Blue to tango resto

Only used quarter of a can - seems a waste -


Been peeing down today - caught our cats taking shelter in the van


I think they like being close to me - they probably think the van smells like me

 

Been using the Hair dryer on low for about an hour (as per instructions) to help as its probably a bit too cold and damp today...


It's a bit lumpy on the central baffle - that is the only flaw I can see with my torch


Thru the top fuel sender hole

Still a little tacky but seems to have adhered well and a good coat everywhere

 

Nice work mate luckily my tank had no rust in side only a hole on the top of the tank , I filled mine with water and welded it up then cleaned it out and dried it out

 

Cheers I knew I'd seen someone on here weld one up - everytime I cleaned it up it would get a little surface flash of rust
I am sure it wasn't that rusty when I first looked at it

 

Luck of the draw mate is that sealant any good then .
Thought about sealing mine but just put it back for now

 

Yep it's good really nice now it's dry - but the prep is a pain

 

Might be worth doing after I've had in on the road for a bit , right now I just want mine to go

 

Ok finally another burst of activity - bare metal'd the tank ready for some fe123



Here's close up of where I had to weld a repair

Pretty pitted but will be fine after fe123 & epoxy mastic

The dark spots are were the fe123 is reacting with the rust / metal:



Here something else I was fe123ing you can really see the reaction


To finish a mist of galvo spray until I am ready to epoxy mastic spray


Also needed to renew these boots for the drag link arms - perished

All done!

 

Where did you get the new drag link boots from?

 

Nice day today so decided it was epoxy mastic spray time.
Needed to spray the tank - the front pedal belly pan - and a final coat underneath the bus where the front beam sits (so I can put it back on)

Here's the tank as it drys




The belly pan:



Going to get some pics later of the underside....

 

Some pics of the underneath

Front ready arches ready for beam-



Rear arch area-




Looking very nice

 

Looking very clean and tidy

 

A couple of before and afters....

The fuel tank :-



The rear beam :-




The rear arch :-

 

Thats a horrible job to do but well worth the effort in my opinion

 

I think it was Jk I'll dig thru the receipts and let you know

 

Another day on the bus today

Made up some templates

Cut them out they will need more shaping...


Gives me something to do in those odd moments where the sun shines and wind don't blow

Them hoiked the beam into position..


Cleaned up the bolts - wire brush and splash of galvo spray-



Loads of copper grease to ease ..


First I tried using just the jack but it was too hard to juggle it all on my own, so I used the ATV lift to get it into position and the jack to take it the last few inches...


Of course doing I once would be just to easy - first time i forgot to attach the steering arm so I had to drop it a little bit and pop the arm in place -


Hurrah the beam is back



It's a little battle scarred - so I'll need to touch up with a big brush

Now I can move the axle stands put the front jacking points - build up the beam - put the wheel on ahhhh

 

amazing how much a bit of paint trans forms a van keep up the excellent WORK , owen nw

 

Couple of hours to spare so got back on the bus

Delivery of new hockey stick ball thingie comparison of old and new



This is a better close up of the damage to the hockey stick


Gonna go with the stick and new ball the ball feels nice and tight on the end


Clean up the last few bits for the steering knuckles -


Sun is shining so onto the steering knuckles, drag link arms, anti roll bar fitted -


Cleaned up the hubs the races looked good so tidied up ready to go.
Slipped some black enamel paint on the grease caps and decided to do the same to the brake splash guards as they do look very porous
Tidied up the discs too as they looked a little crusty round the edges... Then done for the day ...

 

Carried on building up the beam today... Added the steering damper, disk splash guard, hubs, grease caps... Only pic though is mid way -


In between I started on the brake hard lines -

Got this from VWH copper nickel for a good price so figured it was a safe bet
Removed the old ones where they hadn't seized on - and shaped the new ones.. Still need to fit the on, a few things held me up...
Months ago I bought the flexi pipes ... Came to use them and they didn't match at all ... Some how I'd ordered the prototype bay ones
So I guess I better order the right ones this time also noticed that my brake return spring is broke better add that to the list too

Then I decided to take the brake regulator off for a little clean - I couldn't face putting nice new pipes on something that crusty -


After a wire brush, splash of fe123 and galvo spray -


Much better...

 

Where did you get the hockey stick ball from dude and how much was it?