AWOL restorer - the next chapter (resto update)

Looking forward to you getting it all sorted and looking forward to a pic of a smiling you next to your finished van. I agree that the work that has been done looks good.

 

Good luck - work done so far looks great!

 

Looks good, now pull your finger out and finish it lol.

 

My God. Reading all this made my eyes bleed. Well done for hanging in there so long, and clever you for doing it the right way.
Makes me sooooooo grateful that I don't need to do a resto, yet. Window frames will be first, bottoms of, all a bit dodgy. Any recommend a good body man, location not a problem.
Definition: a good body man is one who will tell me how he's going to do it, how well and how soon and NOT how bloody difficult it is and how crap the parts are!

 

you summed that up doubledecker ! i gave the "skilled guy" ALL the best panels available and ALL (MISTAKE!) the money , he chops all panels and a fair old amount of my bus into pieces then tell me! i ve got him the wrong panels ! took me 3 years 2 recover my bus and had to start again , you couldn"t make it up ! P.S. guy who "chopped " my vehicle ?was a work mate ! moral ?>if subbing out work ALWAYS insist on seeing dude"s PREVIOUS jobs (hindsight is sooooo wonderful ,innit !) but then i suppose i walked into that one when i gave him the money up front .

 

It's been several weeks since I updated the story of my resto. I got my bus transported to the new guys workshop in August. He is going to get the bodywork sorted and a guy he works with will do the mechanical bits. That should leave me with the interior to fit. He has finished the painting needed on the cab doors, sliding door, engine lid, engine bay, dash board, bumpers, wheels and pop top. The bottom has also been primered and undersealed.





The tank has come out, been tested, repaired and painted. A panel welded under where the tank sits, the engine bay painted, new boards made up and Firetec bracket fitted.



New disks and shocks have been fitted as well as the brake pipes and flexi's. The mechanic is a perfectionist as he even got the bolts for the front beam cleaned!!!!





A similar story at the rear.


The engine and gear box are out being checked, the tinware blasted and powder coated. Before being re-assembled with some VW heat ex's I got hold of and a Vintage Speed stainless exhaust.



The resto guy has gone on holiday for November so I will not see the progress for a few weeks yet.

 

looking good now dude!!

 

Looks lovely mate

 

looking very smart.

 

Looking good

 

looks very nice

 

Well, the mechanical work is sorted, the engine is back in and running. The engine bay is looking fab and shiny. There are a few jobs to be finished before MOT and I pick her up, hopefully at the end of January. The pop top needs to go on, Propex fitted, aerial fitted and odds and ends like number plates. It will then be down to me to sort the remaining electrics and fit the head lining and interior.

The frustrating thing is that the bus is 120 miles from home and I have no garage. I don't fancy picking her up, driving back on roads that will probably have salt on by then and leave her on the drive for my to finish things off. So it looks like I will have to leave her in storage for a few weeks.

 

That really does look nice. 8)

 

I've just been reading through the whole thread and k+ to you for patience and for getting there in the end. I feel for the guy that was doing the resto but it looks like after all your own efforts you will end up with nice bus.