Not quite a restoration but an excersise in cleaning up and refurbishing the dirtiest part of the bus. As you may have read elsewhere, the need for my engine to be removed presented itself to me recently, having suffered some internal failure yet to be determined. Anyway this has had the bonus of allowing me complete access to the engine bay area to do one or two jobs that you don't often get the chance to do in what has to be the hardest to work in part of the bus. So engine out, my plan is to: Clean up and re-paint the engine bay area remove and replace fuel filler neck rubber parts remove and replace the fuel tank breathers. Today I had a good look around the engine bay and it seems fairly clear of rust, which is of course pleasing. That is probably due to the amount of waxoyl / underseal sprayed all around it. However, the underseal being black, makes the engine bay a very dark place where it is hard to see anything. Engine in situ prior to removal: Engine bay without engine: you can see the state of it. I want it to be a bright clean (as far as engine bays go) environment. Today I removed the fire wall and the paint tin lid panel and cleaned them up using white spirit and green scotch pads as recommended by @paradox. Firewall whilst cleaning: Firewall after cleaning: I have then painted the panels ready for re-mounting when the rest of the bay is cleaned and painted: I examined the filler pipe and the breathers and found that the breathers were actually in good order but mouldy and the filler pipe to be horribly cracked. All are being replaced: I also found the unexpected advent of a cut out above the fuel tank - presumably where someone has at some point gone in to look at the fuel gauge sender - they have replaced the metal and stuck it in with filler by the look of it: More on my progress later. One thing to note: I bought the wrong filler neck pipe - presuming I needed the longer one available - as you can see it is just a short length joining the tank to the metal pipe. My dilemma is whether to order the correct one and try and sell the other one or just cut the one I bought in error...
Looking good. As long as you cut it cleanly and correct length you'll be fine. I've done it loads of times.
Good to see you are repainting the engine bay. Quite why some folk insist on painting them black I cannot figure other than it hides dirt.
tbh I'm a bit PO'd as I bought the filler neck from Heritage as "Fuel Filler Hose (tank end) T2, 72-79" because the shorter one is shown as "Filler Hose (tank end) SHORT " but in the full description says "For Vehicles: T2 / Baywindow 68-72". My bus is a 1978. The short one is £26 and the one I bought based on their description was £45 albeit I got Latebay discount on that. It still amounts to over £15 more just to be cut up !
Ah right - could explain it I guess - It seems that this bus has had a partial restoration many years ago (before 2001) and one or two things have been replaced with (what seems to me) whatever items were to hand. The 3 rib gear box for example, and now an early late bay fuel tank! The 'hatch' cut above the fuel tank also indicates the sender has been accessed too. I thought this bus was quite original when I bought it, unlike my last one which was a right hotch potch it turned out, however maybe that is just the way of things.
Next, I focussed my attention on the battery tray, which was full of water from last nights rain. When I took the battery out three days ago it was wet underneath so water is definitely settling and the rusty hue confirms that. I think the best thing to do here is to drill some drain holes to allow the water to escape and sand back and re-paint the tray in a rust-proof paint, then monitor for future water incursion... Oddly enough the passenger side was, and always seems to be perfectly dry!
Drill the holes from inside the van. It will make the metal bend ever so slightly outward and will aid drainage.
Having gone through this process a couple of years ago, I would also suggest : 1) Inspect the fuel tank outlet and replace when the tank is out! Mine needs a fix now. 2) think about any other holes that need drilling while the engines out. I've the prospect of running a leisure battery lead and an amp lead which are going to need new holes; I think I needed to redrill for fuel pump, pipe clips
Well the sun is shining and I've been getting on with the clean up. Had to wait for Tesco to open to get much needed green scourers and white spirit, but only a minor delay. What a job!! I expected it to be a bit tough, as the waxoyl (or whatever it was) was applied thickly to the walls of the engine compartment, and of course even with the engine out this is still a cramped environment to be working in. The results have been fairly good though with a small amount of clean up still remaining, most of the original paintwork remained under the waxoyl. I am guessing it was applied after some welding was done - notably the battery trays (the passenger one looks brand new!) and some around the curved chassis sections. By this point I was wondering what I had started and was blacker than a Death Watch Beetle! Still I persevered... As I say a bit more cleaning in the corners etc and I should be good to go with the painting. I mostly used white spirit, spraying it on and rubbing it in with the scourers. I was later collared by the Betterware man (as often happens while I am in the middle of a job) and he reminded me of the wondrous power of Gunk (he used to use it in his job at the steelworks apparently - that closed down in 1979) but it is still good stuff today. I did the last (and likely worst) section using Gunk and it made light work of the Waxoyl - possibly even more than the white spirit, hard to tell, but worth giving a go if you can stand the smell so close up. Oh and it stings more than white spirit when a bit sprays in your eye. So next step is the painting
Even after a quick first coat of Rustoleum you can see the difference it will make in here... Tomorrow I will need to drill the holes I mentioned in the battery tray , then continue painting. Once the paint is finished I can do the pipes / breathers on the fuel tank, replace the firewall and paint lid panel and it should be ready to accept my new engine - whenever that will be! There is additional work to do just behind the engine bay in the hard to reach area (with the engine and gearbox in situ). That needs to be waxoyled to give it a bit of protection - albeit it doesn't look too bad, may as well do it while I have the opportunity.
I did think quite long about whether to or not, but you know, I quite like that black - bizarre I know - still I can actually still do that on the future if I decide to.
Have a rest up and the next time you tackle it, the sparewheel tub won't seem so much of a chore. Funny, my engine bay is waxoiled and I've never thought once about painting in there. I like engine bays dirty after all they are the work horse of the van. Every time I work on the van I get dirty so I think it only right that she can be a bit dirty too. Slag!!!
Today I made a start on the rusty battery tray. I thought it would be a good idea, once I'd drilled some holes in it to aid water escape, to paint it firstly in a base coat of red lead as I just happen to have a tin in the garage. This proved not to be my greatest idea, as the paint having sat for over 25 years needed a bloody good stirring with all the particulants having separated. I managed to get some prepared to paint onto the tray and proceeded to do so. I am still waiting for it to dry! Whilst waiting for that I have done the fuel tank breathers and filler neck pipe. That was a bit more awkward than I thought but non the less it is completed The pipe didn't want to come off at first so I cut it off with a Stanley knife. Then having sized the required length and cut my incorrect pipe to appropriate length I struggled to get it onto the metal pipe at first, despite warming the rubber to aid flexibility. Anyway, a while later after a few choice words I got it on, and connected to the tank. I'm awaiting the arrival of some new R9 fuel pipe to replace the piece from the tank to the pump so can't do that just yet. One thing I have noticed (and suspected before) is that there is no fuel filter anywhere - the pipe that was connected to the fuel pump didn't have one and there isn't one anywhere else! In addition I have noticed a couple of small holes in the chassis arm which I will no doubt have to get welded soon. This is turning into quite a voyage of discovery. So, when the red lead is dry, I'll be on with the rest of the painting.
