Tin Worm attacking Lurch!

[heinkeljb]

When I purchased Lurch, there was only really one part of him which had issues with Tin Worm. The platform has surface rust over most of it. The footwells had a few extra holes but the worst bit was the rear drivers side corner. It had obviously had a sack or some thing similar thrown in that corner. If you drew a quarter circle about 45 centimeters in diameter and centered on the rear most point in the corner, that will give you some idea of the area which is suffering.

I cut and replaced sections of the bed which had actually gone all the way through as could have been interpreted as a MOT failure due to being within 30 centimeters of the body mounting bolt. Tidied the rest, but left it as there were more pressing issues to sort for the MOT.

The other day after all this rain we have had, I noticed rust coloured marks on the engine and couldn't work out how muddy water could have arrived in those particular places. That was until a drop came down from the engine lid! There is now a hole through the lid, so today it just being windy and cold as opposed to windy wet and cold, I have done a quick botch job of removing the layers of loose stuff. Treating the cleaned area with and anti rust / converter paint / treatment. Couple of pieces of Gaffer tape on the inside and some chemical metal filler from the outside to fill the hole(s)!

Yes, I know it is not going to last, but it will have to wait until after April. I need to get Lurch an MOT and go to Holland for the Treffen which is all booked, so don't want to have holes getting any bigger between now and then. I had a hour of dry weather to do anything in before it was wet again,, so as long as it stays in place until I can do a proper job on it - I am satisfied!

Any one else found that what started as a small job, turns out to be much bigger than expected? I shall have to take the engine lid off to do a proper cut / weld / replace / paint job.

John

[woodman]

Hi John, I think you will find that most, ok, all Haflinger owners will have been in the same position as yourself at one time or another starting a small job which turned into a larger one, hope you get it sorted soon, have a good trip to the Holland Treffen

[Julian B]

Sorry to hear this, John. I suppose one can draw some comfort from the fact that it is a two minute task to remove the engine bay lid for some TLC !