Here's my 79 devon that we have had for about 10 years. I have had a recon 1600 engine fitted 2 years ago and quite a bit of work done by a local restorer in the past. here's a few pics... I've had rear corners, battery trays and rear arches done... I had all jacking points and outriggers done. Plus o/s wheel arch and cab door. I have decided to give welding a go and i got set up with a Clarke 135te with pub gas. Here's some of my attempts so far... n/s seat belt point... before... During... After...
lovely looking bus doesnt look like it needs any more work .....but are they ever 'finished'? ;D have you got any other plans for it?
Thanks mate but i think the photo's don't tell the whole story really. Like I said we've had her for about ten years and i don't think i've crossed half the things off the list :. I've been getting bits done whenever finances have allowed and work just to get her through mot etc. I have never had the time or finances to strip down and do full resto I think this will allways be an on-going project ;D. bits still to sort out... lower section of the sliding door needs sorting. bottom of passenger door needs looking at. I have a drivers door waiting to go on(rust free import). rust bubbles around the bottom of the front panel. new front bumper GUTTERS on off-side are toast. Not sure how i'm going to tackle this. My local friendly restorer has a donor section/roof cut he could graft in for me but i think i'll be looking at at-least a grand for that. I might have a go, with my new found welding skills, at un-attaching the roof hinges and having a look under there and see if i can patch things up then get some gutter panels from JK or somewhere. need to do something before the roof falls off!! I've made a start on the drivers seat belt anchor... Just need to flatten back the welds etc then paint.
i've also been making a buddy seat here's some pics.... Materials required. -- 2 meters of 20mm box section steel. -- 30mm x 3mm flat strip steel x 1 meter length. -- 4 M6 x 50mm bolts with nylon insert nuts and washers. -- 20x20mm box section end caps. I started off making the seat base. I cut the box section to the required length then clamped it down on a workbench. Using burning gear i heated the bar at the corners until it was glowing bright orange then bent it around some round bar that i also had clamped down on the bench. I was hoping that the bar would bend without cracking so i was taking it easy when bending. unfortunately cracks appeared on both corners so i had to weld them up... Next was the legs... Drilled at the end 6.5mm to allow clearance for M6 bolts. Next was the bracket to attach the seat to the bulkhead in my van... I drilled the bolt holes and ground a radius onto the ends before bending it to shape... Seat base drilled..... Total cost so far £2.69 for plastic end caps from ebay. The steel was all off-cuts i found at work. (my motto..."why buy when the company supplies?") Leg support/brace..... I ground the surface back to nice shiny metal, measured up then clamped and tacked..... Then welded.... Not the neatest welds I've ever done but should be strong enough and look ok when its painted. Drilled and counter-sunk holes for fixing seat base.... Clamped the seat base down and fixed with wood screws.... (Wood from aahhhhummm Work!) with seat base in place i could start forming the radius corners.... Drilled and counter-sunk holes for fixing bracket.... Then i made some lugs to stop the legs swinging too far when sitting on the seat.... om/albums/ww302/smoggyrich/100_1887.jpg" alt="" /> Lugs lined up and clamped down... Tacked... Welded... Again not the neatest welds but should look ok when painted. My end caps arrived so i had a look to see if they fit. Look ok... Fitted bracket using M6 counter-sink bolts... Then had a trial fit... Cut the seat base to size and sanded all smooth... I've made some cut-outs with my router to give clearance for the tops of the legs as it folds... I was thinking about getting the frame Powder Coated. How much would something like this cost? I might look in to it if the price is right.
Billingham your not all that far from me in the bigger picture dude Van looks nice and im loving your diy approach
Well thats not far at all. It's a nice place Northallerton we often have drive out there, nice little market town. Do you know Richie from Dub werks in Skelton? He's the guy who has being doing the work for me. He's a cool guy and knocks out some excellent work. 8)
Bit of an update. I have my MOT coming up in the next couple of weeks so i've been getting things sorted that i Knew would fail.... Finished off drivers seat-belt mount.... Then wanted/needed a 3 point seat-belt in the rear to accommodate the sproggs car chair. I purchased a seat-belt off JK a couple of weeks ago and went to fit it thinking it would be a 2 minute job. Not quite, I lifted the r&r bed only to find the bed frame is fitted into the factory anchor point and on futher inspection found the area around the anchor point was rotten. So out came the grinder.... New anchor plate made up and welded into place.... Nice new seat-belt fitted.... So I think i'm ready (touch wood) for MOT. So everything crossed i should be camping in the van at 'Mighty Dub Fest', in a couple of weeks time, and not in my tent! :-
Passed with no advisories!!! I showed the guy from the test centre some photos of my welding and he checked it over and said he was impressed. He said that's the beauty of doing it yourself you can take your time and do a good job of it!
awesome mate!! its a great thing when such a 'mature' vehicle breezes through a modern day health check. Suggests somethings been done right..
