start of my restoration (now called noah ?)

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by mrlhayes, May 27, 2012.

  1. few photos .. come to the end of the strip down after approx 2 months
    suspect things will now slow up ? and I will need this forum for help as I try to put the bus back together ?

    rolling shell going away (garage too small and too much dust !!!) but promised my self I won't start on the engine till I get the shell away ...

    bus is US west 78 .. looks better that its is (has a tart up respray in the states but structurally very sound base apart form a few places battery tray ..)

    Wife does not like the westy interior so some negotiation to be had (green & yellow plaid definitely of limits but trying to hang onto the units)


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  2. :)
     
  3. Upload the pictures to something like photobucket and then copy the IMG links :)
     
  4. thanks for the photo tip (bit dumb should have thought to search but its late (thats my excuse ?)

    ALL things are easy when you know how !! :))
     
  5. Welcome fellow Westy owner. Looks like a solid bus to start with.. Respraying original colours or?

    Will follow this with interest.

    Welcome. O0
     
  6. good luck dude

    it doesent look all that bad of a bus to be honest
     
  7. semi original ? dakota beige original with a white top ?
    unless I get inspired at stoner ?
     
  8. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    Welcome aboard buddy, look like you got a sound base bus, good luck!
     
  9. started with some small jobs (trying to avoid diving in and cutting a big hole in my bus in the wrong place !)
    fiberglass the corner of the broken pop top ... feels nice & strong
    cut out all the rusty panels (
    cleaned gearbox and new seals & CV joints all round ... (what a job getting drive flange seals out !)

    for the new battery tray and new lower rear offside body corner ? seam or spot ? (spot I assume because its simpler !!)
    cannot see the old spot welds ? (must be going blind ?) just dive in with grinder and make a lot of dust ?

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  10. been away with work a week so some catching up to do .. good session with the grinder .. battery tray , rear valance & offside corner all fitted .plus some bits where corroded under the rear side window . just need to learn to mig weld now ?

    what best for cutting small fiddly jobs ? dremel I assume ??? My grinder is too big to cut out the posts at the bottom where they are rusty ?

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  11. bit more faffing small parts that need welding but no more major bits unearthed ... had a paint strip experiment with the tail gate .. one disk consumed ? are there better discs out there ? based on this would need about 10 to do the whole bus ! picked up a second hand gas mig welder on ebay .. lets see if it works ?


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  12. Nice work
     
  13. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    You'll learn to preserve those discs. I can do 3-4 doors with one. I can do a rear arch panel and hardly wear one. It's the edges and lock holes etc that do for them. Still cheaper, better and quicker than anything else.
     
  14. bare metalled the front and got the dent puller into action .. wheel boss dropped also..
    the numpty who fitted the wheel boss cut thru the outer panel AND the heater box ...
    made some square washers and pulled thru with garden wire & some magic metal putty to seal of the heater box
    seems to have worked ...

    gas arrived for the mig so had a practice on some scrap (too ashamed to show the photos but making progress ..)

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  15. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I don't think you can fit the rivnuts for the carrier without drilling through the airbox. :(
     
  16. abandoned my attempts at mig welding, can get a good clean run on a scrap piece off the bus but goes to rat s*** on the bus / (rusty metal poor earth ?) ran out of gas so decided to make progress with something more simple !

    one weekend a lot of dust and 8 strip discs later the bulk (IE the easy bits ?) of the external is bare metalled. No horror stories unearthed in the process apart from a few dents but no rust ... need to go back and tidy up but feel like progress... :)

    whats the best solution for the seams and fiddly bits ?

    A/ dremel with sanding wheels
    B/flap sanders ?
    C/ paint stripper ? (any recommendations ?)

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  17. That looks like a good solid base to begin with, I use a wire brush on a drill to get the paint off in the nooks and crannys, you can get all sorts of sizes.
     
  18. got bored of practicing my mig off the bus (and ran out of scrap !) so started on the bus (also needed a break from sanding back to bare metal ...) ... not very tidy ! but only blew one hole ... plug welding seems a bit more under control (although struggle to get the whole hole filled ..)

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  19. paint stripped a few fiddly bits as part of final bare metal job ? (perhaps ?) & filled the dents on the bottom nearside.. thought I would do some small areas before I tackled the nose ?

    plus stripped the passenger side seat and footwell ...

    based on how much filling I have done I have either a relatively dent free bus ? (which was the objective !) or my eye sight is so poor I cannot see them ..?? Trying to keep the areas filled to the absolute minimum ?

    lets see what the sprayer says ?


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