MG Metalworks Van Build

[screwball48]

When this is finished you should drive the van to your local Ford dealer for an oil change and try to pass it off as a factory build. Just make sure and video the conversations that follow.


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[ambulancemonkee]

When this is finished you should drive the van to your local Ford dealer for an oil change and try to pass it off as a factory build. Just make sure and video the conversations that follow.


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Best suggestion yet.

 

[mk216v]

We are STILL not worthy. :chef:

 

[cjken]

We are STILL not worthy. :chef:

Yea. The Cummins swap is amazing!!
So far beyond the scope of normal human beings. So glad MG can push the boundaries to show us what can be done.
Inspiring!

 

[DzlToy]

Best suggestion yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a-kysLSIlEI#t=14

 

[Bikersmurf]

When this is finished you should drive the van to your local Ford dealer for an oil change and try to pass it off as a factory build. Just make sure and video the conversations that follow.


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Or have your wife bring it in and see how much they try to BS her... She could play dumb about the swap...


For the record, I was mentored by a female mechanic who was regularly underestimated.

 

[mgmetalworks]

Well... My last post of 2016. The "Year of the Van" has been pretty crazy for us. I really did try to have this Cummins van up and running before the New Year but life and paying bills just got in the way. I can't complain one bit though! After I lost my job, working on vans turned out to be the best option for me. I get to do something I love and make a living at the same time. I've also met some truly awesome people through this community and continue to make great connections as our little business grows. I consider myself to be very lucky!

2017 will be full of some challenging (but super fun) projects. The Cummins van will be wrapping up early in the year, pop tops coming out soon after and of course we pick up our new Transit in early February for more product development fun. I can't predict the future but I have a great feeling about the opportunities that lie ahead. Many thanks to you all for reading my build thread, buying the products I've designed and entrusting me with your vans for custom work! Without you, this family business doesn't exist.

I'll be revealing a new website soon that will detail out our plans moving forward. We have a pretty ambitious set of goals but a van load of confidence in our abilities and tremendous optimism for the future of this industry.

Happy New Year everyone! Be safe! :friday:

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

Happy New Year MG!
I'm excited to see what is to come in the future. ����

 

[bknudtsen]

Happy New Year!

 

[mgmetalworks]

If you remember back a couple weeks, I was testing out a method of forming the van's sheetmetal for a recessed fuel door. The dimple dies I designed are hot off the CNC and ready for a test panel!

Mmmmmmm..... machined parts.... :drool: (these things are comically large and super heavy. I need to weld a handle on each one to make them easier to move around and doing this on the van will probably take two people).



One excess panel from a window cut out...



Lubed up the dies, protected the paint as good as I could and then hooked up the hydraulic ram. BAM! fuel door recess!



The paint didn't survive. I kinda figured this going in. It's being shrunk and stretched so much that you can't expect it to live through the process.



Really nice shape though...


Exactly what I was looking for...


The inner structure fits like a glove too...




Now I just need to get everything lined up from the inside on my van and finish off this part of the project. I'll have the paint touched up when I paint my windowless rear doors.

I have a couple other vans with aft of axle tanks lined up so this will make it easier to get the filler tube mounted correctly.

 

[DzlToy]

How about 'scoring' the paint around the perimeter of the fuel filler door, so it will crack where you want it to, without affecting the paint around it?

You could also warm the paint up with a heat gun or even grind it off in the area where you know it is going to fail, i.e. sharp curves down inside the recess, etc.

 

[brianjwilson]

Turned out great!

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

Have you considered a dimple die'd piece with a bead roll on the outside edge that can press fit into the recess, siliconed in, that covers all of the cracked paint and fits under the filler door?
An escutcheon plate of sorts? That could be painted separately...

 

[mk216v]

Well... My last post of 2016. The "Year of the Van" has been pretty crazy for us. I really did try to have this Cummins van up and running before the New Year but life and paying bills just got in the way. I can't complain one bit though! After I lost my job, working on vans turned out to be the best option for me. I get to do something I love and make a living at the same time. I've also met some truly awesome people through this community and continue to make great connections as our little business grows. I consider myself to be very lucky!

2017 will be full of some challenging (but super fun) projects. The Cummins van will be wrapping up early in the year, pop tops coming out soon after and of course we pick up our new Transit in early February for more product development fun. I can't predict the future but I have a great feeling about the opportunities that lie ahead. Many thanks to you all for reading my build thread, buying the products I've designed and entrusting me with your vans for custom work! Without you, this family business doesn't exist.

I'll be revealing a new website soon that will detail out our plans moving forward. We have a pretty ambitious set of goals but a van load of confidence in our abilities and tremendous optimism for the future of this industry.

Happy New Year everyone! Be safe! :friday:

:coffeedrink:

Fuel filler door hole looks superb too! So it'll require some paint, not a huge deal. So much better than one alternative (cut a panel out of a wrecked van, have a body shop weld it in, prep and paint).

 

[mgmetalworks]

Yesterday I finished up the A/C condenser mounts and put together the front end for the final test fit of the components. Everything fits great and looks...kinda like it came that way.



Front end parts are headed to the powder coater today which gives me time to wash down the engine bay and get all the grime out of there, then start installing the wiring harness and wrap up the plumbing. The long 'pre-drive' checklist is getting shorter.