rusty nail to sow's ear

Remember this arch? It seems like I've been working on this forever.



Had enough today for trying to find decent metal and it looks a right mess with all the patches, so did something I should've done weeks ago





Not going to bother with the profiled panel, just as happy to weld a flat plate in. That'll save all the time buggering about trying to get the bulge right. I'll do the other side at some point.


Anyway, I put my new tall centre caps on today. Not bad for £1.87 each




Just thought I'd try the tombstones for size as well.









The local trimmer will repair the seat squabs for about £50, and has loads of OE vinyl and cloth to get the rear bench seat to match. 

I thought I'd get the front panel done before the roof work starts, but when cleaning the paint off, found the lower front panel to be paper thin.

So have ordered...

 

front panel

lower front panel

lower inner front panel

windscreen inner repair sections

windscreen wiper spindle kits

accelerator pedal linkage kit

fresh air vent flap pivots

cab door hinge bolts

ignition switch

and r/h cargo floor section.

 

Glad I paid HMRC first.

February 2009

Not too much done lately, been too busy at work. Popped in to see the bus over the weekend, didn't realise it had been kept outside.
Looking a bit unloved and unhappy, like me at the moment 

Inner arch plate on now, just needs tidying and a coat of underseal. Should have done this weeks ago.



N/S arch ready for paint



...and front grille ready to fit, just need the mesh now.



Sorry about quality of pics again.

As work's a bit slow this week, and I'm fed up of falling over them in the garage, I've decided to have a go at fitting the Porsche seats this afternoon.
Out with the old....





....and in with the new

Sat 28th Feb 2009

A bit of tidying today, cleared the cab area and under the seat bases. Started tidying the awful high build primer that the po sprayed on.
Quick rub down and mask.





Not to concerned about finish really, as the hatch needs repairing to the lower edge. But looks OK, much better than before. Another can of L345 gone.

Tues 3rd March 2009

Throttle linkage decided to part company, so seems a good time to replace with the kit I bought nearly a year ago.
But not as straight forward as I would like. The short link from the pedal to the pivot is too short.



So will repair the original one and refit that.

Sat 7th March 2009

Had a good day today, finished fixing the passenger seat in. Welded a couple of brackets to the seat runners and bolted down to the wheel tub. Will look better when painted.





Finished (at last) welding up the os front wheel arch, just needs a coat of paint now.
Cleaned all the crap out of the cab and cargo area, looks much better for a clean.
Phone went flat, so no pics.

Just got to replace the rotten roof and gutter section over the os cab door and an MOT may be on it's way.

Wed 11th March 2009

Another half day today.
Replaced ignition switch and put Scat shifter in. Not bad for a tenner and I can find first gear first time now



Scraped some more paint off of the roof, may be able to rescue some og colour.
Prepped arches for topcoat either tomorrow or Friday.

Friday 13th March 2009

I tried to prep and paint both arches yesterday, but the weather wasn't agreeable for spraying and the finish was shite, so I had to reprep and paint today.

NS first

Offside now, do you like the door stop.













Still need to remove the original driver's seat runners so that I can fit the tombstone.
Well chuffed with the result today, considering it was done on the waste land in front of my mate's workshop where he parks the cars.

Sat 14th March 2009

Finally finished the os front arch today (hoo-f**king-ray), seam and under sealed.





Cargo floor repair



I have a confession to make, I was so chuffed after yesterday and the arches looking good, that I didn't measure twice and cut once.
So two plates instead of one.

Sunday 15th March 2009

The weather was so good today, after cutting the grass front and back and doing some work on the garden and veg patch, I decided to strip my opening quarterlights, give them a rub down and coat of paint.



Had a good couple of days on the bus

Monday 16th March 2009

Another half day today, so on with the grinding.
Thought I'd have a go at the small holes in the cargo floor.





No such thing as a small hole though....



I reckon my bus will be at least 20% lighter than when I got it, after cutting all the layers of metal out. Repairs on top of repairs.

Sat 21st March 2009

On with the floor.
Cleaned up and chassis leg repair plates,





top hat sections fitted,





undersealed,





bugger, I've deleted the rest of the floor repair pics from the phone. Oh well, until next week......

Sat 28th March 2009

Cleaned and prepped my opening quarterlights last weekend, primered and top coated, looked ace.
Until last night that is, the black top coat has reacted with something.
So out with the nitromors, stripped them right back to bare metal. Bit of a blessing really, my rust free quarters aren't.


Right then, found the pic I deleted.
Cargo floor finished this side.



Fitted the repair panels to the engine bulkhead today, but didn't take any pics.
Next week's task is to finish the cargo floor and make a rear wheel tub really solid to take a seat belt mount.

Friday 3rd April 2009

Had a day off of work today to get the cambelt done on the works van, so carried on with trying to cover the crappy primer.



Panel doesn't look too bad at the top, needs repairing around the window opening and new rubbers and I'm going to replace the badly fitted lower repair panel with added tub of filler in the future. So not too worried about perfect finish.







The rattlecan started chucking lumps out instead of a fine mist, so gave up for today. Will order some more paint tomorrow and get a replacement for the faulty can.
Looks better than it did, can't wait until it's nearly all one colour.

Sat 4th April 2009

Cargo floor and wheel tubs cont.





New top hat and inner sill section







wheel tubs







Just trying to rectify po's bodges. I don't think I can do much about the off-side inner arch without removing the side of the bus. I'll fit a plate to repair the top section and feather it in farther down to get the arch profile better.

Sat 18th April 2009

Stripped the dash today ready for the major structural job next weekend. Not as bad as I thought really....







Got a windscreen cut yesterday from Graham at Midland Early Bay, so we're ready to chop the cab roof section over the driver's door and replace the rotten A pillars and windscreen bulge.

Happy with the opening quarter lights, which are now rust free.







Oh, as an aside, I bought a twin port engine a couple of weeks ago for the princely sum of £60. Seems like a bargain, no endfloat, turns over by hand, etc.
I thought I would use it as a base to build a 1915 or something of that nature.
Anyway, the chap who sold it to me gave me a ring a couple of days later, to say he had forgotten to give me some other bits that might be useful and that he was putting them in the post.
These arrived today......

Sunday 19th April 2009

As I've stripped the front of the bus, it's time for a bit of work on the stuff I took out.
Cleaned wiper mechanism and replaced dodgy wiper spindle, what a pain in the ass that was.....










Changed speedo for one with a needle, cleaned and fixed dash pod and clocks.






Stripped eight layers of paint off and rustproofed wiper arms as well, but couldn't be assed to take a pic.

Monday 20th April 2009

Finally got some more paint on the off side middle panel, not too happy with the finish, but it'll do for the moment.
Cleaned up the roof where I'll be cutting this weekend.



Windscreen cut not as solid as I hoped. Oh, well, a bit more repairing once it's in.







In the next installment, the bus will be ready for an MOT or fit for scrap, depending on how the weekend goes.

Sat 25th April 2009

Way-hey!

The job I've been dreading we got done today, almost complete.

Before...







I cut the windscreen rubber and about half a pint of water trickled out.



Windscreen out







A bit rotten, but not as bad as I thought

During....

there's f*cking foam every where on this bus...

a bit of assistance from jack to get the door shut right....

Off with the offending door head...



see what I mean about the foam, every pillar and section is filled with the stuff...







door shuts better now

Back together again, relieved it's not scrap.

Just got to weld the B pillar fully and round the window opening. I've still to let some repair sections into the top of the windscreen bulge, a bit disappointed about that really. Then a bit of filler and paint, put the bus back together and then it's MOT time hopefully.

More.....:. ?

It's funny how your bay rotted in all the same places as mine....