Woody my 72/73 bay window resto project .......an epic tale of rust.......

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by Diddymen, Aug 11, 2011.

  1. Jan 9th 2011..

    Got loads done today, quite surprised my self :D mind you it was all cutting out which is the easy bit.......there were a few surprises.

    I've taken about 80 photos today so they have only just finished loading onto photobucket, so I will probably leave the main posting untill tomorrow or through the week...........as you know how long and rambling my updates can be

    I will just post the photos of the bits I did last week end though before I forget....

    last outrigger on and painted

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    seat belt mount on and painted

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    and a shot of the rear before the real work begins

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    loads more progress to follow and more work tomorow hopefully :)
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  2. O.k perhapse time for a quick update....

    chopped off outer rear valance.....

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    in one area the rusk flakes were about 2cm deep :eek: , all of it damp. dried out pretty quickly once I'd cleaned it all out though

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    ................so I'm thinking of chopping the inner valance off too ::)

    what are new inner valances like to fit complete??

    stil, it will probably make taking the engine out much easier
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  3. jan 10th 2011....

    Probably wont get to do the up dates for todays work but I will update on the rest I got done yesterday..........

    I decided to chop a bit of the rear corner as I'm going to replace the lot any way, so I could see how bad the rust was underneath

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    Would you belive it!!!!! thats in pretty good condition :eek: I thought it would be rotten. I probably could have repaired it keyhole surgury style ::)

    carefully removed some scraps of the rear valance to see how it all went together

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    I've now removed whats left of the rear corner from the seal chanel

    decided to have a little chop of the other corner....hello whats this the old corner under the new :lol:

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    they didn't even repair the frame behind.....shoddy cowboys!!! that bit that is hanging down seems to be made of rusty silicone sealer ???

    Why didnt I spot this when I took the battery out last year ???

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    ???

    I had to laugh at it. I've quite enjoyed all this chopping out, normally I only cut out a little bit, repair then cut a bit more. :D

    The upper seal retaining lip on the engine hinge panel looks like its had it

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    any one fitted a new hinge panel, and does it come with this lip.....I think Im goining to have to replace mine

    that was about it for yesterday.....got more chopping out done today :D ......lots more!!
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  4. One last re post for tonight then

    Jna 11th 2011..........

    Heres an update from yesterdays work as promise

    chop chop

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    rear corner hole is now a bit bigger......does seem a bit excessive now for that little rust bubble ;D you can see I've also got rid of the last scraps around the engine lid

    saved the light appature .....you never know when it might come in handy

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    easier to see the battery tray now, I was going to save it.......then I found I could bang a hole in it with a screw driver

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    did think about patching it ....but as I've got a new one I might as well use it
    (was going to sell it to raise some funds)

    looks ok resting over the old one

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    only thing I found was the drain hole is bigger than the original so I cant use the old one way bung

    so off came the old tray

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    you can see the rot on the chassis top at the back of the engine bay

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    going to be a bit tricky to get to it all, I'll have to cut a bit out in the rear arch

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    and probably a bit under the firewall

    few more pics of the rot and a few of the general area just for referance

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    made a start on the chassis top and removed a bit of the wheel arch, you can see I've still got the old bit to use as a template if I need it

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    and a view from inside the wheel arch

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    think I've gone back far enough to do the chassis top in this direction, I'll have to chop the rest out when the engine is out.

    so just to recap, this was what it looked like at the start of the weekend

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    ........and this was how the weekend ended.....

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  5. jseus ye don t remember it being so bad owen nw
     
  6. dont suppose you have any photos of where the chassis legs meet the rear inner cross member and the rear uprights behind the corners? was looking at mine the other night and im sure there is a big piece missing
     
  7. Awesome work & by the way you are officially bonkers :p


    Can't wait for the updates. :)
     
  8. Thanks for the comments guys :D

    You right there Owen, you forget how bad it was. But looking at the early pics (as with a lot of other restos) it didnt look too bad in the beginning

    Jimmy - yes, got the pics of that area in detail - they should be going up fairly soon. I had to do quite a bit of fabrication in this area so when I get to them I will also do a "how to" for the rear posts repair in mech/tech

    Thanks chrisradioman - yes, I am a few sandwiches short of a picninc ;D
     
  9. Here we go again......

    Jan 18th 2011....

    right this is how the back was looking - note the bottom outer valance, the lip for the engine seal is still intact. I carefully removed it by drilling out the spot welds .......but I'll get to that in a minuit

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    I'll have to pop the dimentions of the opening up for reference so I dont loose the bit of paper they are written down on again....................when I find it ::)

    quick view of the offside rear corner (because I dont think I've shown it from this angle) ::)

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    then it was a simple 1hr job of dropping the engine...........

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    ok so you all probably know now that 1hr jobs will take me all weekend..........which this did.

    In my defence it was pouring with rain on Friday so got nothing done. Very muddy still on Saturday so it wasnt pleasant lying under there.......I spent hours looking for the last bolt between the gearbox and engine only to find it was the one for the starter which I removed hours ago with the starter :-[ had a tantrum as I got fed up with getting crap in my eyes every time I moved

    Anyway all dissconnected on staurday and pulled it out on sunday. If it wasnt hard enough trying to raise the bus using scaffold boards on a soft lawn, then I hadnt thought about getting the engine into my green house. I weighed more than I realised so was to heavy for just me and my dad to carry.
    In the end I had to drag it across the lawn (about 30ft) using scaffold boards...then realised it wouldnt fit through the door so had to remove the heat exchangers and exhaust............

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    but at least its under cover now ......in a leaky green house :-[

    the other bits..........

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    and some more pics of the rot

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    back to the pannels.................

    all good quality thick steel :D

    Valance looks good, a few creases from the pressings to sort out though

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    lower mud flap bit......the pressings arnt as deep as the originals though :(

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    outer valance is good thick metal but the bottom doesnt fold back under the inner valance like the original........might take it to work and bend that into it but I'll see how it fits first

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    and the hinge pannel is good and thick too, looks good quality. The only thing is it doesnt have the lip for the engine hatch seal (I end up severly modifying it to fit......which I does in the end then realise it was an prototype bay panel supplied incorrectly - so I buy another one)

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    so remember the bit of the outer valance I carefully removed???.....well this is what Im going to do with it

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    not taken any pic of the full corner yet

    and that was another weekend over :(

    hopefully start looking at taking the gearbox out next weekend.....
     
  10. Jan 25th 2011.......

    Not much done this week end so as usual I'll post load of pics of the same part over and over and hope no one notices :-[

    Got the fuel tank out.....eventually. Didnt realise how many bits of pipe were connected!! still not sure what one of them was for?? there were 2 for the breathers one for the filling and another one Im not sure about which goes up towards the filler spout but is a smaller pipe than the filler tube?.........any way - heres the pics

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    most of it is pretty tidy, I might even mask off the good paint work which will be hidden just so I've got some of the original colour left on the bus (if I decide to change)

    theres a bit of rot around the bottom though - the bit at the back near the fuel tank mounting strap

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    heres underneath - there are some little strengtheners....or rot traps I think is the technical term

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    not sure but I'll suppose they arnt avaliable from the shops, I'll have to make em some how.

    some more general shot of the gear box area.....

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    started to dissconnect the gear box bits, earth strap, gear rod, and of course I didnt have the right size bit to undo the hub bolts ....think I've found some one who'll lend me one for the week end :D

    think this boot/gaitor has seen better days

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    hopefully the gear box will come out next week end.....fingers crossed
     
  11. 2nd feb 2011.......

    Well the gear box came out (after taking off the drive shafts) other than that didnt do much else..........

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    came out quite easily and I could carry it on my own :)

    needs a good clean

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    next carefully took off the chassis top panel (going to repair and re use) so I could see the rot on the chassis

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    heres the top Im going to try to save (which I would highly reccomend doing as the replacement parts a rubbish .....and this bit has the chassis number on which you need to retain)

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    and another shot of those rotten strengtheners

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    They have now been removed by gently poking with a screw driver ........any one got any tips on repair or replacement of these bits??

    hoping to get some grit and borrow my neighbours shot blaster next week end to get into all those fiddly bits which would take hours with a wire brush and grinder
     
  12. Feb 15th 2011......

    well I didnt update last weekends work so heres a quick re cap.

    I started cleaning up the chassis rail with a wire brush on my grinder, started cleaning the oil off the underside too.

    next I decided to prep the top of the chassis rail. As the metal looked solid but had some pitting I decided to strengthen it up with some weld. I ran a seam of weld around the rotten area on the half decent metal. It did spit a bit but once ground flat It was looking good. I then cut down the middle of the welds I just made to form a neat hole.

    I also sprayed galvo spray inside the box section.....after I hoovered out half a ton of rust (only way I could get it all out)....I then had to leave it for the week end so It did develop some surface rust

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    When I cut through the weld I could see that I had good penetration so I was quite pleased, it also meant I didnt have to chop the chassis on the side in the rear arch.

    I also made up a filler peice and painted the inside

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    and that was all for last weekend.

    This weekend I started off by cleaning the paint away from the edges of the repair piece and from the holes for welding, and the surface rust which had formed....then welded it in

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    Saturday I got a new rust free engine lid from some one local to me and he let me drive his bus :D .....and said I drove it like an old lady :-[ (thanks Tezza :D )

    was so excited when I got back thought Id take the old engine lid off.........then got chopping with the grinder

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    so thats most of the rear valance gone

    to remove the last bits I decided to drill out the spot welds and a lot of chiseling later it was off

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    still got the other side to do.

    was going to borrow my neighbours shot blaster but the weather was still a bit damp so decided to rip out a bit more of the wiring.

    after removing the main loom from the top of the chassis on the driver side.....I found another hole which had been hiding away :mad: so I've now got to take off the chassis top on that side too and repair the top of the chassis.....so I've also got to remove the oil bath filter stand (not quite sure where the welds are yet) I dont have an oil bath filter so I may not put it back on.....but then again I might as its original :-[

    fingers crossed that next weekend will be dry and bright and I can get the shot blaster out

    ...............Im not board of the project yet :D
     
  13. Is that the area you mean Jimmy ?? in the last pic?

    got plenty more pics of that comming up in the next updates later


    .........stay tuned ;D
     
  14. Jimmy - just been thinking, is the "missing bit" of your rear chassis to rear post on the inner face of the chassis leg - ie inside the engine bay??

    if so then that is normal as the rear inner valance goes across this area and welds to the outer side of the chassis leg which extends further than the inner face of the chassis leg

    hopefully that should all make sense in the next couple of posts.....
     
  15. Starwars V - The Tin Worm Strikes Back........



    It is a dark time for the
    Restoration. Although the Death
    Star has been destroyed,
    Imperial troops have driven the
    Rebel forces from their hidden
    garages and pursued them across
    the galaxy and out into the rain
    and plenty more rust has been found



    Evading the dreaded Imperial
    Starfleet, a group of freedom
    fighters led by Princess Diddymen
    has established a new secret
    base on the remote ice world
    of Hoth a place cold enough
    to weld with out distorting
    the metal of their busses



    The evil lord Darth Vader,
    obsessed with finding young
    Diddymen, has dispatched
    thousands of remote probes into
    the far reaches of space....listening for
    the slightest sound of grinding, welding
    and swearing……………….
     
  16. How much welding gas have you been inhaling?!!!! :eek:

    Its really good to see the thread from the beginning again and at how much work you have done. Great info for anyone else doing a resto as well with your photos.

    Cheers
    Ben
     
  17. Thanks doc :D

    .....I thought you'd come to section me for a second ;D

    perhapse I have had the C02 up too high .....Oxygen starvation does strange things to you :)

    ......on that note I'm on my 4th bottle of C02 since staring the resto :eek:

    2nd large roll of MIG wire

    And I think I must have used at least 5 boxes of fast cut grinding/cutting discs so far......not to meantion all the other consumables

    I do try to pack as much detail as possible into my posts in the hope that it will help others doing the same bits......or if it doesnt help then at least try to entertain!

    Hopefully get a bit more welding done this afternoon as the welding is nearly finished.

    I might have to re visit the idea of using the early front valance that I threw into the hedge after having a tantrum (as the late ones still arnt in stock) and its really holding me up finishing the front ........but you can probably read about that on page ....er ......12???? when I get there :D
     
  18. You must love welding, the amount of work is a nightmare. :eek:
     
  19. In a strange way I think I will miss the welding once its finished ??? :eek:

    a post from Feb 19th 2011.......

    Heres the pics from the other day...........

    heres what was under the wiring loom

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    you can see I've started to remove the spot welds holding the chassis top panel on

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    oil filter stand off

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    ..........and in one piece

    grotty battery tray

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    a couple more spot welds drilled out and off came the panel

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    ................yes I probably should have taken the wiring loom out first ::) ..........Im going to make a new one anyway.....or buy a new one if its cheaper

    heres the hole in the chassis

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    removed last bits of inner valance

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    ^^ was that the bit you thought was missing Jimmy???

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    and the battery tray out.....well most of it

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    Im going to take this bit off and weld it to the other side battery tray for a leisure battery

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    got a little bit done today too........

    finaly took the wiring loom out ::)

    made a new bit for the hole in the chassis

    cleanded off scraps of battery tray

    .....pics to follow
     
  20. Feb 23rd 2011......

    not much to report for a weekends work, heres the hole in the chassis, you can see the back edge is quite thin

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    so I ran a bead of weld down it, blew a small hole in it, plugged it with weld, then ground it flat and chopped through the middle of the weld

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    looks a bit thicker now

    next made a rough template from card and used it to make a metal repair piece

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    then held in place (not even welded it yet :( )

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    a pic of the rear corner ......a few patches.........seems this side which has been repaired in the past is looking worse than the other side which was original ????

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    I started cleaning off that awful black sticky underseal which I hate so much .......found a small patch of blue paint ??? I can only assume that some one sprayed a test area in the past as there is no other sign of blue paint anywhere else??

    I borrowed my neighbours shot blaster on Sunday, had mixed success only realy took off the light surface rust and didnt touch the heavy scale :( took ages to do a small patch so in the end I resorted to the wire brush in drill, grinder and hand.

    Still got loads left to clear up :( think this is what I'll be doing for the next few weekends :mad:
     

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