Viking Restoration, Blood, Sweat, Tears, Tragik

vinnyboy · Nov 30, 2012

You are doing the job right first time. Keep at it and happy times ahead. K for the winter nights.

Kruger · Dec 10, 2012

You are doing the job right first time. Keep at it and happy times ahead. K for the winter nights.

Cheers vinny, theres still loads of bits on the van I'm not 100% happy with, but its been a balancing act of buying new panels against repairing, and sometimes replacing would have been the better option, given the effort sometimes involved, (or the best option is to buy a US bus to start with!)

Been working on the van over the weekend, but didnt take any photos (I'll take some tomorrow)

Tested the fuel tank for leaks by plugging the openings, sticking an airline in and then, spraying soapy water over the suspect areas on the bottom, all good so thats been given a coat of epoxy primer to help halt any further deterioration.

Finished the tinware/side panel repairs and all the welding/grinding/welding/grinding in the engine bay that goes with it, also remade and cut in the joining [glow=red,2,300]flange[/glow] that mates the tinwear side panel to the battery tray, as it was overworked, overwelded, overgrinded and wafer thin, The end is in sight just a small amount of filler needed on the tops of the legs/side panels to smoothen over some of the repairs/distortion.

Then used some wire brush cups which are on offer at Lidls 2 for £4. to clean up all under the fuel tank platform, and inside the rear wheel arches/battery trays as moisture had gotten in behind the red oxide primer/sealer I had painted in there about 2 years ago and started to rust the tubs again :

Sprayed a light coat of acid etch all over the areas above and then the waterproof 2k epoxy based primer I'm using, which will hopefully hold off the rust for a good while, I've got a few seams to seal with seam sealer before applying the final grey stoneguard/gravitex.

Got the bushes to refurb the gear linkage today, ordered 4 although only 3 are required, a couple look very similar and I dont want to get held up anymore, as I'll be swapping them all out whilst the gearbox is out.

On a !@*#tier note, I set fire to a part of the wiring loom tucked up on the leg where the starter wires appear, hopefully its just the outer sheathing that caught as it seems pretty tough, but it looks like I'll be taking the loom out now to check/repair/overhaul - or throw put on the scrap pile.

Anyone know....Does the rear loom need to be removed directly from the fusebox under the dash??
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Diddymen · Dec 12, 2012

if yours is pretty much standard, then the loom is in 2 parts - the cab loom behind the dash and the main loom which runs from the fuse box all the way to the back......although there are a couple of variations and you may have a short loom between the battery/engine bay and starter motor

......so you may have to remove it from the fuse box if its that badly damaged

Kruger · Dec 12, 2012

if yours is pretty much standard, then the loom is in 2 parts - the cab loom behind the dash and the main loom which runs from the fuse box all the way to the back......although there are a couple of variations and you may have a short loom between the battery/engine bay and starter motor

......so you may have to remove it from the fuse box if its that badly damaged

Cheers Dale, was thinking it was going to be a pain in the arse, mine seems to be all 1 loom in the rear, and I've got a funny feeling I'm going to end up spending loads more money and buying a new loom once its removed, after I've condemed it!
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Diddymen · Dec 13, 2012

theres no reason why you couldnt pull it back a little, carry out repairs and reinstall it

if you splice in new wires where needed (and do it correctly - not scotch locks! ;D) you shouldnt have any problems

Kruger · Dec 18, 2012

theres no reason why you couldnt pull it back a little, carry out repairs and reinstall it

if you splice in new wires where needed (and do it correctly - not scotch locks! ;D) you shouldnt have any problems

Hopefully thats the plan, but as you've also found, most apparently small jobs on these vans turn into 3 day headaches!

Just a couple of photos to add as havent done alot on it in the lastweek, heres the repairs just covered in aerosol etch and epoxy primer.

Heres the truth of that panel, a bit too patchwork for my liking but most people who take a peek will not notice.

All welding in the engine bay done, just a few bits to tidy up with filler and sealer before prepping for paint,

Wheels have been sandblasted and 2k primed

Paint has been ordered, as I'm hoping to get the engine bay painted, fuel tank etc and engine back in and running over the Christmas break, aswell as epoxy priming and stoneguarding the underside.

Will be giving all the tinwear a tidy/paint and repair where necessary as also found this crusty/missing bit on the edge of the rear tin earlier on, its directly below the tinwear [glow=red,2,300][glow=red,2,300]flange[/glow][/glow] on the body which also needed repair.

Depending on time I'd like to get the inside of the van sealed and painted in white. :

Still got plenty to get on with before paint I think, hopefully it'll warm up before then aswell!
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Diddymen · Dec 19, 2012

thats looking good

I've got my fingers crossed that you get all the bits done you were hoping to do over Christmas........I'm usually lucky if I can get half the list of things done on a break from work!!!

K+ for a fellow SMG member ;D

Kruger · Jan 12, 2013

thats looking good

I've got my fingers crossed that you get all the bits done you were hoping to do over Christmas........I'm usually lucky if I can get half the list of things done on a break from work!!!

K+ for a fellow SMG member ;D

As expected, the plans for rapid progress over the Christmas break didnt materialise, but I got a few bits done, mastic primed the underside from the rear beam back, but have still got to stoneguard it all,

The rest I can use some poor photos to illustrate....... ;D

Primed the tank bulkhead panel,

As with teveryone else recently, the fuel tank got done in mastic primer, as did the wall :

I wanted to get some paint in the engine bay, but having had it mixed up to the manu[glow=red,2,300]FACT[/glow]urer paint code and the paint in the tin looking nothing like I envisaged I lost interest as I knew I wouldnt be able to get paint mixed over the Christmas break.

So spent a cold day pulling out the wiring loom and sitting about patching a few repair joins in where I'd previously set fire to it, where it sits up behind the starter motor, luckily the outer pvc sheathing had taken the brunt of the damage, but a couple of new solder joins to be sure and a rewrapping of the tatty bits of the loom will be sufficient as it seems in good order. Also bought a new battery to starter cable as the old one was showing signs of age, but I'm hoping its not too short as its about 5cm shorter than the original, and I've also got to put some black heatshrink on it as its only supplied in red :

Also sorted a new loom conduit for underneath the bus, a bit of pvc 25mm conduit from B&Q for less than £3 - a genuine bargain for this project!

Not anywhere near as detailed as Diddys walkthrough ;D but this one poor photo sort of shows that I replaced all the bushes and boots on the gear linkage, and also changed the coupling bushes for the red polyeurathane 1's from Empi, (pictured with another bay linkage for comparison, it was meant to be used on a friends bus, but I've no idea what its from, (it has an extra join at the gearbox end, maybe prototype?))

Now to the paint mixing, colours through a camera and pc never represent too well, but I was after Sea Blue L360 which is a beetle/Split colour, and seems to have 2 main variants - but varies massively between years and paint manufacturers. :

1st mixed effort, too green... but looks quite blue in this picture!

Not having any old panels to match the paint to, I had to go to the paint shop and pick a blue I thought was close, as pictured in the middle sprayout card, then I cooked up a new mix by adding this to the original paint supplied, and then added some white aswell, to get the blue/green on the left card - and also what I've painted onto the main squashed up thinners drum below it, I'm happy with it now and I think it resembles the Sea Blue colour I was after.

Up close under the kitchen light at home it looks more green, middle sprayout card in both pics.

I'm lead to believe this happens alot when you paint your bus this colour..... 8)

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Barneyrubble · Jan 12, 2013

thats looking good

I've got my fingers crossed that you get all the bits done you were hoping to do over Christmas........I'm usually lucky if I can get half the list of things done on a break from work!!!

K+ for a fellow SMG member ;D

As expected, the plans for rapid progress over the Christmas break didnt materialise, but I got a few bits done, mastic primed the underside from the rear beam back, but have still got to stoneguard it all,

The rest I can use some poor photos to illustrate....... ;D

Primed the tank bulkhead panel,

As with teveryone else recently, the fuel tank got done in mastic primer, as did the wall :

I wanted to get some paint in the engine bay, but having had it mixed up to the manu[glow=red,2,300]FACT[/glow]urer paint code and the paint in the tin looking nothing like I envisaged I lost interest as I knew I wouldnt be able to get paint mixed over the Christmas break.

So spent a cold day pulling out the wiring loom and sitting about patching a few repair joins in where I'd previously set fire to it, where it sits up behind the starter motor, luckily the outer pvc sheathing had taken the brunt of the damage, but a couple of new solder joins to be sure and a rewrapping of the tatty bits of the loom will be sufficient as it seems in good order. Also bought a new battery to starter cable as the old one was showing signs of age, but I'm hoping its not too short as its about 5cm shorter than the original, and I've also got to put some black heatshrink on it as its only supplied in red :

Also sorted a new loom conduit for underneath the bus, a bit of pvc 25mm conduit from B&Q for less than £3 - a genuine bargain for this project!

Not anywhere near as detailed as Diddys walkthrough ;D but this one poor photo sort of shows that I replaced all the bushes and boots on the gear linkage, and also changed the coupling bushes for the red polyeurathane1's from Empi, (pictured with another bay linkage for comparison, it was meant to be used on a friends bus, but I've no idea what its from, (it has an extra join at the gearbox end, maybe prototype?))

Now to the paint mixing, colours through a camera and pc never represent too well, but I was after Sea Blue L360 which is a beetle/Split colour,

1st mixed effort, too green... but looks quite blue in this picture!

Not having any old panels to match the paint to I went to the paint and picked a blue I thought was close, pictured in the middle sprayout card, then I cooked up a new mix by adding this to the original paint supplied, and then added some white aswell, to get the blue/green on the left card - and also what I've painted onto the main squashed up thinners drum below it, I'm happy with it now and I think it resembles the Sea Blue colour I was after.

Up close under the kitchen light at home it looks more green, middle sprayout in both pics.

Look what happens when you paint your bus this colour..... 8)

yes well im thinking maybe i could stretch to a respray nice work as usual and nice research 8)
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Terrordales · Jan 12, 2013

Will you get those people out of the way I can't see the bus

The van is looking good

dog · Jan 12, 2013

looking awesome matey, think i'm going to end up pulling my fuel tank, with the amount of rust on my bus there has to be some there too!
keep it up buddy

Diddymen · Jan 14, 2013

looks like good progress to me

looking at that last pic I think I might have sprayed mine in the wrong colour ;D

I've just fitted a red poly coupling to my gear linkage ......only time will tell if they are any good lol!, I also modified the fixing as I didnt like the big self tapping screw through the tube

your bus is comming along nicely

Kruger · Jan 16, 2013

Thanks for the comments guys,

I've just fitted a red poly coupling to my gear linkage ......only time will tell if they are any good lol!, I also modified the fixing as I didnt like the big self tapping screw through the tube

I'm not 100% convinced on the quality of the pu bushes, but how bad can they be?, I also retained the original cage they sit in, but cant remember what pin and screw I used to tighten it up, aside though theres alot less play at that point so I'll only know when its reinstalled if its any good.

Despite the cold weather I've had my thermals on and been in the workshop, abandoned the bodywork for the time being as could not be bothered to get the bus out from the barn it lives in, but theres always plenty of other bits to be getting on with.

Stripped the engine down for a cleanup and to strip the tinware, cleaned up nice with only a wire brush and some degreaser.

Need to sort a thermostat bracket I think, as the engine is not fitted with one at the moment., but need to do some reading as to the pros/cons of them being fitted.

Rear tin lower corner repaired, a poor pic and it doesnt show theres a whole new plate underneath, still to dress the welds down, but as I've run out of sanding belts it can wait, welding rusty tin is fiddly hence the blobby welds! and as these bits are near impossible to get - its a case of a making do and mend.

Derusting the tinware 'Diddy Style' using the electrolysis method, its cheap and non abrasive and probably the best option as the tin is delicate enough and I dont want to shotblast it to bits! Probably be done in another 6 hours or so.

Not sure whether to paint the block at the moment as it look cleanish at the moment without any oil leaks, I'm hoping a fresh up of the tinware will be all thats needed.

Also 1 quick question, Can somebody identify this? Have I got an alternator (it looks like 1) or this a dynamo?

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vinnyboy · Jan 16, 2013

Alternator 8)

Kruger · Jan 19, 2013

Cheers Vinny,

A small update, as not alot has been done because its been too cold,

The barn my van is kept has more holes than I thought and the snow has been blown in everywhere

The electrolysis of rust continues, and I've cleaned up and etched the smaller bits of tin, found you really need to leave it 24 hours to really dislodge the rust and old paint. The rust and paint gunge brushes off easily after with a wire brush.

Rear tin, opposite side in.

Front tin, I'd previously repaired it by plating from behind, a small bit to redo on the left side as wasnt happy with it.

madpad · Jan 19, 2013

Good work going on there mate well done.
Looking at your bottles in front of your toolbox,
looks like you used the same smmoth stone chip as me

Kruger · Jan 19, 2013

Good work going on there mate well done.
Looking at your bottles in front of your toolbox,
looks like you used the same smmoth stone chip as me

Upol, Gravitex, despite being ready for stonechipping I havent put any on yet, and with 6 litres I'm not sure if I've got enough to do the underside either!
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madpad · Jan 19, 2013

I only used 2 litres

daisy1 · Jan 19, 2013

Electrolysis rocks! Well I think it does :/

paradox · Jan 20, 2013

Looking forward to seeing the finished tinware dude ill be staring on mine soon

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