Unlucky about the roof. Are the hinges usually just pop rivetted to the fibreglass? I assume the rubber tie down toggle snapped and flipped the roof open and off? I once saw a 1970's lamborghini miura loose its complete rear bodywork when it opened while on a trailer. Unfortunately the truck following behind didn't avoid it in time.
The roof was re-fitted the same way as it was originally when I brought it but after speaking to Proud2pop they informed me that the usual practice is for the fibreglass to be reinforced with some sheet metal which they have done now is all repaired.
Bloody hell mate that's a bit of bad luck you've had there to say the least! I have my Moonraker roof off at the moment to do some gutter repairs. After seeing this I will defo be reinforcing behind where I rivet the hinges on. hope you get sorted!
So, after a long wait and a lot of phone call to the insurance company the van is back with me. Roof repaired, replaced bellows and roof lining. Still a bit to do but getting there.
Yes mate, standard height. I'm sure it'll lower a bit when all the interior is in but I'm happy with the height. Its not like its a racer of any sort.
So the bus is at home now with no engine in it (although the rebuilt one is in my garage waiting to be installed. I though I would take this opportunity to change the things that can only be changed when the engine is out. First on the list was to sort out the gearbox. Not that mine was bad but I had a slight crunch when changing form 3rd to 2nd so I found one that had been re-firbed and was reasonably cheap. I did my usual trick of buying something and seeing if it fitted later. Turns out it was a early box, but with some advise from @zed I changed the late parts onto the early box and it was ready to go. I must add that when I took the rear nose cone off I was shocked to find the condition of the ball thingy that connect the selector arm to the selector itself. It almost fell off when took it apart and must of had a negative effect on how the box selected gears. I gave the box a splash of red enamel just because I could really.
christ - remember this happening. I know the damage was significant but actually not that bad. originally they have an aluminium plate at the back of the hinges. Loving the candystripe bellows!!
Whilst the gearbox was out I saw it fit to have a look at the gear selector rod itself, I had already replace the grommet at the front of the rod which made the gear selection better but it was still sketchy to say the least. The 'shuttlecocks' are in good condition so I left them in place. I did however notice that the pin on the gearstick was worn, so to was the cup in which it sits. I put a bit of weld on both, filed them down and they now fit together like a glove. Once again credit to good old @zed for that bit of advice. So with the gear rod done, what else could I set my mind on? Petrol tank sender and breather pipes was next up. I needed to remove the tank anyway as I am fitting an eberspacher but more on that to follow. Taking the tank out was easy enough and when free I found it very weird that the tank had a rattle. After a bit of selective juggling I managed to free said item in the tank which turned out to be the old filler cap with a broken key in it. I changed the fuel gauge sender which was straight forward enough then I replaced the breather and filler pipes. The filler pipes where appalling, these must have been fitted donkeys ago because they where cracked behold belief. Also one of the breathers wasn't even connected which can never be a good sign.
I'm glad they could repair the roof as I thought it was fooked. Glad you like the bellows, reminds me of a market stall!!
Well thats us up to date now. I am sure there is loads I have missed but I guess thats what happens if you just plough on a get things done. I spent most of yesterday fitting the gearbox and sorting out the ducting for the eberspacher. I had to cut a hole in the van with an angle grinder which was a bit daunting as I don't really get on with that tool at all, but I was pleasantly surprised by my skill and cut the holes very well indeed. Re-firbed eberspacher parts New hole Re-firbed ducting Ducting in hole The other side Oh thats a tight fit sailor!!
I can't recommend them enough, considering I was giving him the brief via e-mails and phone calls, they managed the work and dealing with the insurance company with no hiccups at all.
Right, spent a bit more time working on the van at the weekend. I've been doing long Sunday stints, starting at 7am and working till 4pm so its really starting to get the now. I have found that the van seems to be fighting me at the moment. It seems every job takes longer than it should and there's alway unforeseen jobs to do. I suppose its just me wanting to get it back on the road. I should just take my time and then these little hiccups would't wind me up so much. Any way, a few of the jobs that i've completed. Got myself some original metal sound deadening sheets, I don't know there real name but after you see the pic you'll know what I mean. I riveted it in place and also riveted the clips that hold the fuel tank breather hoses in place. There real sturdy now. So much better than the cardboard originals. I also thought I would post some pics of the fuel tank filler pipe's. I couldn't believe how bad they where. I like to fill my van to the brim and judging by the split in the first pipe, I'm lucky the over spill didn't start a fire or something. Easy job to change them though with the engine and tank out the way. I could see it being a right pain in the arse with all that lot still in situ. Gear box is in, first and easiest job of the day. 1/2 hour on my own, its balanced perfectly on my jack so I just wheeled it into position, done the two rear bolts up then jacked it into position so the front bolts lined up and bolted them in. Job done
Spent the best part of sunday working on the van again. I few jobs to do now the engine is back in before I can start her up and use her. I might like to add the all of the work I hard done to the gear linkage and gearbox has really paid off. It used to be a bit hit and miss when you decided to change gear. No word of a lie there was about 400mm travel in the gearstick between gears, now however there only around 200-250mm and feels like a proper gearshift. One of the job I did before I put the engine in was to change the alternator to a bigger 70 amp version to help charge the leisure battery when travelling, I found this job an arse to do with the engine in my old beetle so I though while it was out I would get it out of the way but low and behold, another problem. The new alternator fouled on the fuel pump, not that I noticed straight away, oh no that would be to easy. Because the alternator was hitting the pump it threw the cooling fan off square so it was hitting on the shroud and making a rubbing noise. Arrggg. It was doing my head in!! I could not figure out what the problem was, moving the fans shroud so it didn't hit kind of worked so I threw the engine in anyway. It wasn't till the engine was in I could see the problem, the engine was on the floor when I was working on it so I was always looking down, once in I could see the problem as plain as day. All sorted now though with a new fuel pump and the correct size push rod (don't forget that if you change one of your own. Now there is loads of clearance and @zed will be please do see I've sorted out the stud length After sorting that little bugger out I still have a load to get on with, first job was to change the holy heat exchangers and concertina pipe repair. The pipe repair was easy enough, they had nasty cracks in the plastic that I bunged up with some hot glue used for making glass sealed units. It should hold quite well but time will tell. The heat exchangers were easy enough too. I have some solid repro's in the garage so it was just a straight swap. Quite disappointed when I took the old ones off as I thought they were OG but turns out they were just rotten old repro crap so in the bin they went. Can't be bothered to repair them, I will get some OG ones as and when I come across them. Next up was the fuel pipe, I opted to put the filter out side the engine bay, not that I'm in the 'fuel filters kill bays' club but I already have a join in the pipe in the engine bay so I thought less would be better just for piece of mind. I had to put a Y piece in so I could run a pipe to the eberspacher and it looks like this After that I did a bit of tidying up, renewing wire terminals, routing everything so it doesn't foul, that sort of thing. Its amazing how that kind of work can soak up the hours and that was my sunday finish. So tonight, Monday night, I'm waiting on a few parts so I can finish the engine install and run her up so I proceeded with a bit more tidying up and sorted out the wiring to the eberspacher switch which i'm pleased to announce works, all be it with no fuel as yet but its all a good sign. I also purchase some blaze cut systems of the web a little while back so I set about fitting that. As I stated before, i'm not in the 'you engine will ignite into a big ball of flames' club but I do bow down to good sense and for little money and the easiest install ever I'm please with it and in my mind anything is better than nothing. So that's it for the time being. I'm sure i've missed loads out but thats life. Stay tuned for more updates and comment ffs as I get lonely here under my van. Peace out
Good tread this like it, and good work too. As you said earlier nothing better than giving it a go yourself
Time for another update I think. Been busy times working on the bus. The new engine that I had got a replacement for decided to give up the ghost too!!! There was a dodgy repair to one of the heads that failed and caused all kinds of aggro. I contacted the elite vw again and complained of engine trouble and we agree a full re-fund was needed and to be fair they where actually very civil in the whole matter. So I then went and got myself a new engine from the engine shop. I went for the red super street 1641cc engine with uprated rockers. I also went to the trouble of buying new ancillaries for the engine as I was not to confident in the stuff I had salvaged off the old engine. I set about it and got the new spanky engine fitted. I must say, the engine and gearbox are painted red and it looks rather good. But still trouble was on the horizon. Tried starting the new engine and it struggled to fire up and not stall until it had warmed up. I opted to remedy this with a refirb of the old carb so I removed the brand new carb and changed it for the old refirbed unit. Problem solved. Still needs a little tinkering but I will sort that out at the 500 mile interval. So lets hope this time the run in and using of my new engine last more than 1000 miles!!! In between all this engine debacle I have actually been working inside the bus. I wanted to make all new beds and cladding using moisture resistant timber and red vinyl coverings. Got myself some 15mm white backed mdf. A little thicker than I would have liked but I sacrificed weight for super strong. I then used the old beds as templates bearing in mind that the old beds where originally fitted to another van not mine so if I made them exact copy's they may not fit in my van.
With the bed over the cab and thew bed over the engine finished. It was now time to fabricate and install the hinged bed and the sliding bed. I have to admit. I have never seen one of these roofs in action so there was quite a bit of head scratching. I use the same mdc as before and this time used the original timber cladding. I had to strip down the old woodwork and get the old adhesive off. I used an air sander which make the job quick and easy. I then needed to cover the wood so I used the same vinyl as the rest of the van and added some sponge as some extra padding. I started off by glueing the foam to the timber. Cutting it back, wrap with vinyl, Fit super cool LED lighting strip and tad-a! I am really happy with how they have turned out, they look better than the originals did and the new LED lights should help with the leisure battery. So with all the new beds made I set to the task of fitting them. It was a lot of funny lifting at different angles above your head but nothing to major and a great sense of achievement once they were all in. All in but something was not quite right. I had forgot a detail which is both functional and more pleasing to the eye. I had forgot to put a cut out across the bed which helps you roll in and out of it and also looks better in my opinion. I am now putting miles on the van, I need to get 500 on before I send it to paint to get the damage fixed from the roof accident but I have booked some time in for the interior with a local carpenter I know. More on that to follow. Stay tuned peeps.
