A while ago I noticed some bubbling rust on the outer part of my from chassis rail just behind the front suspension… To the untrained eye (mine!) it looks like a simple cut and weld in plate job…Alas it is a bit more involved as there is also an inner strengthening part which is spot welded to the outer…

I visited syncro specialist Syncro-Nutz up in Scotland for fellow syncro lover Russel to have a look at. Turns out the inner part was rusted pretty badly too and the entire front subframe with diff etc needed to be dropped to provide access..

Russel then began to cut the outer away..

Spot welds for drilling out:

The inner and outer parts removed – worse than I thought it was!

New inner and outer welded and then “spot welded” together – treated below:

Here is the one from the other side chassis rail:

And the finished work, all waxoyled inside and treated on the outside

Thanks to Russel and Syncro-Nutz I won’t be worrying about this area again – I’d get under your van and check your chassis rails for any bubbling – inner and outer parts. Be prepared for a couple of days in a workshop as it is a good few hours work to drop and refix the front subframe.. Great opportunity for me to fit my Power Steering rack – more on that later!