A side step over from Introductions to start a restoration thread for the now named Noodle Bus. Bought in August/September 2013 and pretty much ignored since, I have slowly started on the necessary repairs and renovations. Not that anyone is interested in all that guff, so pictures will commence! As purchased: Exterior: Interior: I wish it looked as good as the pictures as they don't show quite the true story! However, as 'themz the rulez' when dealing with these little projects I'm tackling it all bit by bit as a rolling resto as I really don't want to slide down the 'off the road' slippery slope. Inevitable at some stage in the future, I'm sure, but not yet!! A list of 'things to do' started with getting through the MOT - yes, get in!! Then it has been making it water tight (pictures to follow) and next is getting the engine serviced and checked over. So the plan for the next couple of months will be, whilst the 1700cc lump is out and on a bench, to get the offside battery tray and corner replaced, an inspection hatch added if possible and the engine bay all sprayed up in the new colour, so the engine doesn't have to come out again!! Best made plans and all that........................
WOW look forward to seeing more.... great to have so much original Devon in there. Are you restoring the original interior?
Yes, it needs some TLC especially with all the wet weather ingress through the leaky roof over the past few months! I need to think about finding a cabinet maker or suitably inclined carpenter to re-laminate a few sections and possibly rebuild a few other bits, but essentially the interior will be left as original, just 'saved' from further decay! I've got all the original cushions all in great condition, however they're a bit wiffy despite copious use of febreeze, so they may be moth balled and replaced with new ones, but I realise how special they are so perhaps they will be hoiked out for some day Shows!!
LOL! Yeah, so it seems! I thought it was quite a unique predicament but apparently it's a fairly popular one!!
First proper resto bit has been tackling the floppy top and as we all know having a floppy top is just not acceptable, even after 42 years of hard weather, so what to do? Lovely poptop, but tired and floppy! There was talk of replacement vinyl, a fibreglass cap, but when down the yard I spotted another Devon and the poptop had been repaired in what I thought was a really good long term and stylish way. Apparently it had been done by a Coachbuilder and after a considerable amount of research and inspection a plan was hatched! Cue a donor surround, a second hand concertina without the windows and a large sheet of shiny aluminium! Attach aluminium to donor frame with much poo and lots of clamps! Oh, and that's not me, that's my mate, without whom none of this would be happening.....huge thank yous! After much consideration, say adios to the skylight......I know! It is lovely, but the potential for future leakage meant I decided to let it go! So, cannibalise my existing roof for the frame and add some strengthening bars ( I so hope this hasn't made it too heavy for the hinges!) and throw in some insulation for good measure (Vanorak alert!!) Fill, sand, fill, sand and fill some more...... ...............and I'm afraid that's as far as it's got. It has been painted, but I don't have any pictures of that loaded yet! I did manage to get out and do some lovely bleach scrubbing of the concertina bit on Friday as it was dry, but it was so darn cold I didn't get it all finished. Trying to do it single handed was a challenge too!
It's such a nightmare when you want to keep stuff that's special but also need to use the van and for it to be practical. I take my dog away with me and it's inevitable that she will get muddy and jump all over the bus. There is no point in stressing about it, it's all part and parcel of the whole campervan thing for me, but original cushions would be trashed in no time and it would be such a waste. I'll have to save up and get new foam and probably cobble up some covers myself for now, so that I can get out this summer and enjoy it!
Pop Top Roof Update: Spent a long day Friday in the cold prepping the roof and fixing the inside panel ready for the install on Saturday. I had fired Noodle up on Thursday to make sure all ok and topped up fuel and checked oil. Saturday morning, crisp and early he just would not start, not even firing! So, after my previous 'flooding' incident I decided to be sensible (believe me, anyone who knows me would understand how difficult this is for me!) and calmly popped back indoors and half an hour later tried again. Finally an hour and half later he starts first turn..............yes, get in! Into gear and he won't move and inch; rear brake has seized on! Typically my heavy duty jack is out of order, so I grabbed a naff scissor jack in desperation and decided to just go careful. There is an immense amount of satisfaction when hitting your bus with a hammer as hard as you can is the correct course of action! Freed off immediately, however by the time I got to where I needed to be, there wasn't enough time to fit the roof. It was good to give Noodle a run out, but very disappointing. Picture time!! Internal headlining with top quality £2.99pm vinyl with a matt finish as I thought the mega shiny stuff would show up all the inevitable lumps and bumps! This is not a long term solution, but will be in place for a couple of years while I get everything else sorted, so I went for fun over style!! Sprayed up the inside edge. I do believe that most of this will be hidden by the workings and concertina part or perhaps that's wishful thinking as spraying flat and on a workshop floor is not conducive to a fine finish!! Fingers crossed I will be able to get to the Yard next Saturday to get the roof fitted........but I won't be holding my breath!! PS. I think I muttered something about selling on an auction site at more than one point on Saturday morning! I have a feeling it won't be the first or the last time!!
Welcome fellow Moonraker owner ,thats one stunning bus ,love the original moonraker ,one van I would swap for mine
Thanks Lord Congi! Yeah, he's definitely a lovely looking bus or will be eventually! Having the bare bones to work from with such a great design definitely helps. I am tempted to swap the original bunks out for the flat short bed, as per other folks on here, as I won't use the bunks for anything but storage, but in every other way the interior is perfect for me. Just need to get it spruced up a bit for this season.
Dont ever get rid of that lovely interior as well ,great idea with the bunks ,a few have made the solid bed up top and its a great upgrade option, I got the double top moonraker because of the upstairs bed which limited the vans I could get ,wish I had known of this option before.
The plan is to hole up in the Yard for some welding in March and whip the engine out for a good service and check over. I'll need to get the rear interior sections out anyway, so I'm planning on taking it all out, drying it out, sanding it down and re-varnishing. I'm a tad concerned about the fridge unit, as it's got very warped and de-laminating, but if I can rescue it for now, I'll look at getting someone in the know to refurbish each bit, one by one until it's all back to fully functional and looking awesome!! The conversion for the bunks is a brilliant idea! As I'm not huge it would give me the option of sleeping in the pop top and using the seat without faffing about too much with putting the bed out and away all the time. I know in theory I could sleep in the bunks, but in practice there's no way I'd get a wink of sleep in them. It's always a tough call when you've got something original you'd love to preserve, but you need to be able to use the bus to justify it's driveway space (and all the associated costs!!). I'm trying to disrupt it all, as little as possible on the face, but also make it mine to use and enjoy to the maximum!
Yey! Finally Noodle is water tight and has a new roof and replacement concertina canvas. However, being an absolute twonk I didn't realise I hadn't taken any pics of the process or the roof up or down. I will remedy the finished article pictures, but obviously cannot do anything about the in process ones, ooops! :/ Suffice is to say it was a bit epic and involved a considerable number of sealed pop rivets! Basically we had to drill out and remove what seemed like a million rusty fixings before attaching the replacement canvas to the roof along with the brackets. We then lifted the whole caboodle onto the bus, fixed the hinges and then fixed the lower edge of the canvas to the roof! Instead of using the self tapping woodscrews we decided to pop rivet it all into place. Loads quicker and easier and hopefully more secure. Also easier to just drill out and replace as and when. It took pretty much all day to get this done as first time of doing it and we were drilling and repairing stuff as we went along! Anyway, now the bus is finally watertight I was able to tackle the dreadful state it has got into during the last few very wet months under it's flimsy cover. The best £70 spent so far as how it stayed in place through 60-70mph hurricane winds and biblical rain storms is an absolute mystery but was somewhat aided by several ratchet straps and much praying from the kitchen window!! So, first sunny day and I spent the whole day cleaning, scrubbing and sniffing disinfectant......mmmmm!! Replacement concertina; not too bad condition holes wise, but mega grubby! Also aired the hammocks as they were well foosty and grim! You can see the new interior roof lining in situ now! I'm actually very pleased with it; cheery and practical and even better super cheap!! Finally I set about the panels and the transformation was very satisfying! ..........so apart from some very boring pictures of clean and dirty interior that's it......rubbish! I'll get some proper pictures of the roof tomorrow! Apologies!!
Great project you've got there @Tonka...!! Good work on the roof to..!! Good to see another Devon being restored..!! Here's my build thread so far on prototype bay - http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37661
As promised, some pictures of the roof!! Lovely and smooth, nowhere for any leaks and the only 'interruptions' are the hinge fixings which are outside the concertina and have been siliconed just in case!! I didn't mention previously that I used a little domestic steam cleaner for the concertina and it made life very much easier. It helped to shift the dirt, but best of all it softened the plastic, which made it easier to scrub it. I also invested in some Magic Erasers and they definitely made a difference. They're not cheap and don't last for very long, but they really help shift stubborn marks, in particular the rust stains. The concertina isn't in perfect condition, but it's infinitely better than the one I had which was the proper job with the clear panels. I'd love to have been able to just buy a new one, but with a budget under strain the best part of £600 can't be justified at this stage. Booked in Wednesday for the replacement offside lower corner, battery tray and splash panel. I did some practice welding today, but I'm definitely not up to speed enough to be let loose on the proper stuff yet, so thankfully a friend will be doing that for me and I'll just do the patching up afterwards and hopefully the spraying! .....and because it's never enough to have just one thing in the pipeline, there is another modification on the horizon!! I've got a Type 4 1700 lump which takes up the whole bay snuggly making mechanical work a right fiddle, so I'm hoping to make a little adaptation to the engine bay by adding an inspection hatch. I've bought one ready, so just need to schedule fitting it with my clever welding friend and then making some changes to the lovely drawer unit above to allow access. We've been having a think and have worked out a plan! Will do that when the engine is dropped for a service and hoping to take the opportunity to respray the engine bay in the new colour which will be very exciting. Sadly a complete respray won't be next year at the earliest!
Thanks Gwar72. I've already read your thread with great interest, especially the furniture tidying as mine is all in need of attention!! Very inspirational and a great 'how to' guide as well!!
Take a gander at this thread and associated links as I think it pretty much explains it all!! http://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/converting-our-devon-bunks-into-a-bed.25959/
