Henry - 1973 Bay Window Resto

What would you know about being a short arse

 

Hello from Surrey
Nice thread , keep it coming


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Thanks for the comments so far guys.. I'm catching up to present day this evening..


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Great bus and I love seeing the progress you have made since you have got it.

 

Bit of a down tools as we lost my old man at the end of November so I didn't put any time on the bus..funny though I just remember telling him that we had bought a bus to renovate to get - not like the ones you and your mates used to waste your lives on years ago?.. and you're not going to pack your business in to message about with that?..

Oh the memories of yeah I guess he was right - dossing about with vans and bugs on all our parents drives creating a mosaic of oil patches; trips to the run to the sun and making it about 50 miles before getting a flat bed ride the rest of the way (those were the days when you could blag the AA to take you on and onward bound journey, so Newquay was obviously always the answer when you'd made it as far as Bristol!!..)

Onwards and upwards though I guess and I know he'll be up there grumbling - bloody waste of time those rot boxes lol...

So I started getting back to it really about 2 weeks ago - I am holding a full time business down though as well as a new company me and the better half have just set up so I have to limit bus work to an afternoon or maybe two each week and every other weekend as Ive got my young one that comes over to us.. Feels like I should finish this project around hmm 2042....

 

January 2017 - Moving Henry to a new home for the moment..

Over the Christmas/ New Year hols the van just sat out at the back of the house getting cold.. I did buy a cover to be fair be unfortunately the inside due to the weather took a beating - the temporary boarded up pop top roof which i had put up just to get away for Busfest had sucked up as much moisture as it could and a nice bit of fur had started growing inside.. steering wheel and handbrake managed to grow a bit aswell... so after a good wipe down of the main parts I needed to drive it I made a call to my mate @wooliesworkshop and asked "any chance I can put the van on your ramp?... luckily cos he is a top bloke I got no problem at all...

So now Ive at least got a dry place to get the roof off stripped and rebuilt so I can get it back out side not acting like a sieve.. and whilst its inside I can pinch some grey matter from Paul on the best place to attack first..

 

Looking at the front arches, doors deformation panel and pillars it soon became apparent that arches were the first area to tap away at.. Since I had got the rust free door from Southampton I didn't have to worry about the dying outer skin on the O/S and not sure if it had a new skin on the N/s but it was pretty sound so that was a good start at least..
You can see the front step section is bubbling away so this was the worst up front really.. I found out quickly the last guy had a unique way of using fibreglass and P38.... Wack a load of un-resined fibreglass up inside the def panel to pack it out and repair the corners with a glass fibre/paper mache bodge...

It kinda worked ascetically I guess but missed the point of the def panel.. oh well it was time to strip some panels and cut out some rust.

Started off just removing the obvious - doors, seats, seat belts etc.

 

Seat were a pain to get out - I think they might be Saab seats or something like that a while they are pretty comfy the mountings are a nightmare to get a spanner onto and the hadn't gone into a capsulated nut or seat point.. drill through and put a nylock nut on there... these had gone rusty over time and I was about 5 second from just grinding the off but I made a cuppa and went back again after a deep breath out.. so eventually.. done


This is as bad a patch job as I ever want to do by the way... I just needed to get to the BusFest without getting a soaking wet leg so this isn't obviously meant to be long term lol.. Thankfully it was time to cut that out for good though..

 

O/S/F Arch meet the reciprocating saw.....


Obviously needs tidying up and floor pan needs chopping but due to Pauls advice which I think came just in time - leave some reference points!!..

 

Next one to get a six pack of whoopass was the Def Panel - bumper off and time to look at the bodge job behind the bumper... Centre part wasn't too bad and seemed solid but my god - those fibreglass/p38 ends were shocking! This was possibly one of the most knackering parts so far .... Took maybe 2-3 hrs to get the old panel cut off and the tag/weld strip section of it removed.
Just incase anyone hasn't replaced a deformation panel before - 2 things 1) Don't! and 2) If you do have to make a large cuppa first and take a deep breath!

Process in short though - my way anyway..

Cut the front off the panel and then tackle the spot welds afterwards.. Photos might help below..



Just under the lip that runs under the number plate there must be 50 spots welds that hold the old panel on.


.. they have to go because if you just cut the panel back and try to weld back on def panel weld strip it would just buckle under the heat of the new welds.. I tried to drill out using a spot weld removing bit but after a few mins though i'd end up using probably 20 bits just to do the panel so tried a new method..

Easiest way was gently grind the panels fixing tab down to a mm or so - thin enough that you can bend it out the way as you go. I also ground where the panel goes at 90deg so I could bend the remaining slither out the way.

Managed to get in from the far left of the remaining panel and started literally smashing through the spot welds with a cold chisel..

You can see the strip hanging down as I went along.. that believe it or not is still really stiff steel even after grinding it down a mm or 2.. anyways panel off and just need to revisit it again for a proper clean up ready for a new deformation panel.

 

Still need to get the panel but holding of ordering until I see what panel I need in the cab area.. I moved onto the inside to do a bit now. After the temp roof boarding had been removed I decided as much as I would have liked to keep them in the bunk covers and bunk riveted strips had to go. The last guy had just hacked the bunks off with a butter knife by the looks of it lol..
Covers and rivets drilled out I looked at the state of the side headlining looked ropey and unsalvageable so just went for it and glad I did now..



Next to do is move onto the front again and look at what needs chopping out of the N/S/F end..

Back soon

 

Paul decided to have a stab at the front end again today so cheers for that mate.. looks like we need to replace the inner panel that the deformation panel welds to.. looks like it was kind of solid but only in the bits that weren't riddled with rust! Pity it was 70/30 to the rust




Getting to solid now at least. Probably wait to order the panels till I've seen how bad the corners are..


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I'm not far off putting the inner valance in too. You may find when you take the valance off that the panel above it needs some work. Hopefully not as much as mine does!


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Hey James..

Yeah my mate Paul is a VDUB whisperer to be fair so if it can be saved he's my bloke lol.. failing that I was tempted to chop the front for good measure but let me know how yours goes

 

Trip to the workshop today to help change Paul's 924 gearbox.. reconnected the battery and just turned the key.. fired up first time after about 2 seconds.. well looks like the engine is happier than the arches and front panels .. had to resort to a wheel as a seat - think I'll fit a normal one back in rather than keeping a Porsche wheel .. not very comfy..


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How did you get on with the inner in the end James ?


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Should be getting it welded in next week. Just need to prep it tomorrow and clean up the chassis legs a bit (see my resto).

 

Got some time in between work to get back down there.. going to do some work on the pop top so at least it's waterproof top down.. roof came off after some gentle persuasion. The 4 retainer strips that hold the bellows to the roof trim cap were rusty as could be glad that's done!!



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Got most of the interior and floor out now .. need to replace some of the cargo deck hopefully not all but maybe easier to just chop the lot out and get new.


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