Paras bus resto

Hence the wierd hours and short notice. Not really fair for a family person.
Bus'll be done for next summer though.

 

Yup it will be on the road next summer thats for sure

I went to collect my suspension arms and ball joints today to find the garage couldent do them

Three engineering workshops later i found a guy who was actually willing to take a look at them
He decided he couldent do them untill i explained to him how zed had showed me to grind the lip off the old balljoint
So hes doing them for me but at a starting price of £50
I wish id gone the cool air exhange route now

 

You should have prepared them yourself!

It's quite a faff to do without damaging the arms, so £50 not too bad really. Otherwise you need a collar that just supports in the tab gaps and can take 20 tons. Not something most garages have.

 

I was going to grind the collars off and stick the ends of the arms in the fire untill just turning red
Then bash the balljoints out over a piece of old steel tube i have but i was worried about the garage pressing them in upside down

Looking back now i should have done that and pressed the new ones in with the farms log splitter on the tractor

 

There's a utube of someone welding round inside the joint to heat it, then running under a cold tap and the joint falls out.

 

sounds the same as we done fitting new ring gear on a willys jeep , the ring gear came i said its to small , the mate said watch and learn he heated the ring gear on the box untill red hot it fell of, he done the same on the new one and i fell into place he then poured cold water on it compressed into place and shape owen nw

 

You have to do the same to get one of the bearings on a camper crankshaft - warm a cog in the oven then push it on quick before the crank cools it. Great fun.

 

The few small holes have been welded up and all the underside of the cab area has been waxoyled
The beams back on the bus at last

 

Soon be on its wheels.

 

great work mate, looking good

 

Good work.

 

Cheers for the positive comments people

As the dark nights are drawing in and the weather has turned for the worse ive decided to concentrate on the mechanical parts i can bring indoors to do on the dining table

Ive started stripping and prepping for paint all the individual bits from underneath the front end of the bus

Ive completed one spidle and the clutch pedal mechanism and arm and pedal

The start of the spindle as taken of the bus



In etch primer ready for three coats of tractor enamel with flatting inbetween coats

 

The clutch pedal,mechanism and arm finished i didnt take any pictures of this before but it was pretty grotty



The anti roll bar



The steering arm

 

Wow looking good mate!! I wish I had the eye for detail llike that! My theory if you carnt see it stood next to the van dont worry about it! :-[ :-[


You are aware its not a harrier?? ;D

 

Cheers trev

I wish i could do the if i cant see it it doesent matter mentality

At least doing it this way ill get to know every part of the bus and it will make it easier to work on in the future

 

Cheers malc

Yup i must admit im a little ocd when it comes to the details

Although unlike other vehicles ive built ive gone for black paint on the parts instead coloured paint as i dont want to be underneath this one cleaning it every week

The engine will be done in colour though and be very detailed

 

I've just painted all my under cab floor beams/top-hats/chassis Red prior to fitting the cargo floor when I'll have to do some again. That way if I decide to underseal it'll be obvious where I've done.

One you start cleaning and painting everything like that Para, you're really saying "this will never be finished" aren't you? I do clean stuff that comes off in the normal course of events, but I wouldn't take bits off just to clean them. Looking good though I have to say.

BTW it's not cold or dark yet you wimp. Get out there while there's still time!

 

It will be finished dude and to a good standard
Ive found my passion for the bus once again and working on her of late has been a pleasure instead of a chore
If i keep going on her through winter she will be spot on underneath and mechanically and on the road by spring
I will then be able to concentrate on sorting the body to a good standard during the warmer weather