rusty nail to sow's ear

I've been asked to post the resto of my shitter bus by your administrators, so blame them.

It all started back in February 2008 when I bought a heap of rust from a man in from Torquay and had it delivered just North of Bristol.
I had forgotten to tell the wife a new addition was due, so when she came home from work this is what was waiting.



It doesn't look too bad on the drive, does it?




However, upon closer inspection

Stripped out scabby diy interior and binned that,



then polystyrene insulation and tinfoil stuck to every panel and the floor.



Quick tip, if you've got insulation behind your panels, check it once a year or the condensation will rot your van from the inside.





That was the better of the front arches
Rear corner and gutter above cargo hatch from inside.




Rear corner and roof.





Fresh air grille just filled over as well!



If you look carefully you can see van crying with relief


For a few days the only signs of progress was this as the roof leaked like a sieve. It kept the neighbours happy, but little did they realise what was to come.....



Got brake lights, horn, side lights, dip & main beam working and MOT booked, and then started collecting parts.

Keep posting mate, we want the whole thread!!

I drove it around like that for a couple of weeks with some Radars fitted, bloody horrible wheels, pita to fit properly.
Still doesn't look too bad, does it, seen worse driving around and at shows.





Got rid of the Radars and acquired some BRMs.
Drove the van down to my mate's workshop to start work on the rusty bits.





An expensive pile of scrap, sorry, replacement panels.




I thought the chassis was OK, dooooh!







Custom chassis repair secton

OSF chassis leg finished.




Better see what's lurking behind here.



Not as bad as I thought.










Right then, time to do something about the lack of rear suspension travel.
The po had dropped the rear by three splines and the front to match. This was the reason why the tyres were rubbing on the arches and it was a pain to drive on anything with a surface worse than a snooker table.

From this



to this







Hmmm, better make a start on those arches I think.....

were the 4 holes on the front panel for a badge?

Road Rage wrote:

were the 4 holes on the front panel for a badge?

Yes, give me chance, I'll get there in about a year.....

August 2008
Rear axle tube repair






Found some more holes in the OSR chassis leg





All gone now

Sept 2008
Thought I would start on the ns arch and footwell today.







Doesn't look too bad does it.

After 5-6 hours and a couple of cutting and grinding discs.

Work in progress.





Please note the pile of scrap on the ramp.



























































































I mean under the sliding door

OK, on with replacing the iron oxide and filler with some full fat metal.
Seat belt and seat mounting plate








A touch of primer to keep out moisture.



A view from below after seam sealing.




Front wheel tub repair sections






Cab floor repair panel







I can cut off that rotten arch now there's something to weld too.

This is the gash plate I removed from the passenger footwell, a piece of enamelled sign.




Hooray, one of the sh*tty arches gone



A bit of making good to be done here I think.





Looks better than it did earlier.

One cleaned up rust free front arch ready to fit.






B pillar repair.

I do apologise for the quality of some of the pics.

OK, into October 2008 now.

Bit a bit bored recently. What with working late and at weekends, I haven't been able to get down to my van. So I've started on the less urgent bits.
Before






About an hour later



Rustproofed



Primed





Having some topcoat mixed, L345 Lichtgrau, so finishing grille on Sunday.

A couple of weeks later.

HOORAY! I've got the first arch on

 

 

 

 

 
Looks so much better

 

 Just need to start on the other one now.

End of October and into November 2008.


Now onto the off-side arch







 
Anyone want an nos arch






N/S arch primered and 95% finished, need to rub down the filler and put some topcoat on.









 

Making start on the os front arch now, and get rid of the gash repair in the back.



No wonder they rot, this has collected since the bodged sills were fitted.




Got some topcoat on today to protect the new arch.
What do you think of the colour, going back to the original L345 light grey.





Bloody weather

Nick was busy in the workshop today, so I couldn't get on with what I wanted to.
Started cleaning ns sill to see what it was like. The 7 layers of paint just flaked off the rust that had got through the crappy primer that was on the replacement sill.



Bit of rust preventer painted on, and then started following the loose blue high build primer and matt black underneath with a filling knife



Bit of an improvement don't you think?

Next installment, remember this?
Need to repair OS cab floor before I can fit the arch.
 

 
Took another two gash repair plates off.
 

 

 
After a bit more cutting,
 

 
can you spot where I cut the brake pipe from the fluid reservoir with the grinder?
 

 
The bus is a touch lighter now,
 

 
arch cut ready for a bit of fettling and then fitting next weekend.
 

 

13th December 2008

I'm only on here to report the sh*t day I've had on the bus, mainly due to my stupidity.

Up to the last couple of weekends, I've been using my mate's workshop with his four poster ramp. All OK so far.
Been working on fitting the os front arch cut, but because the A pillar and gutter section is so ripe, I've been careful in how much metal I've been removing.

Today I got to the workshop ready to fit the arch after the last couple of weekends preparing the bus.
Got the arch tacked in two places, after trial fitting the door 6 or 7 times, door fits well, even gaps all the way round. Took the door off, raised the bus on the jack, and welded the arch on.
Lowered the bus, fitted the door, and, bollocks, the door doesn't shut too well, have to lift the rear end to get it to shut. Awful fit.

Tried packing hinges, levering the door by lowering the ramp onto an engine stand. All to no avail. Getting really pissed off by now.

Nearly 1 o'clock, and my mate locks up at 1.30. I only get 4-5 hours a week to work on the bus and it's starting to wear thin now.
Not complaining about my mate, as he lets me use the workshop, and leave the bus there, scot free.

 

Anyway, my mate's old man turns up and says "Looks like the roof's dropped at the front"

I'm thinking "Maybe I should have bought a bus with some more metal and structural rigidity in it"

He says "Drop the bus down to the ground"

So we drop the bus down to the ground, and the door still doesn't fit.

I have a fit of pique and get the grinder out and cut the arch off along the welds that I'm rather proud of.
"F*cking rusty heap of shit"

As I cut the welds, BANG, the bus moves, and the door shuts absolutely fab.

Moral of the story, don't weld on a two poster ramp that lifts by supporting the bus on the chassis rails. The front of the bus had dropped by 30mm as soon as it was lifted off the ground.

My mate's old man then says " We sometimes get this problem with some modern cars. As soon as we lift them we can't open the doors"

"We only use the four poster for body repairs"

 

I'll post some pics this weekend, but from the top of the O/S A pillar backwards, there is no metal. Had a poke about to see why the front dropped so much and the entire section above the cab door fell out.
There's just the gutter left.

My mate's are starting to call it "Trigger's Brush" 'cos of all the cuts I'm fitting.
I'm only doing this to save another 40 year old classic......

Well, it was cheap to buy.

Now you can why I was a little worried about structural integrity. Dormobile owners beware!











 
Anyway after last weekend's troubles, the arch is finally fitted, just needs a bit of tidying and I'll put some paint on. Not too impressed with the quality of the arch cut on this side, Cleaned the paint off the step and it's full of pinholes, oh well, can't expect perfection, can you?

Next instalment.

O/S floor plate done.





Scraped the white emulsion off of the wheel tub, and there's a nice coat of og paint  , welds cleaned up and a coat of primer to protect.










Door on, seat back in and cleaned mess up.




I like this pic, 1st coat of body colour on front, progress  



 
I'm going to keep the 40 year old battle scars on the new arch, adds a touch of character otherwise it'll look like it's stuffed full of Botox.

January 2009

Not too much to report today, removed half shafts from a old gearbox I had lying about. I'll need to fit this before I can drive it about, the original one is well and truly shagged, seals are gone, and whines like a unhappy wife.

Cleaned and seam sealed N/S arch. This side is all done now underneath, looks like new after a coat of underseal. 

Sorry about the quality of the pics.



 

Right, where did I get too, a couple of weeks off from grinding and welding.
Not too much to report, bit of tidying around the arches, filling, sanding, etc.
Thought I'd start bare metalling the front panel to see what needed doing.

OK then, new lower inner and outer front valance, and headlamp bowls.
Bugger, oh well. At least the airbox and surround is OK. I think I'll get a front panel and cut repair panels out of that.

Camera has stopped working, so new pics will be posted at some point.

Ordered new front panel, inner and outer lower front panels, windscreen inner repair sections, r/h section of cargo floor, gearbox linkages, windscreen wiper spindles, and accelerator pedal linkage kit.

Stop Press: Good News, found a pair of cargo area heater outlets and some genuine window rubbers in my garage stash when I got the door skin out I'd sold, and paid a tenner for a Scat bus shifter 

....and £23 for a pair of Porsche tombstones.


Can't wait to get back to the workshop.