My Hi-Tops gonna be cool.. So Nyeuur. 8^)

Great resto thread John is doing a fantastic job on the panels,....I'm blown away at the quality of the welding. Superb!

Keep the updates coming

 

Back again, John's ripping through this welding now.. Really happy with the progress over the last couple of days. 8)

O/S step and arch lined up with tub/cab floor.





O/S cab door alignment.







Moving onto Sliding door repair panels, inner and outer. 8) Door is in real good nick apart from the bottom as per usual.. Planning on fitting a space heater, possibly a Propex, so good sealing doors, (spesh the mahoosive big slidey one), essential to keep the toastiness in..















John's like a terminator.. the rot terminator.. no pity, no pain, no remorse and absolutely will not stop.. until you are DEAD!!! ALIVE!!!... errrm.. Sierra Camper.. (see wot I did there.. ey, sierra.. it's gonna be 'sierra yellow' init..) soz, tiz the best rhymy fing with Sarah Connor I could come up with at this late hour.. Yawn. :

 

excellent repairs and gas welding havent seen any body do that in years or that good , here was my high top factory fitted , owen nw

 

Love it Owen, Ice cream vans r us.. if you still got this one we may end up at the same event one day, arguing over the best ice cream pitch.. haha, you familiar with that short sketch by Peter Kay..? hilarious. ;D

Last set of pics for a week or so, here goes...

Where was we upto..? Oh yeah, the step n arch was tacked into place on the O/S and the cab door had been aligned.

So to finish off this O/S/F corner required arch and step modification from replacement 'late-bay' step to 'early-bay' style step.



Called in today and had a look at these steps, top draw job, really hapy with them.



Replacement of engine lid hinge panel.







Engine lid has been put back on also, but isn't lining up to well at the moment due to worn hinge pins, need to get me some o those!
Thats it for now folks... Take it easy, if not, take it any way u can get it... O0

 

Where did your rear arch tubs come from dude? and were they a good fit?

 

great work

cant belive how quickly all that welding is getting done 8)

It's looking nice and solid now

 

Great work, some really neat welding there.

 

Superb resto, love the welding work...

 

Hi again peeps, Johns had a week in the sun n now he's tucked back behind his welding equipment.. were he's best.. spoke to him today and we outlined whats left to do, a few roof repairs, (I gotta get some shapes rolled for him at work), fit the upper engine hatch chop I obtained from an african bus, bit of a repair around the the slider aperture and a little gutter work. Todays piccies are of the remaining repairs to the sliding door in stages and then the door fitted to the van.. I is gerrin excited to get the van back and get on with the rest of the prep and re-build. ;D

Sliding door window lip repair.







Window lip repair no 2.





Door on the van... Yay.. lookin sweeeeeeet. 8)





Thats it for now, more pics to come this week of some of the remaining repairs mentioned above.
I'm back at work now after 3 months off post op on my knee.. Sunday night I was mainly sulking with a rolley stomach at the thought of going back, as u do after avin so long off, All good now though, feeling positive and just wanna get on with my bus n my mini. Should keep me busy over the winter months.. :
stay safe peeps.

 

Update time, Indicator blanks have gone in and the engine bay floor hatch. ^-^







Acquired the hatch from a very nice chap on VZi, we met at Van fest for the exchange. Its off an African bus I believe so in really nice nick, it came along with the spare wheel well etc, mine is in fine condition so decided to just use the hatch.





Over and out.. ;D

 

love the engine hatch

I did think about putting one in mine .......but Im not going to make any more work for my self at this stage of the project ;D

 

Cracking on at a pace again. 8)

 

Hi folks, back with an update.. Welding work done, well more or less, still have some roof issues to deal with, can't make my mind up what to do. lot of work to stitch a whole tin top on and then chop 3/4 of it out in the form of a big whopping hole for the Hi-top. I'm currently favouring carrying out a couple of repairs to both rear corners of it (as its rotton and pin holed in this area.. the dreaded hi-top rash.. ) and buying a small chop for the front as its got slight corrosion and pin holes across the front above the windscreen. This area will still be exposed beneath the front of the Hi-top when refitted so needs to be spot on. The areas at the rear will be hiddden so a repair will suffice as long as the rots gone...!
Anyways, here follows a few pics of the vans journey back to the college for the next chapter in the restoration.. ^-^











My Mini Clubman and my lad, Arron, sponging in on those last shots... ;D





Gerrin loaded up n strapped down for the trip...



Theres the man himself.. Thanks to John for an excellent job, remarked upon by many.













Safely back to the college awaiting some rubbing n caressing...





I've purchased and half built a spit/jig to enable the students and I to have full access to all areas with ease. Early jobs now its back is removal of beam, rear arms, steering assembly etc. I've waited for the vans return to complete the spit as the cradle parts will be built, bolted/welded whilst attatched to the van for accurate fitment and then the whole thing mounted to the 'A' frames. Also going to weld some heavy duty castors to the spit 'A' frames so we can roll it in and out of the booth at the various stages of rust protection, prep and paint.

Will be back with jig mounting progress soon, laters peeps. ^-^

 

Hi all, bin a while again, bin busy at college, gettin back into the job after long time off post op. Been making steady progress on the van though on the side. Have been utilising the van for student development in the form of my adult mechanical level 2's who have been removing suspension, axles, wiring etc. A collegue and I have built the spit and the van is now mounted ready for prep work to the underside. Quite a lot of bodywork has also been carried out. Some filler to mating edges of body panels and also to cover ripples in the larger panels from manufacturing spot welds and distortion etc.
Anyway here follows a few pics...





























That spit was a doddle to build and fit really, prob about 2 to 3 hours collectively of welding etc. gonna make the underside and roof much easier to work on.
Oh well folks, Merry Helmet and all the best for the New Year. ;D

 

I see the VW theme carried through the rest of the workshop? I spy a Mk1 Golf Cabrio <drools>

 

Hi all, back with a little more cosmetic progress and advancements with regards to underside strip and prep for blasting. I've had the bump removed from the front panel, (I want the smooth finish on the front, no badge) and had the students help me strip the rest of the components from the underside, master cylinder, cables n brake pipes etc. Got a chap coming tomorrow to weigh up blasting the underside and inside so the body peeps can move on with prep for paint etc. Been told I'm not allowed to do it inside the workshop for obvious dust reasons so got a massive trolley to sit it on and wheel it outside. Gonna dismount it from the spit tomorrow and place on the trolley on pallets, strap it down ready for following week. got a 24' tarp to place outside, position van on it, remount to spit, cover up, throw the blasty guy inside and seal him in till its done. >
to be followed by dismount again and trolley back into the workshop. should be fun, will return with results in a couple of weeks time.
Spk soon peeps.

 

Thats looking good O0. Oh to have the space for a roll over jig!
Out of interest where are you planning on putting the rad for the scooby lump?