Rust and removing the vans interior.

OK 97 Symphony spectacularly failed MOT yesterday on rust in several places. I know someone who will do the welding but I need to strip out the bathroom and kitchen units to facilitate access. 

Does anyone have any useful tips or starters for 10, any useful mods while its apart?

I'm concious of the water, gas and electrical connections anything else I should know?

On the upside as a van conversion everything was put inside after the van was built, it was not built around it.

Thanks,

Andy

It's a question that gets asked frequently, so if you put "removing interior" into the forum search and scroll through you'll come across quite a few threads on the subject, mixed up among others.

When I removed the central part of the interior on a Flair, I found the hardest thing was that fixings are often covered over at the factory, either by carpet, fabric or smaller trim panels. I found it easiest to go to the point where units meet the floor/walls and take units out whole, but whether that will apply to a Symphony I don't know.

I didn’t remove the furniture from our Duetto when it was welded so I can’t help with that side of things. Not sure if they are all the same but the carpets were fitted to the floor before the units and the bathroom. 
When you take the bathroom out if there is carpet under the shower tray get rid of it. As I have said before my friend that is a vehicle restorer and welder has shown me some horrors were the shower tray leaked into the carpet followed by the wooden floor then the metal floor of the van. 
Good luck with the repairs. I hope it isn’t as bad as our Duetto was.

A couple of tips that may help:
1. Take LOTS of pictures of everything before you dismantle it (and I mean close ups of how things are fitted together);
2. Invest in a roll of freezer bags - the sort with a label on the side that you can write on. Use these to store all the screws and fastenings from each section (and label them) as you work through the disassembly. 

I had to take the washroom sink out of our Pollensa and used up at least a dozen bags with screws from all the different bits that had to be removed. It seems daft, but you'll appreciate it when you come to put it all back together again!

Roopert wrote:It's a question that gets asked frequently, so if you put "removing interior" into the forum search and scroll through you'll come across quite a few threads on the subject, mixed up among others.

When I removed the central part of the interior on a Flair, I found the hardest thing was that fixings are often covered over at the factory, either by carpet, fabric or smaller trim panels. I found it easiest to go to the point where units meet the floor/walls and take units out whole, but whether that will apply to a Symphony I don't know.

Yea I'm hoping the kitchen 'module' will come out in one piece, it looks as if it might.

Andy