My '76 Microbus / Camper : Landyn

great work, that fuel hatch looks tidy

some very nice test panel stitching too..............I keep trying to get Mrs Diddymen to have a go with the upholstery )

 

It's been a while... I've been banging my head against a fuel starvation shaped wall for the last few weeks trying to work out why my shiney engine, with all it's new bits wasn't hitting 88mph and sending me back to 1985! Ultimately, a few renewed lines, a clean filter, new fuel pump, new coil, ditched the Ingnitor for new points and a new condenser and a new regulator all on top of the freshly rebuilt engine and the problem wasn't solved!! A bit of a brainwave from my sparky brother and we changed the electrical feed for the electric fuel pump from the coil to a switched relay and BINGO!! Seems the coil was robbing the electricity from the fuel pump... in laymans terms!



After all of that I spent a few minutes tidying up the fuel lines and strapped them to the fire wall... for all those who think regulators aren't need with Webers, I've kept it as a last filter before the carbs, just to be on the safe side! I'm not happy with the fuel filter pointing up in this arrangement so I might put it under the tank and put a better through bulkhead fitting on.



So... if that hasn't bored you what about floor stripping?? Now the van is running it's time to push on with the interior and before there's any furniture, I wanted to make sure the bits that get covered are well protected, so out with the wire brushes...



The PO's repairs aren't great and in many places they've only been covered in a thin coat of seam sealer or some sort of white paint. There's a load of grey paint that's covering the original floor and the vast number of surface spots... all of which is coming off!!



Still got to get into the ends of the troughs where the seam sealer is piled up and get the OG primer of in other areas... that stuff is well stuck!! I'm planning to get the rear arches and rear bulkhead stripped during the week with a view to painting it all in Rust Bullet next weekend. That'll be followed with L90D Rustoleum where visible; thresholds, pillars rear deck, etc...

And... Lazy Nicki is in action with her sewing machine trimming the door cards at the moment... which are looking great! She's putting me under the kosh so that I get the painting all done ready for these to go in. The bulk head panels will mainly be covered by furniture (prototype bay Devon Caravette stylee) so they don't have the insert...



But the rest do...



Amongst all of the hard work this weekend I've been pursuing my Olympic cycling dream... that is be inspired by the Olympics and start cycling regularly again. I got 10 miles in this morning (I will ache tomorrow) and while passing all the other overweight Olympic cyclists I remembered that part of my masterplan 4 or 5 years ago when I started saving for the van was that it would be the vehicle that would facilitate cycling and other adventures. So I decided that the day wouldn't be focused on stripping alone, so Lazy Nicki, Sunny, Landyn and I headed for the seafront, bought fish 'n' chips and sang songs (including this one)....

Dodgy - Staying Out for the Summer

 

I hope no one has been holding their breath!

Short version of events is that the period leading up to Christmas had me balancing two jobs, working 7 days a week and evenings to make sure the mortgage was paid on time, so Landyn took a bit of a back seat... however, the new year brought a little break in the cloud so Lazy Nicki and I have set aside some time to get on!

Going back a little in time I brushed some white Rustseal on the floor after the Rust Bullet bubbled! now have a decent coat in there that will be hidden by the flooring, even if it's a bit bumpy in places. As some of you know Rustseal is not UV stable and now doesn't look as white as this...



I've had some Rustoleum mixed up in L90D to paint the rear deck, door shuts & cab steps where visible. These relatively small areas are a bit of a test area to see how I get on with the Rustoleum. The gutters have some rust and staining peeking through as well as evidence of a nasty scrape on the roof coming through the 2 year old paint job, so thinking of repainting the white bits with the roller!

Talking of white bits...



VW Heritage came up trumps with the little plastic hinge pieces for the air vents, so they went in over Christmas. Had these powder coated with the tinwear last February! I've just noticed how well masked the white / blue line is in this photo!



As it has still been raining and Landyn lives on the street we've concentrated on the interior over Xmas. Nicki continued to stitch while I worked out how to get a flat panel around the filler neck! This was attempt 1...



...which i didn't like! Then I had a bright idea... this is my side of the bed and I am devoted to my fruity mobile device so it would need a little cushion to sleep on - maybe with a little power... So, reshaped the panel to for a flat top...



...glassed it up (there was more fibreglass, btw)...



..poked some wires in here....



...wrapped in vinyl...



...added a little shelf and wrapped the opposite side...



...and covered the shelf & fitted the usb connector!



Pretty happy with the outcome and it's a nice little custom trick that should blend well with all the panels in and the cushions in place! Here's a little sneak peak offered up into the van...



I've sanded and keyed most of the deck and the visible metal in the door opening so hope to get busy with the white paint at the weekend... or leave it to go rusty for three months cos I'm too busy!!

 

Love the phone charging station dude thats a very nice touch

Id imagine my teenage daughter would appreciate somthing like that in the poptop bed


Myself i like campsites with no signal lol

 

more nice touches with the trimming

 

Found my thread!! Bookmark, Bookmark!!

 

Been working....

We have all of the interior panels covered, yey!! Haven't got photo's of them all and will be waiting until the floors are finished being stripped and painted in the next month or so but here's a few tasters...

The arm rests proved to be a little trickier to cover than first thought. I tried foam under vinyl on the main body to start with, but it pulled unevenly in the corners - i tried a fold and they looked terrible...





So off that came!! Sanded the bases back a little to remove the glue and went for vinyl straight on the bases with a good warm stretch in the corners and they look much better...





And with a bit of sewing and modelling courtesy of the mrs we have completed door panels (and terrible doors)!



And about as close as I can get to a continuous run in my house...



This door panel needs the armrest screwing on properly, but you get the idea!!

Next we move onto the tombstones and the bed!!

 

Somehow missed this resto, nice interior trimming skills you've got, especially the phone shelf, charging point

 

Very nice cab door panels

 

Bought some more screws and got the second arm screwed up properly, which is an excuse for more gratuitous photo's!!





I've been avoiding the last job, which is to open the holes along the bottom edge to put the fixing screws in. Found some white caps this evening which will hopefully fit and cover nicely.... watch this space!!

 

Nice bit of trimming going on, looking good. Can I ask who mixed the rustoleum up for you, I'm going to use rustoleum but only been offered standard colours. Cheers.

 

Avenue Coatings... haven't tried my tin of blue yet to see how well it matches. The white is pretty good though!

http://www.tools-paint.com/combicol...colour-mixed-to-your-specification-2252-p.asp

http://www.tools-paint.com/combicol...colour-mixed-to-your-specification-7084-p.asp

 

Nice to see others using enamel paint

Remember guys when you think its dry give it another day at least
Enamel is a strange paint to work with but once you get used to it it can give fantastic results for a diy restorer

You dont need to with enamel but i like to etch prime bare steel before i use it

Do the first coat thinly and then after a few warm days give it a light flat back and key up with 400 grade wet n dry/red scotch pads
Wipe down with white spirits and apply the second coat a little thicker

If its an area thats not large or not often seen you can stop there

If its somthing thats going to get lots of attention like a detailed engine theres more stages

If your not as ocd as me and are happy with a few runs but a good protective coat of paint then tractor enamel is cheaper than hammerite,bonds better,spreads further and protects better

Oh and it shines a lot more so much so that the shine can distract from the lack of prep

 

Always interesting to see all the little adjustments in design, especially when done at home with home tools and conditions. For me it's far more interesting to watch than a top to bottom professional restoration with bags of money thrown at it.

 

Cheers, Sven... it's those little details that keep us awake at night!

Hopefully got a few more coming!

 

Cheers Para... I have just slapped on this coat without thinning!! it needs flatting down and a second coat in the unseen areas and a further top coat in the visible areas. Someone on here had a photo of their roof and gutters finished in Rustoleum with a nice deep shine, which is what I'd aim to get!