rusty nail to sow's ear

Sat 8th December 2012

Didn't get round to fitting the unit, but had an hour on the seat base today.

Another rub back with wire wool,



and then a coat of yacht varnish.

Thurs 13th December 2012

Decisions....









been offered a set of 15" SA Rostyles, so borrowed some 14"s to see what they'd look like.

Fri 21st December 2012

I think you can tell what I decided to do.
I'm not going to fit them until I've finished the other corner and arch though.

Sat 22nd December 2012

Back down the yard this morning to get some paint on the off-side.

1st coat of 3 rattlecans.



And another 2 as a top coat.



And the trailer wheels turned up yesterday as well.

Sat 22nd December 2012

I'm glad I managed to get some paint on the primer, feckin' weather.

Fri 28th December 2012

feckin' weather......







Had a reaction to all the moisture, needs to be taken right back and repainted. Bit fucked off to tell the truth.

Wed 2nd January 2013

Did a bit of thinking over the festive period, and as I'd been given some crap advice by a "respected" engine builder I've decided to hand my 2056 build to Jason at Interpro.
At least then if it all fucks up I've got someone to moan at.

As telly's been shite, and the weather poor and I'm bored I dug a load of tinware out of the stash to get ready for the new engine.

Stripped and rust treated




Etch primed






Satin blacked








Just need a rear tin and pulley tin now.

Sat 5th January 2012

So this morning was spent cleaning the nearside corner ready for work to commence.
New wardrobe handle had turned up in the post when I got home, so that was another unfinished job to get on with.
Hmmm, not quite right.....



looks like the router's coming out to play.





Perfect.




For the first time ever the bus is giving back. This fell out of the rear corner after a quick blast with the air-line.



Only 10c, but it's a start.

Sun 6th January 2013

Today was spent mostly cleaning the accumulated grime over 40 years off the seat lid.
A generous dollop of a proprietary cream kitchen cleaner, a scraper and some sandpaper came in handy.







Just need to get a small length of oak strip to make the cushion retainer and then a coat or two of varnish.
Doors and hinges refitted.






Sold a spare case as well, a bit more room in the garage.

Wed 9th January 2013

As it was a nice day today, and I had an hour spare, the tinware got another coat of satin black.

Sun 13th January 2013

2nd batch of tinware primed and painted.




I thought I'd fit the centre caps to the SA Rostyles, what a nightmare.
Too big and only used the heel of my hand to tap them in.



Finally managed to get one to fit, but it just rattled around in the hole.
Got the right hump in the end.......









Not funny really though, is it?
Shoddy, ill-fitting "quality" parts.
Picking up a set of genuine SA caps this week, so let's see if they fit any better.

Tues 15th January 2013

Picked up some genuine centre caps from a chap in Pill this morning.
Spot the OE ones.






Up to date at last, sorry for boring the tits off you if you've maanged to get this far.

Awesome read Man, just read it from start to finish.

Talk to me about the Late Bay steering box conversion

Sat 26th January 2013

At last, a break in the weather means I can actually get on with a couple of jobs.
The first one is the amount of play in the throttle linkage and the lack of throttle response. Only took all morning to modify various linkage rods, extend the hole in the cab floor and add a spring under the floor.





But it was worth all the faffing about, bloody brilliant to drive now, so much so I took the really really long way home.

The second job was to get the fuel gauge working better, and that was accomplished in less time than I thought. Simply by adding an additional earth from the dash pod to the body.

Just before it got dark I cracked on with the seat box lid that I'd forgotten all about.
New oak cushion retaining strip fitted and ready for another coat of varnish.

Mon 28th January 2013

I've "acquired" some 1W 8 led festoon lamps, so I thought I'd see what the difference was between the old 10W incandescent lamps and the led lamps.

10W incandescent




1W led




About the same light output (I'll get my lux meter out tomorrow evening to do an accurate test), for 10% of the load.

Anybody got a spare internal light, the rear one decided to disintegrate upon removal.

Sat 2nd February 2013

What was going to be a quick replacement window rubber turned into a much larger job this morning. Only replaced this about 18 months ago.



Quick blast back up the motorway to clear the dust and then home to finish the sanding and get some paint back on.
While the weather was clement I decided to have a little go at a couple of spots on the roof at the same time.
I really need a nice warm dry spell to get the sunroof off and do the complete roof in one go. Or even a nice heated lock-up/workshop.










As I can multi-task occasionally, the seat box lid and spare wheel well cover got a coat of varnish as well.





Let's hope I can get on with the rear corner next week.

Fri 8th February 2013

Window's back in.




Better make a start on the rear corner then.



Didn't take long to remove the corner, filler and fibreglass.









Bit ripe in the chassis leg I think....



How many previous coats of paint?



How much filler?




Made a bit of a mess.



All locked up in the workshop now with the rear corner resting in place ready for tomorrow.

Sat 9th February 2013

Right then, where were we.



Needs a bit of fettling to fit properly.
Strange that the off-side almost fell into place while this one is being a bit of a bugger.



All fixed, except for a plate on the chassis leg.
Time to start on the arch then.....









That's all that got accomplished today, time for a clear up.



Nice piece of sculpture though. Yes, the arch was one piece of filler.

Sun 10th February 2013

Today was spent rebuilding the tub and patching.
Arch fits though, albeit temporarily so that the bus can be moved out of the workshop.
Need to repair the bottom of the pillar behind the sliding door, then fit the arch and weld up inside the engine bay.

Mon 11th February 2013

Tape's all gone now.

Arch is now fixed in place, had to repair bottom of pillar at rear of sliding door and the inner sill section at front of rear arch first though.
I think another hour or so tomorrow will see the welding finished, and then I can start on the seam sealing and filling.

But it's a right b*stard to get the wheels on and off now.

Tues 12th February 2013

Glad that's almost done.

Repair to inner sill behind sliding door.




That's how it was left last night.






After an hour or so welding the last plates and tub, the seam sealer was applied liberally.








And then undersealed.






That'll do for tonight, reassembly tomorrow morning, and then home for some filler and paint.

Wed 13th February 2013

Reassembly time this morning, started snowing as soon as I sprayed the primer coat....



Scrape off the excess seam sealer,



and then home when the snow stopped as I turned the engine off.
All I need now is some slightly better weather so I can fill and painting.

Sparkster, your work is top drawer fella!

Are you now in the 'I've got to drop the bottom bolt out of my rear shock to get my wheel off' gang?

are you driving this?

Mr Scoops wrote:

Sparkster, your work is top drawer fella!

Are you now in the 'I've got to drop the bottom bolt out of my rear shock to get my wheel off' gang?

Nope, I'm in the "I've ground off the springplate stop, undone the bottom shock bolt and still have to use a lever bar to get the deflated tyre off" gang.

Road Rage wrote:

are you driving this?

Yes, why?