yeh i have some fig8 strips , i was lookin at one from funkyleisure but yours looks a lot more sturdy than theirs, and 20 quid cheaper too
The poles are in 4 pieces so you could set the front any height right down to pegging it straight to the ground. I'm pleased with it.
And I also made it a small table... I made the stand from a car horn, some tube, ht lead caps and a cavity wax probe. 8)
I've been going mad swapping one broken gearbox for another, but that's too boring for this thread - pictures a bit dull - so dull I didn't take any, but I've now got to swap for a third time, back to the original box, so maybe I will later. We have coverings. ;D I'm really pleased with the way the stainless top wraps over the cover. Yep - you spotted the gap. lol. Plans afoot. Now the dilemma. I like the colour of the leather as it turns out, but I didn't buy it primarily for this colour as this is no ordinary leather. Oh no! If I want, I can do this to it. 8) ^that was done rather crudely with paint thinners.
Wow that interior looks awesome it really suits the bus. I'd leave it looking new for a while. It looks good as it is.
It seems to be staying new for now. It does look rather smart. But it was underpowered. My first bus was a 2.0L, the second a 1700, the third and fourth 1600 TP's and then this 1600 SP. I seem to be heading in the wrong direction as far as power goes. I did like the single port beetle engine with beetle carb and distributor even though technically it was rubbish. It coughed and spluttered on acceleration unless you feathered the throttle, but it did a good 30mpg and if you could keep it above 60mph it didn't slow down too much. But if forced to drive up hill and down dale at 40-50 mph it was a nightmare. I wanted grunt. But I wanted at least some pretence of stock so no T4 engines or other makes and no uneccessary shiney bits. I did want a single carb and stock everything as far as possible, but had to bow to the builders common sense and fitted a serpentine pulley kit, twin carbs, an oil cooler and oil filter. I bought the most stock looking pulley kit and had the ICT's and the filter head anyway. The cooler was £25. The engine is a 1955cc stroker and it goes like a train. Those tail pipes I got from my pal Malc were great on the old engine, but they're now so loud something will have to be done. But not until after the Borth run. lol
Nothing much done to the bus worthy of a picture until this week... Before... After... Not I can ride the bumps in comfort and get off the tarmac. Must have been mad to lower it. It's so big now!
And latest update, without pics is I retro-fitted a servo from a late bay to my old drum brake system and it's blummin brilliant! i got a 2nd hand servo c/w master cylinder/brake light switches, reservoir and actuating rod for £45 on ebay. £15 for servo pipe and clips which I T'd into the balance pipe which was easy. Also been buggering about with engine issues but that's another story and not finished yet.
Time for an update. Not done a lot though. Fitted ratio rockers to pair up with my lighter cam and got my oomph back. Highly recommended bolt-on upgrade, they're great. Changed the ball joints for some super cheap ones from Euro-car parts after the heavy duty Meyle ones refused to loosen up. These are much better and a few trips to work and back has almost loosened them up. Flattened the leisure battery via the radio memory. I've got to stop this happening it's ruining the battery. Then yesterday I unpicked all the staples from the base of the kitchen seat, chopped 1/2" off the depth of the foam cushion with a grinder sharpened kitchen knife and started to staple the leather back on. The foam was too thick which was my own fault. It would have been fine but at the last minute I decided thicker scrim foam would be better without considering the knock-on effect. I wouldn't matter but it was stopping the kitchen worktop opening fully. The staples I had were too long so I just did a few to hold it while I checked. No pics but I now have some shorter staples and I might have a go in a minute. It feels good to be dusting the van off and sorting a few niggles.
Soooooo, an engine noise had been worrying me more or less since I got it. I changed the little ends, Laurie Pettit stripped and rebuilt the whole thing to no avail. Today I found the baffle in the silencer rattling about so hopefully I've solved the mystery at last. No pictures of the seat not folding down enough and my sausages rolling to one side of the frying pan because I was too annoyed, but here we are with wood covered, but I'm going to have to have the back padding bit remade as it's not long enough and looks odd. and the back folding down level at last...
I was just thinking today it must be coming close to a year since we were camping at edale together Fancy it again when the weather picks up a bit?
Certainly do when you get your van on the road and maybe stretch our legs a bit this time... I'll start saving for the petrol...
