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parts We
were lucky to have the long sill panels included with the van when
purchased, if your not so lucky get in touch with www.ahschofield.co.uk.
Remember these panels changed for the 1963 model year when a reinforcement
lip was added.
where
to start! First off you need
to work out the highest point of the rusty metal you want to cut out. Then
measure this to the bottom of the sill. www.ahschofield.co.uk
make two panels as standard, a 7" and a 13" (from memory). Also www.creative-engineering.com
now do a complete side panel up to the belt line. So if your long sill is
totally shot your can fit a complete new side! In
the case of our '54 we also had to make up the inner strengtheners too.
These needed taking back a little to match the curvature of the panel when
it was offered up. 
The
next job was to joddle the top edge of the panel so it would fit behind
the remaining long panel. This was done with a purpose made hand tool
bought from www.frost.co.uk . We
took a long piece of straight metal strip, clamped it to the long
panel as close to the bottom edge of good metal as possible and cut a straight
line along the long panel after careful test fitting of the joddled repair
panel . 
This
left us a nice clean edge and we were then able to fit the repair panel,
firstly fitting it with a couple of rivets (to hold in place only) before
tacking it in place. Once we were happy with the panel it was welded all
the way round. Starting at either end then the middle rotating where we
welded to keep the panel heat low to avoid distortion. As the panel is in
two parts you also need to weld the panels together, we butt welded this
as joddling would have damaged the shape of the panel. 
Finally
here is the end result. The weld is clearly visible as we have yet to
grind it back. 
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