Light Winter Resto -now onto engine bay !

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by Mike4, Nov 23, 2011.

  1. Ok,

    So I have owed Gerty for 2 years now and have carried out most of the mechanical works needed on her, so I thought it was time to take her off the road this winter and concentrate on some areas of body work which tend to be well hidden i.e. behind cracked rubber etc.

    Prior to my owner ship the bus had been sitting in a garage for 12 years pretty much untouched and unused.


    Windscreen

    The windscreen rubber had cracked in all the corners and water was entering at the top and running down the sides. As there are no drain holes, water would just sit here and when I took the rubber off it was moist behind.

    There was only one area of rot the size of half a 2p piece which was a relief. I have got rid of all the rusty areas back to shiney metal in this area. its a bit mishapen but should be able to get the new rubber over without too much bother. There was some small surface bubbling, so I took a wire brush to these areas, put on some cure rust and then applied some P0R15 www.por15.com to all the areas ready for some glossy mexican beige.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    will seal this with mastic prior to the windscreen going back on,

    Windscreen is in the house with new rubber on awaiting paint to fully cure. more on this later

    Next was the one area I was most concerned with - the rear n/s window! When I bought the van I was told that the 1/4 light leaked like no other so had just been sealed up with mastic and left for 20 years!

    I started by removing the panel on the side to assess the underside.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Not too bad so far

    Then the window and 1/4 light came out


    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    some filler has been put in between the two panels here when it has distorted. its cracked and dusty now so will take a few mm out, cure rust, paint and then seal up with mastic once dried and cured.

    The 1/4 light frame will probably need replacing as it has rusted at the bottom. will clean this up and see if it is salvageable

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Will update on progress soon.
     
  2. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    good to see Gertie getting some TLC..keep us posted on progress mate!
     
  3. good work mike ....
     
  4. looking forward to seeing more :D

    K+
     
  5. Birdy

    Birdy Not Child Friendly

    Is that rear 1/4 window frame a little "brooooken??"
     
  6. Yep rear 1/4 frame beyond economical repair. Luckily some one local was was selling a new frame and chrome 1/4 light so this was bought as a replacement.
    [​IMG]

    Also got me a new sliding window whilst at it to replace the passenger side louvre - with it being a left hooker, pulling onto the motorway is a mare when you have to try and look through insect mesh. Also handy for talking to people through so I dont have to open the door and watch the dogs run off!
    [​IMG]


    Windscreen frame now sporting some mexican beige prior to rubber going back in. Its not a perfect match but this area will be covered over in rubber any way. I Just wanted some shiney gloss paint here to help keep the body work protected.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I used this bad boy on my rusted panels. Previously I had been using Ku-rust by hammerite which is fine for small areas, but I found on larger areas, its much easier to spray this on. I also note that it doesnt discolour paint work like ku-rust and it also brings the metal out rather than just turn it brown.
    [​IMG]

    As you can see in the pic, the rust spots are gone to reveal bare metal again.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    After a wire brush it was ready for some POR15.

    As this area will be completely hidden I made sure everything was nicely covered with a thick coat.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    Underside also got some treatment.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Moved round to the other window and examined it. No rust under the cover plate, sliding door mech has kept this area well protected with a thick layer of grease and the rubber looks good so I think I will leave this area alone untill next winter.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Next up I will do behind the panels as these are starting to turn.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. good work Michael ... I can see me doing something similar with the Pink thing next Winter ... she may end up being off the road for a year or so ...
     
  8. thats the problem mate, once you start and uncover something where do you stop before its a full resto?
     
  9. indeed - i can see Pinky having a fairly full on resto in the next few years ... the more i look at her the more i see things i want to fix :(
     
  10. Work started in engine bay area,

    [​IMG]

    stripping out to inspect the rust/state of play. Not too bad so am going to have a tidy/clean up with engine in-situ
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Window with some paint ready for new rubber

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Windows ready to go back in
     
  11. Birdy

    Birdy Not Child Friendly

    Owwww what a dirty engine bay. No wonder it's a third place winner ;)
     
  12. Well got a bit more work done this weekend!

    [​IMG]

    windscreen in, I didnt realise how much flex there is in these things. when I lined it back up there was a good inch either side gap. had to get 2 of us on the outside pushing top and bottom and some one on the inside with the drawi string. sure enough it had moved out by the time we had finished. C & C rubber was a good fit. Although the only problem I now have is the out rubber was mahoosive in comparison and it had been resprayed with it insitu at somepoint. . . so I have a paint line all the way round!

    [​IMG]

    rear quarter light was a mother to put back in/get rubber around it (like a virgin trying to put on a condom for the first time). The design is flawed and guess what it still leaks! where did I put the mastic gun?

    [​IMG]

    Fire wall came out, and I was so excited about the condition of the tank, filler neck etc, I forgot to take a good picture. More work on fan shroud done, starting to come together.

    [​IMG]

    fire wall prepped

    [​IMG]

    tin ware cleaned and prepping begun.

    [​IMG]

    fan fresh from the dishwasher (nice tip birdy) and prep begun.
     
  13. good work michael ... i do wish i had more spare time to do these things
     
  14. Honky

    Honky Administrator

    Jumping on the engine bay refurb bandwagon.
     
  15. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    Looking good Mike, keep it up!!
     
  16.  
  17. Birdy

    Birdy Not Child Friendly

     
  18. show offs
     
  19. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    You have fitted your windscreen seal inside out ;)
     
  20.  

Share This Page