Bought my bus this summer, and used it loads, Lands End and Scotland no less! I've tinkered with bits and bobs, and it sailed through its MOT. Now winter is coming I'm going to look at some of the bigger projects. I knew when I bought it, some of the bodywork needed attention, bottom of the sliding door and this, So thought I'd have a quick dig around and see what replacement parts I'd need. Inner and outer rear valance, check. Wait a minute, what's this, looks like fibreglass...prod prod... And cardboard!! Not ideal! The bumper support appears to be solid, but I need to replace what's missing. Anyone have a good exploded pic of the replacement parts or know what the bit I need is called? It's hard to see from the last pic, but there's another rusted away piece, from roughly where the cardboard is that goes up through the engine bay which I think supports the outer corner, is that 'D' section? Not welded before, but I've borrowed a welder from a mate, and thinking of having a go myself, I'm a carpenter, practical sort, turn my hand to most things, but this is breaking new ground, how hard can it be?!?...
Hey mate. Have a look at my resto as I'm just doing this area. You'll probably find you need to repair the bottoms of the D pillars (you can't get the inner valance in easily with the d pillar bottoms in place). And it looks like the ends of your chassis legs are going. You can either make some repair sections up from 2mm or replacement panels are available if they're bad. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You can get chassis rail repair sections from folk like Schofields. You'll likely also need a rear valence inner and outer. That's just the start ...
Work back along the chassis legs past the engine hangers. There is a factory rust trap where the wheelarches and the rails meet, and the rails rot through from the top. Water gets under the heatshields and rots both ways, but the heat shield rot can be hidden with filler. Mine was. Ended up replacing the chassis legs almost to the back of the engine bay Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
This all sounds suspiciously like I'd need to drop the engine! A daunting task I'd hoped to postpone till I'd mastered the equally daunting task of learning how to weld. As I wanted to sort the rear valance and 'D' pillar and be back on the road in time for Techenders in April. On the rear valance, has anyone ever put a removable valance in, to aid engine removal? I read in my Bentley manual, that some models came fitted with removable ones.
You will have to drop the engine to sort that properly and safely. It'll take you an hour max, they are designed to be taken out frequently.
Ah nuts! An hour you say? Even for someone with very limited mechanical experience and limited equipment? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That does indeed sound achievable. Once it's 'dropped' on my driveway, what happens next? Do I need 2 trolley jacks to lift the back end and just drag it out? What sort of height do you need to achieve to get clearance? How much do they weigh? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Type1 engine by the look of it, put the bus up on ramps then drop engine with trolley jack or better still motorcycle lift, then drop onto a bit of ply and slide it out, May need to tilt it back a bit and you'll be removing bumper anyway
Ok I'm sold, I'll give it a go! It'll give me a chance to tidy up the engine bay. And give the fuel system the once over. Other than that, are there any other things I should do while it's out?
Unscrew the firewall and check for perished hoses around the fuel tank. It will never be easier. . As a first timer I had my engine out in under an hour. If you have a late bay with a fixed valance, you have to get the back up quite high. Fully dressed the engine is a two man lift. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
The chassis rails rot from the inside, so be don't be timid when you're cutting back the old steel, or at least do it in bits until you've hit properly good thick metal. You don't want to weld good solid metal to chassis rails that are 1mm steel & 5mm of rust.
I'd have to remove the silencer if I kept the tow bar and bumper on as I've only got about 5mm clearance rearwards. Maybe the engine and gearbox would drop together though.
Sorry to hijack this thread...but TY @olnow for posting those pics! Very interesting. I have some rust/rot on the inner skin of that corner, running down the forward edge/seam of the panel with the white paint dribbles (or perhaps the rear edge/seam of the next panel along). Very useful to see the inner workings. TY P.
