An Introduction: Chris Collins and Morris Tilly Project

[jack neville]

This is the side profile of the rear floor when I initially removed it. The box section was rusted out so I removed it to open this area up for sandblasting.

[jack neville]

Chris intends to tow a trailer (read custom tear drop Tilly camper yet to be designed and built) so a tow bar is required. There is not a lot to attach a tow bar to on the chassis of a Tilly so in repairing the rear box section of the floor (which welds between the ends of the chassis rails) I decided to reinforce that area.
A piece of 3mm sheet was first folded to replace the rusted box section I had cut out. Another 3mm piece was folded to add inside.
I will weld nuts inside this section to pick up and support the tow bar. There is two holes with crush tubes about half a metre from the chassis rail ends that can be utilised to fix the front end of the tow bar. This will be adequate support for the tow bar which I can fabricate once all this is in place.

[jack neville]

When I removed the floor I drilled all the spot welds with a spot weld drill. I left the bottom welds intact after cutting them so I could realign the rear of the chassis rails with exactly where they had originally joined the floor. The rails had crept in a bit with the welds so I needed a porta power to spread them slightly.

[jack neville]

The rear box section with internal half inch nuts in place to attach the tow bar was welded in and then the ends of that section welded to the ends of the chassis rail. The right side of the floor lined up correctly so I tacked it in a few places to get that side supported.

[jack neville]

The left side was out of alignment by about three quarters of an inch. Nothing a little persuasion with a 'porta power' couldn't correct.

[jack neville]

The floor is now welded in, which just left the small patch to do. The patch needed to match the cut off ends of the rotted floor ribs so after welding a flat patch in I heated it up and gently tapped the profile of the ribs in where required. Needs a little more dressing with a hammer and dolly but I can't access it properly in this position so I will finish it off when I can turn the chassis on its side. A few heat shrinks were required also to pull the front area of the floor into better shape and there are just a few welds to grind up.

[colin jones]

Fantastic job there Jack. This is a part of all the hard work that is not seen when it's finished. With all the photos taken with peoples different job it is a great guide and documentation for other people to see as well.