Paul the '73 tintop!

Discussion in 'Show Us Your Ride' started by konaboy6284, Apr 13, 2013.

  1. The build thread is here!!

    I bought my bus last december, but as some of you know i only managed to get it home last week!
    This was due to cataclysmic engine failure 2 and a half minutes after starting the 400 mile drive home.. which was very frustrating to say the least! :(

    But he's here now, (thanks to Top Banana Racing being a total hero! eternally grateful for that!!) and also in february i got a job at an aircooled specialists, (Vdub Resto in Rangeworthy, just for the obligatory shameless plug!) so now the slow resto on the most incredible thing i have ever owned will be a lot easier, and dare i say it, quicker.. maybe..

    this is how he looked when i bought him..

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    Not bad for the bargain price i got him for!! was MOT'd and taxed at the time too.
    Seller was a bit of a douche, but for the price i couldnt expect much less.
    Apparently it had a 1600 that ran fine, but turns out its a 1300 out of a beetle, that was also knackered.. :( bad times!

    But i managed to pick up an actual 1600 off ebay, (another MASSIVE bargain!!), especially as it came with heat exchangers and a EMPI exhaust, albeit a pretty rotten one..

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    So happy days there! And last week i started cleaning up a few bits in my lunch breaks at work..

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    got them in the parts washer first..

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    then shined them up a bit.. I LIKE SHINY THINGS!!

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    So that was nice times, and will be doing quite a bit more shiny making in the next couple of weeks, so expect to see more of this!
     
  2. Shiny, we all like shiny... Good luck with this new engine :)
     
  3. Now bodywork wise, he does need quite a bit of love. Probably a bit more than he would do, due to me having to leave him in Cumbria for 4 months, and be having a SERIOUS case of brain fail, and having no idea he had a bus cover sitting on the floor in plain sight the entire time!! (i thought it was the awning!! FOOL!)
    But that is definitely in use now, since i discovered it a couple of days ago!

    Some of the many little bits of bodywork that need tidying up..
    New door methinks!

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    New tailgate also called for i think! like that all the way along!
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    Although he is probably be appreciating having a warm weekend in the workshop, due to me finally making some real progress today!!
    Thus causing the start of this here build thread...

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    So now the fun can really start!!
    He has a bit of pretty substantial MOT-fail style rust on the rear chassis legs, and the beam needs welding up, more pis on that will come as progress happens..

    Hope your all having a lovely day :)
     
  4. thanks buddy!! :thumbsup:
     
  5. Love the metal ceiling in the engine bay

    [​IMG]

    Took me a long search to find a pair for my van, finally removing the old deformed cardboard rubbish..
     
    konaboy6284 likes this.
  6. yeah man, im a fan of that too! :)

    think i may prep and spray the bay before putting the new engine in...
    im doing the tinware anyway so i might aswell while its out!
     
  7. bit of an update on this one, but no pics as of yet cus i smashed my phone :(
    (taking a fuel tank that was FULL of water out of someone elses bay..)
    have nearly finished building up the new engine now,
    just need to aquire some studs/nuts for the exhaust as the old ones are rusted into a solid lump and we should be go on that one..
    decided not to bother making a new battery to starter cable because i want my bus on the road in 3 weeks :)eek:)
    and just ordered one off JK.

    have got the steel to make up the rear chassis legs now, will get pics of the progress on that one in the next week hopefully..
    started tidying up the wiring today, and found that after removing all the random wires that just didnt go anywhere,
    im pretty sure i have enough to replace all the wiring that needs it! so that was a bonus :)

    also, i think i broke the sensor for the temp gauge when i took the old engine out :(
    its that thing on the bottom of the oil drain plug isnt it?
    anyone know where i can get a new one of those? only found the package deals where they come with the gauge so far,
    and dont really want to fork out for a new gauge....

    found more bad bits today, the worst in the form of a massively rusty roof..
    took the back bit of the headlining down because it had clearly got damp and found a plate that had been tacked on by a spastic..
    which explains the leak, and the weird patch of filler on the top of my bus that hasnt even been flatted!
    im hoping its just suface rust, but i will have to take the entire headlining down to find out..

    found the cab floor needs replacing, (anyone got a spare one that i could purchase perhaps??)
    today was the first time id looked at the undersides of my cab doors aswell, only a picture could explain the outcome of that.. not good!
    wipers still dont work and i cant work out why, spent a lot of time today tracing wires back, for lots of things, but the wiper motor wires all seem to be present and correct, so more diagnostics to be done there i feel.

    on a lighter note, my sliding door no longer falls off everytime i open it, managed to adjust it whie it was on, but will have to take it off to get it perfect..
    and in tidying up the bus, i found lots of cool stuff left to me by the previous owner, including pretty much everything needed to give him a service :)

    failed miserably getting the driveshafts off to replace the boots, but dont have any CV boot bolts yet anyway, so that doesnt really matter yet.
    was mostly because i forgot my impact driver, a mistake i will not be making tomorrow!!!

    next up is finding some kick plate templates so i can make some up (mainly to hide the wiring rats nest from the MOT man!! :p )
    making up my rear chassis legs, finding new front tyres (but im definitely not going to be opening the 'which tyres' can of worms ;) haha)

    and the thing that really made my day, believe it or not, was fitting my genuine horn push button!!
    its such a small job, but it makes such a difference visually!!! the drivers side of my dash is now (visually) complete!! :D
    happy days indeed!

    and apologies for the ramble, i accomplished a lot today (although i have the feeling i forgot to mention and of the good achievements)
    also, i stripped down the engine for Baysearcher, so he can take that bottom end off my hands.
    so (providing that the ones on my ebay engine work) i will have a couple of complete heads for sale soon.
    holla for first dibs :thumbsup:




    and if you actually read all of that, why?? do you really have nothing better to do with your time????
    have a great evening :)
     
  8. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Heritage sell the senders for about £15.
    Good molegrips to start the CV bolts.
    Good luck with the roof...
     
  9. fella you are a man i admire - i love the detail in your prep work i will follow this resto with some interest - keep it up
     
    konaboy6284 likes this.
  10. cheers zed :thumbsup: il get me one o they senders then!
    and will give the molegrips a try tomorrow, but will have the impact driver tomorrow so hopefully that will solve my problem..
    cheers, i think i might need it! hopefully it isnt as bad as it first looked...

    thank man, and its nice to say i can honestly say the same to you, hopefully one day my bus will be the standard of yours! :)
     
  11. another update on this!
    wow, 2 updates in 2 days, whats going on?? :D

    quite significant acheivements from me today i think, pics to come tomorrow though unfortunately.
    today i solved my wiper problems by ripping it all out and re-wiring it with the wires i removed yesterday that werent doing anything,
    so absolutely zero pounds spent there, and problem solved! (a rare occurance for bus fixing ive found! haha) :)
    did a bit more general tidying up of the wiring while i was at it.

    and because it started hammering down, i took shelter in my engine bay, (much to the amusement of passers by), with the wire brush,
    with the aim of finding out just how much of the offside chassis leg i would be replacing,
    (que huge pile of rust on the floor....), need to replace the lot pretty much..
    and as there was a couple of holes in the nearside leg i gave that a wack with the brush too..
    que MASSIVE pile of rust on the floor and 75% of the chassis leg missing :oops:
    its amazing what paint and Schultz can hide!!!

    which changed my gameplan for a day a little bit, but thats okay as i have now made a new nearside chassis leg of 16 gauge (i think) steel!
    steel which was ordered by my old boss, specifically for my chassis legs, without me asking!! so a huge thanks to Mark at Vdub Resto for that!
    not bad for a days work, considering i havent done much fab work of this nature before :)
    i know this needs pics, but i have no phone (STILL!!), so will duly be nicking my better halfs camera for tomorrows session...

    and on a very awesome note, just been handed several packages that came while i was out,
    one containing the battery to starter cable i ordered 2 days ago (thank you JK!! nice one!),
    and the other bearing the gift of my 4 new CV boots, and i believe i have solved my bolt dilemma, thanks to a very helpful chap from these parts,
    so overall a very successful day, making me a very happy chappy!

    hope everyone else had as good a day as i did!
     
  12. Spent most of my today on my back on the concrete in the heaving rain, but made more progress, aand finally got some pics! :D

    heres how she stands at the moment.. (note a couple of brown heaps trying to be inconspicuous..haha)

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    and here is why that is on the nearside..

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    and on the offside...


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    and its always nice when you pick up your chassis legs with a dustpan.
    so you get the idea on that one.. but, on the plus side, over the past 2 days i also achieved this..
    might not be to the level of some of you fabrication genius's ive seen on here, but i think i did pretty well :)

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    made these for both sides now, just need to drill the holes for the engine support bar brackets, (and make some of those...),
    and weld a couple of 17mm nuts for the bumper bolts, then they be done :)

    also, after battling with about 17000 miles of electrical tape, i managed to change my battery to starter cable, even managed to save and clean up the original grommet for where it goes through the chassis, so that was a nice surprise, as i didnt expect it to be there :)
    a comparison shot..

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    my prognosis was the red one was much better, so thats the one thats now in there, the rest of its still pretty messy, but il get to that eventually...
    i also need to put a connector on the weird 4 yellow wires that are taped together just beneath it,
    i dont know what they are for, but the were on (i use that term loosely, as nothing was 'on' the clamp in the traditional sense of the word!!),
    the positive before and everything worked (so to speak) so i will be putting them back on and finding out what they do later..

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    one thing i did want to ask, im pretty sure i already know the answer, but Mr MOT Man will have a problem with the abysmal balls up someone made
    when they decided to cut off and 're-attach' the rear valance, (presumably to get the engine out in spectacularly lazy fashion), wont he?
    more welding for me here i would imagine, as its like this on both sides...

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    also, received more lovely parcels today, one with an empi short shift plate,
    and a much more interesting one with an original bus toolkit, the one that would have come with it from the factory, which i thought was a nice find :)
    cheers for looking at my rusty anguish!

    more updates on this on tuesday from me.. i hate bank holidays!! :(
     
    Merlin Cat likes this.
  13. got my CV bolts today courtesy of Keith.H :)
    thanks a lot for that!

    now back to the crappy job of getting the old ones out...
     
  14. Keep at it dude it will all be worth it in the end:thumbsup:
     
    konaboy6284 likes this.
  15. Only just seen this thread. Well done so far - looking forward to seeing the progress:)
     
  16. cheers guys, will be welding nuts onto the old bolts to get them out tomorrow :)
    also will be fabricating a new inner arch as mine had been bodged and fell off when i poked it... haha
    and fitting my short shift thing.

    hazard switch should be here friday, so should have pretty much everything i need to 'finish' it then.
    and by finish i mean MOT, not actually finished of course! are they ever??
     
  17. Gotta admire you for putting in the effort fella. As Para says it'll be worth the end result and the absolute pride you'll have in being able to say you did it yourself. :)
     
    konaboy6284 likes this.
  18. Love your attitude towards all the new bits you keep adding to the 'to do' list after fixing the original item you set out to fix, keep it up :thumbsup:
     
    konaboy6284 likes this.
  19. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    well done saving another tintop - good luck!
     
    konaboy6284 likes this.
  20. yeah mork tintops are the best :D
     

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