Bare with the long post as i've coppied and pasted it all from A N Other... The posts Start from April up to presentish day/ We've had buddy our late type 2 bay for 12 months this month, when we bought him we got him alot cheaper than most for sale at the time as the sellers had seemingly genuine resaons for a 'quick sale' We traveled doen to Gloucester to see him and bought hime there and then off a nice 'older' couple. 15 mins down the motorway and the engine let go and the the front brakes seized on :fury: After getting him home i set about investigating the engine and brakes, an engine rebuild, recon calipers and all new brakes drums etc on the rear and £1000 lighter for the trouble (all jobs done by myself i might add, i fix wagons for a living) and we had a mechanically sound van which flew through mot with no advisories and we did a few shows stop overs last year. Body work side of things the paint seemed a little thin on the body and you can see the primer through it, so, last week i decided to go over the body with a fine tooth comb and took him off the road, a call to Alan schofield ( a friend o fthe father in law 8) ) and i took delivery of all the repair panels i need and also every single rubber seal needed for when i build him back up I decided to attack the interior the other night and this is how it looked before... The van when we got him had some mondeo seats in him, i managed to source a pair at a show and had wodge retrim them ages ago so they'll be going in on the rebuild. Behind the passenger seat i found the origional devon conversion sticker Interior all stripped out and was suprised to see kingspan insulation behind all the panels. Thats progress so far, gonna take the dash and loomage out and then onto the exterior. Today i tackled removing the dash and all associated parts in the cab area, including the badly fitted mondeo seat on the drivers side. I took the dash out and i must say these bags are a god send for keeping everything labled up and together for when your putting it back together. Once the dash was out and everything in loom labled and all the screws and bolts were bagged and tagged i was horrified to see what a bodge job had been done behind the dash, i was faced with this.... />I'm going to make a call tomorrow and get a new inner front panel orderd up i think. If your gonna do a job, do it proper i say. They have also replaced to top section of the front panel and tacked it all into place with little strops, the rest of it on the outside is just filler. As well as removing the dash and sorting the loom out i have also removed a homemade headliner out of carpet and fibre board, More updates as i plod on. The van when we bought it looked ok and i thought it just needed tidying up cosmetically a little, everything i have gone to has either been bodged together, the engine was the best one with all the tappets tightened right up and the heads loose :fury: As i dig deeper i can see the van might need a pair of tubs too as they have been drilled an bodged too many times and have started to 'tear' along the seams. I had a chat with my boss today about my van and he has said i can use the workshop at work, i fix wagons for a living, to do all my welding in there :mrgreen: Hey ho, the show must go on as they say. More updates as i plod on Inbetween the good weather and waiting for my wife to 'pop' i've been doing little bits to buddy. I'll let the pics do the talking. Engine removed. Engine bay, a little tidying up is needed but overall not too bad. A battery tray off a corsa to hold my other battery in. A bodge it and scarper repair the where the spare wheel used to be. Someone has replaced both lower corner sections at some piont in it's life and not very well on the drivers side, under the light was full of silicone because it hasn't been put in right. grrrrrrr And the best things in the world for removing an engine And finally my first delivery of genuine panels from Alan schofield. Plus inner and outer sills both sides and ALL new window rubbers. Thats it so far. A little update from this weekend, i've not been home for the last 4 days apart to sleep. OMG!!! What have i done, hope i can put ti back together again!!! > PHEW! On with removing the rusty front arches....My mate seemed to have a little too much fun with this part... And the passenger side too. Passenger side all welded in and treated with primer. Seats that wodge retrimmed ages ago were used to mock up the seat runners and then they were welded into place. The drivers side would of been completed too but the genuine arch piece i got was twisted and would line up in a month of sundays, a call tmorrow and i should have another new one the way to me. The van still needs the sills, rear corners and rear valance, i'll order thwem up tomorrow too and then hope fully i can hit it hard in a month or so and finish the welding and give it to my painter who's waiting for it. Thats all for now folks. Another update from me, as per usual i'll let the pics do the talking. New cab floor pans from Alan Schofields Passenger foot well, i suppose i could of patched it but i would never of been truly happy with it, so i cut it out.. New piece mocked in place and all holes drilled ready for plug welding it in. Notice the BIG magnet holding the panels together for me. All in and etched primed to just seal it up for now. I also refitted the dash because i need to weld the brackets onto the inner windscreen panel to hold the top section in place. the dash has been flatted off and the origional speaker holes welded up. A pair of genuine hella lamps from Alan schofield too, the insides were treated to some chrome spray to brighten up the lamps a little. Thats it for now, the passenger side is 99% done and then i'll move onto building the drivers side up with new panels too/> Right, i was in work for 6.00am this morning and was aiming at finishing the cab area... Here we go with the pics. Cut out the remaining bit of cab floor and was left, quite literally, with a blank canvas. Holes drilled and nuts welded on the back to be able to attach the steering column cover etc. Arch welded in and tub mocked in just before it was welded in. New floor pan all welded in and sprayed over with etch primer to seal it before it goes off to paint. Steering column bolted back in and the drivers side runners and seat fitted. Both seats fitted in and looking rather nice. Thats it so fer, just got to do the closing panel on the drivers side and a couple of plates under the arches and then the front will be done. Sills both sides and rear end lower corners and repairs to the sliding door and then it'll be off to the painters
Nearly there, it's booked in for paint in september!! Another more up to date post to follow when i've sorted through 50+ photos
class bit of work them seat base panels are great , they fairly speed up the work and are much easier to do with front arches at the same time owen nw
We finally got our camper back from the paint shop on Christmas eve eve and we started to fit the windows on tuesday, unfortunatly one of the rear windows popped on us and now i'm on the hunt for one. The coating on the Paint is just wax and needs a buff up when its all built up. Pics
OMG!! How long since an update?!! I should really get some pics up. Progress on the whole has been slower than i hoped. With the bad weather and family commitments i'm about 2 months behind!! I've talked the wife in to something, something i thought she'd never agree too............................... LOWERING THE VAN!!!!! Happpy days, ordered my adjusters today, gonna strip the front beam off and get it into work and do the mods and slam it lol Only kidding, just looking at a couple inches, maybe 4....... Roof all painted, new seals fitted and every rivit replaced and sealed up Reconditioned, by me, opening front quarters fitted Nice shiney 4 2 1 chrome exhaust, bagged a bargain The oil spots are off the passat, typical VW LOL Nice and clean engine bay, everything done in here i've done, apart from the powder coating. 8) Rear Fog light wired in, i didn't fancy having lamps bolted to the bumper so i 'pinched' a reverse lamp spot Clear lenses front and rear, a more modern look. Spare wheel mount fitted up and also the roof rack. Pop top all fitted and in the prcess of cleaning, you know when you think something is clean.......... Dash shot, before and during..... Thats it for now folks.
great job as usual that is looking very fresh ...............dont leave the updates for so long in future ;D
Great work and a lovely looking bus too It would be interesting to look at a "restored" bus with a view to buying once you've done resto yourself! I read buyers guides and thought I'd done OK but the suprises kept (keep!) coming Looking forward to seeing it all done Mr B
