Welding the "A" pillar replacement

The corner piece/section of "A" pillar was taken from the remains of the Goat Lady's van which, ironically, was in better condition, in places, than mine.

I marked and cut my windscreen surround, having braced it (as I explained earlier) and filed it to fit in several different places, which was very tricky indeed. What my picture below does not show is that, in order to give structural support and to provide a little bit of a heat sink behind the butt joint, I inserted a couple of small pieces cut from the same donor piece, welding one into the lower part of the screen surround and the other into the bottom of the piece to be welded in.

(above) shows the front of the cab; (below) shows the same piece from within the cab. Fitting was tricky with the heat sink parts added.

Positioned, then tacked in place before being welded properly.

Red oxide paint to protect bare metal from rust. This can be rubbed back if needs be later. The front has needed a fair amount of finishing and will need a little more to get surfaces completely flush, but so far so good. There are pin-prick holes on the red side which will need dealing with, and some POR15 paste will take care of imperfections on the front surface.


Not a bad day's work!