Hi I put the script badge on mine, I wiggled and snapped the pins off the back and use double sided number plate tape to stick it on. Trim the tape well and it can't be seen. Nice bus by the way Al
The surface rust on my bulkhead was getting on my tits, so today I decided to tackle it: This is how it looked v v v v v v v And after sanding it down, masking up, and priming it I laid on the white again. It amazed me how yellow the other white paint around it has gone! I then turned my attention to the front. Took out seats and removed the rubber mats to see over 30 years of glue residue but thankfully no serious rust. Spend quite a few hours stripping back all the glue to find (mostly) shiny metal underneath. v v v v v I still have to sand down the surface rust, prime and respray. Also have to do the other bulkhead half as it's tricky to get at due to my interior. Then, I'll turn my attention to the cab floor. An air compressor is on the wish list. I'm flying through aerosols!
Just a small update for now..... I decided it was time to tackle the brakes. I'm glad I did now. Both rear cylinders were leaking and the shoes were due a change. The fronts also needed pads. So today Christmas came early and a load of goodies arrived. Just need to find some time to fit everything now.
Recently I got a call from a mate who said he had just been speaking to someone who also had an old RTE tv van. I had thought mine was the only one. He got an e-mail address for me and I've just received an e-mail back from the owner. The van is VERY different and is missing many of the RTE bits which mine has. It only has one roof scoop and this is the only feature which tells me it's an RTE bay. Apparently his was a back-up van and was usually garaged until one of the main fleet broke down or was in for mods or repairs. This may explain why there aren't the same type of mods as my own. A VW mechanic in Dublin told him that he remembered working on his van as an apprentice mechanic and that he remembered it entering private hands in the early 90's. Both of our vans are 79's and mine was sold by RTE in 93 so I'm guessing they may have been both bought and sold at the same times. His doesn't have the original log book anymore though to confirm this He also remembers another van around a few years ago and believed it was an RTE bus too. It's quite possible that it was mine as my log book shows 3 owners in the Dublin area since 93. Below are some pics of his van "Julie" His has a sunroof which wasn't by RTE and he put in the louvre windows himself. He believes the bench seat was put in by RTE but it looks strange as it blocks the walkthrough. Unfortunately none of the original interior was in his either when found. It's a rolling resto so we're going to try to meet up over the summer to compare vans................
you have yourself an amazing bus there man!! love what you've done with the interior, and massively love the colour! the fibreglass is definitely interesting, its nice to the buses with unusual backgrounds and histories keep up the good work fella
Could be a bit of RTE History in the near future, owing to the fact that Analogue has been switched off ! (From a Former Clare Man )
While updating this thread recently I came across a few pics on my laptop that I had mis-filed and forgotten about. I realised I never posted them before. The first 2 show the van in it's original colour while the second 2 show it in a different paint scheme a while later and it's previous restoration.
So, an indoor Irish show called Barn, bugs and Wags around Halloween was my last action of the year. Just as I was leaving for it I noticed an issue with the serpentine pulley. The tension pulley was loose. I had replaced the bearings a few months earlier but now the circlip had dug into its lip and it wasn't seated right. As I was Djing I HAD to make it so I threw a few washers in behind it and set off hoping for the best. Somehow it got me there (and even home again). The battery light kept coming on and as I caught a serious cold from lack of heat in the van on the way home I promised to show it some love over the winter. The first thing was to loose the serpentine pulley. If you look closely you can see the metal shavings on the tinware from the circlip eating its lip. I went back stock initially but then a mate told me he could do up a pulley on a lathe for me. The one on the right is buggered. The left is absolute spot on The next job was to sort out my heating. I had an Empi 4 tip exhaust on it which sounded great but didn't have those heater boxes at the manifold. I had no choice but to go back stock. I had a stock exhaustsitting up in the loft. This was rusty and had a missing tail pipe so this was my next mini project. I ordered a few bits from a local dealer. ...........and started grinding back to bare metal............ .........with a lick of high temp paint Job done? Nah, That'd be too easy.........
So what that was in the red bag a few pics back was a gearbox shaft seal. The gearbox had been leaking quite bad This SHOULD have been an easy fix but the old seal just would not come out. I eventually had no choice but to remove the box. First, out came the engine (once again ) .......and then the gearbox Both of these are currently still on the workbench and I'm back outside after this cuppa I have decided to do a dynamo to alternator conversion while I have the chance. I have all the parts to to this but hopefully the wiring won't catch me.
Next up was some attitude.............. I rang a VW breaker/mate and asked him if he'd have a beam. Myself and another mate headed down early one morning and wrestled a beam from a rotten danbury We eventually got it home after MANY cups of tea I stripped it down and bare metalled that too. I then repainted it. Ooh, shiny! This is currently with some magical wizards having adjusters welded into it. I may opt for dropped spindles in a few years instead/also The goal date is for mid-late Feb but I honestly know if I'll have enough time before then. Fingers crossed!!! So this is how it stands in the garage as of right now with 2 engines and 1 gearbox on the bench with another box (backup) upturned on the floor.
