need to remove the slag, or the melted electrode flux material, from the surface of the weld bead so only clean molten metal will be filling the weld on the subsequent pass.

http://alec.tamu.edu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Y67TTX05uzY%3D&tabid=625

LDV vans spare parts

Looking for a spare mirror and few bits and bobs I went to a spare parts and repair workshop/scrap yard in Charlton-Woolwich but the (helpful) man said he hasn't seen a Pilot in a year and only had one new mirror for sale. I went to buy second hand and the new one was over my budget unfortunately.

Pilots are becoming scarce it seems.
Here is a page with a list of dealers branded LDV in UK. I think it's worth ringing them up before paying a visit.

If you happen to read this post and you know of other ones or you went to one of those on the list,
please give us details and/or feedback in a comment.

Cheers.
Here is a sample to which I'm adding two I know that are not mentioned on the list.

Best place so far and according to many dealers

online

Transit & LDV Van Parts

116 Westmoor Street
Charlton
London
SE7 8NQ

F J Keen & Son - LDV Van Centre

143-145 Battersea Park Road, Battersea
London, SW8 4BX

Dealers

>> LDV Van Dealers in the London Region are:

Double Drive Exclusive Limited
Dealer Location: London, London
Tel: 0208 965 8600 0208 965 7329
Website: www.usedvans4sale.com

Service