my 74 bus resto

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by smeato, Jun 24, 2012.

  1. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    Getting to this stage was fairly straight forward-it was the next bit that was the problem-getting all the angles right & keeping the chassis rails centred. The welding would cause the metal to shrink & knock the whole thing off when I had just spent ages getting it perfect. It took about 2 months of trial and error to finally get right.
    Luckily, I was able to get a hold of an engine support crossmember off a South African bus which was completely solid & helped a lot when it came to lining everything up:

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  2. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    I also had to remove & repair the shock tower brackets-the one in the bottom of the picture was rotten at the edge so had to be welded:

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  3. :hattip:Great work done there..!!! :)

    I thought my bump stop bracket areas were bad when i did mine but yours..!!?? Great skills..!! :thumbsup:
     
    smeato likes this.
  4. foe

    foe

    Love this thread......lots of pics.....and good work :thumbsup:
     
    smeato likes this.
  5. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    Cheers for all the positive comments guys:thumbsup:
     
  6. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    Here it is with the chassis rails fitted & the repaired shocker mounts re-attached:

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    The inner pieces were much easier to make-just 2mm steel with a folded over top edge welded together to match the shape of the outers & plug welded together.
    (Pictures aren't very clear):

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    With crossmember in place:

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    Repairs to bottom of inner frame:

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    1973daisey likes this.
  7. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Have you ever wished you hadn't started?
    No offence but one has to ask why? There's no shortage of solid campers about...

    I agree with everyone else though, great thread and fascinating to see the lengths you're prepared to got to. :thumbsup:

    I hope you get camping in it before too long.
     
    1973daisey likes this.
  8. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    I know what you mean & yes, I've often thought that:(. It's just that I didn't start thinking that until after I was too far in.
    The problem is that the bus was in a much worse state than I thought it was when I bought it & that combined with the fact that I seem to have become more anal the more time Ive spent on it has resulted in doing a lot more work than was probably necessary.
    I now just look at every job as an exercise in fabrication & a challenge rather than just fixing an old bus & it is interesting to see just whats possible.
    That said, at approaching 6 years in, it would be nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel!
     
    Miss Rosie and (deleted member) like this.
  9. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    :hug:

    That all makes sense, been there except that although worse than I thought, nothing like what you're going through. I like that - an excercise in fabrication, that's the fun of it where fun is to be had. And a challange of course. And the welding of chassis - you do have to be as patient as with the bodywork, steel shrinks when hot and allowing for the movement is very tricky.
     
  10. smeato

    smeato Supporter


    Don't I know it!:mad:
     
    Coco likes this.
  11. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Far better tha I do by the sounds of it! You'll laugh when you look back at it in a few years time.
     
    smeato likes this.
  12. Epic! top fabrication skills there. well done:)
     
    Coco, Zebedee and smeato like this.
  13. Fantastic work, Smeato. Any updates?:(
     
  14. Epic indeed :thumbsup::hattip:

    I did a spell with a company who repaired road tankers / trucks specialising in chassis and tank repairs, we did much the same, make everything properly first time round and only do it once.

    We made old knackers good as new and the boss seemed to be raking it in, maybe you should start working on trucks and tankers and buy a solid rust free bay with your first weeks wages!!!
     
    Miss Rosie and smeato like this.
  15. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    I've been working on the bus in whatever spare time I've got. I'm making good progress & I've got loads of photos to upload but just never get round to updating the thread. I'll get them all up & bring the thread up to date as soon as. The problem is when it comes to choosing between sitting in front of the computer for an hour or working on the bus for an hour, the bus wins every time. I'll get there....
     
    Miss Rosie, Coco and Flakey like this.
  16. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    Good work if you can get it!
     
  17. What's happening?;)
     
  18. Sounds familiar!
     
  19. What's new, Smeato.;)
     
  20. smeato

    smeato Supporter

    Apologies for not updating-I'm still chipping away at it-I'll get round to updating the thread-I promise!:thumbsup:
     

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