rusty nail to sow's ear

Sun 27th March 2011

Thought I'd better try the new awning out as it'd been sat in the dining room since we bought it in December.





It's fairly big, I think maybe the bus will fit inside with room to spare, although for some reason the mother-in-law wasn't too keen on the idea of driving the bus onto the lawn to try it out.

Mon 28th March 2011

Another project to run alongside the bus and trailer.
About 10 years of grime I think.



After a good pressure wash.



Don't think the interior colour scheme is to my taste, but you can't really complain for £8.89 can you?

Wed 30th March 2011

Piece of ply to finally plug the hole under the bench seat. Fixed to the bench legs so that it swings up with the seat on the Z hinges.

Thurs 31st March 2011

As I had a couple of hours spare this afternoon and a sheet of 12mm ply I thought I'd have a play.
I like jigsaws.













Not quite finished, one more shelf to be fitted and a length of piano hinge to be scrounged/stolen/bought.
You never know I might even get round to laminating it and fitting some trim sometime.

Sat 2nd April 2011

Got the rear suspension sorted today (at last), Mk III Astra shocks with Triumph Spitfire split rubbers and machined 12mm bushes.





Well, the ride's not too bad, no bottoming or rubbing so that's a definite improvement. However, we'll see what it's like when fully loaded for the Easter trip.

Had a phone call this afternoon from the place where I collected the Martin Walker roof from on Monday, apparently I picked up the wrong roof which was the better of the two for sale, and could I return it?

Um, let me think........

Sun 3rd April 2011

Tough, as far as I'm concerned they should've given me the right one. Funny how it's taken them nearly a week to realize.
Anyway, new door cards fitted today along with a dpm liner and made a start on the ply headlining.

Tues 5th April 2011

Just a 50/50 water/pva wash on the ply, can't decide whether to varnish or cover to match the seats.
Ply headlining started, not quite happy with the fit, but it'll do until I can be bothered to get another sheet of ply.





Sorry about the foggy pics, I seem to have scratched the lens on the iPhone.

Sun 10th April 2011

So on with the headlining.





I need to get some angle trim to finish it off. Aluminium was the preferred option, but at £22 for a metre length, I've decided on white plastic.

Got this on as well.

Tues 12th April 2011

Roof lining all edged up, the white trim doesn't look as bad as I thought it might.

Tues 10th May 2011

Apart from a bit of front arch modification/tubbing, there's nothing urgent to be done other than fill it up with fuel, drive it, and drink cider in a field somewhere.

Couple of pics from VanWest.

Sat 14th May 2011

Thought I'd better fit the sliding door rubber after last weeks water ingress, not bad really, only a little leak after 2 1/2 years with no seal.
Wish I hadn't started now though.

Can't take the track cover off as the window aperture is rotten, so I released the bottom runner to swing the door out and support it.



OK, so far so good, but no.....



...the old rubber had been glued in, so after half an hour's scraping and picking bits of granular rubber out, more work for the winter.



Oh well, back to it I s'pose.

Sat 14th May 2011

Anyway, got my table sorted. Although I may have trimmed the legs a bit too much....



Need to find some of the fixing strip that attaches to the trim panel in the van. Any ideas?

Wed 1st June 2011

I've acquired a lower sliding door bracket from my old mate ozziedog, but bugger me, the middle bracket bushes decided to pack up just before we went away causing the rear of the door to drop and so not shut properly.
That was fun in the rain I can tell you, having a couple of attempts to slam the sliding door from outside and then running through the awning and around to the cab door to access the bus.
Funny looks from our neighbours.
Anyway, the nice people at Deimos Air-Cooled have supplied me with some new bushes, so that's Saturday taken care of.



Another picture of the bus in a field, this time it's at Upper Lynstone Caravan & Camping Park, Bude.



A couple of views of the upper camping field and surrounding area.







The canal and some ducks.





A shot at the beach, nice and sunny as you can see.





I also removed the exhaust from the heat exchangers using a speedramp, inflicting damage to the lower header pipes. It was a rather noisy 140 mile trip home, so I've got this as a temporary solution from Shorty (and previously owned by a certain Mr Scoops) until funds allow me to purchase a Vintage Speed system.

Fri 3rd June 2011

Temporary zorst fitted, lets see how long before I remove this one on a highway obstruction, kerb or large stone in a camping field.

Sat 4th June 2011

And there's me thinking that I'll have a summer free of work to do on the bus.
Removed the sliding door to replace the hinge mechanism bushes as there was loads of play, only to find that the sliding door was splitting right where the mechanism attaches and the door skin was loose as well..



Mechanism cleaned of 40 years of grease, springs and catches functioning, new bushes installed and door running smoother than previously, although I need a new jockey wheel as mine's worn flat on one side.



Now can't get the door to shut properly.

Just ignore the rotten sliding door track cover and window aperture, I will for a couple of months.

Sat 4th June 2011

Got given this pic by the paperboy this evening, a shot from VanWest.



Cruisin' on the beach.

Mon 6th June 2011

I have a new(ish) canopy for solo trips now,





but for some reason there's 6" of spare material at the bottom of the removable side panels.

Mon 13th June 2011

Camp EB at Bristol Volksfest

Sat 25th June 2011

Today I have been mostly removing the paint from this, as I picked up a heated rear screen at Bristol Volksfest for a not unreasonable tenner,



after a couple of hours annoying the neighbours and a coat of rust preventer,



it's ready for a few coats of primer tomorrow.

Had a small drama earlier though, went for a quick spin round the ring road, started to smell burning so pulled over very quickly. The black card fresh air hose had snapped off the fan housing and fallen down into the crankshaft pulley well in the tinware where friction had started it smouldering.

Sun 26th June 2011

Anyone want the deluxe trim?



Perfect day for spraying.





Unfortunately I didn't plan ahead and so have no high build primer or top coat.





Had enough yet, we're only up to June 2011.

Thurs 30th June 2011

A coat of high build primer and a rub back with 1200.



Top coat over the weekend.

Fri 1st July 2011

Impulsive £5 eBay purchase....

Sat 2nd July 2011

I've been busy today....



....only managed to get a coat of light grey on the inside 'cos I ran out of paint and I've been multitasking.

I has carpet,



a "proper" swing out cooker hinge,



and notice anything different?

Fri 15th July 2011

Finally managed to get a coat of paint on the outside of the hatch,



although not good news on the heated rear window. Repaired the damaged tracks, connected to a battery via a 16A in-line fuse, turned on and watched the elements curl up and disappear in little puffs of smoke.
Oh well, at least I've got a decent unmarked bit of glass that looks like a heated rear window to fit.

Sat 16th July 2011

CamperJam