I have been pottering about this week doing nothing and everything jobs. Mainly preparation work like cutting wood to size, cleaning all the old wood out of the channels, removing the last of the plywood from the polystyrene surfaces etc, nothing worth reporting here. It all takes time though and is very important in it's own right. So, the weekend has arrived and I am keen to get cracking.

I made a little list of things to do to help me get them in the right order. Sometimes I get distracted and then I end up wasting time because I have done things out of turn. So, today I will: make the wood frames for the grab handles and treat them with wood hardener then leave that to dry. Then replace the timbers in the sides of the van. Remove the side window and replace the little area of rotted timber there. Try and get one or both of the inside panels in place (I spent a long time yesterday just making patterns and cutting them out of the plywood).

First job then, make the frames for the grab handles. Instead of using pieces of pine I decided to make them in one piece out of good quality plywood. Hopefully they will be harder wearing. I measured them out and cut them to size with a jigsaw. I used a belt sander to just tidy them up. By the way, I sometimes fix the belt sander into a workbench that allows me to use it sort of like a cheap bench sander like this:

Just grip the top of the sander between the jaws of the table and away you go!

Here is the finished frame in place, not yet treated or fixed in.

I then gave the two frames a good lashing of wood hardener and left them in the sunshine to dry.

Now it is time to fit the timbers in the side walls. First a quick scoot of Sikaflex 512 to seal and bond them in place, then in they go.

I fixed them in temporarily with screws from the outside using a scrap of wood to hold them in place...

Now it is time to get those grab handle frames in and fix them too. After I did that I removed the side window to allow me to get at that little rotted piece of timber.