Tonight saw the van come off the jig at the rear and onto axle stands. It still scares the life out of me moving the van on my own on and off the jig, as the legs settle as the weight is put onto them. All done now though to make access in and around the engine bay easier. As per the bay restoration rules here’s the obligatory ***** in the engine bay shot: I chopped the rear outer valance off to take a look at the condition of the inner. Suffice to say we need a new one as ours has been badly patched in the past and is pretty rotten in places. The outer had been replaced at some point in the past, but not very well. All of the welds along the top edge had failed due to lack of penetration, and it even still had the klokkerholm sticker on it. I’ve put what I think is my final order of body panels in with Schofield’s which should arrive this week, I think I’ve broken the back on the welding now and am into the final long slog. My trello board doesn’t look half as full as it did at the beginning of the year and I’m relatively confident I’ll have the welding done this year!
If it's good enough for work it's good enough for the old bus. Has been pretty useful to keep track of it all tbh. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Does anyone know what the gap around the engine lid should be? The corners on both sides have been repaired badly so it's difficult to tell what the gap should be. I reckon around 5-6mm, but it'd be nice to know what it should be from an unmolested bus. @davidoft, @brothernumberone, @martinvention.
I think as long as it's equal all the way round you're fine. As davidoft says, 4-5 is good. Sometimes the hinges are buggered and you have to push it up a bit to compensate
I’ve been super busy this week cracking on with the rear end restoration so haven’t got round to uploading any pictures this week until now. To aid in getting the surrounding panels fitting correctly I’ve fitted a set of new hinges to the old engine lid and got the gaps correct (I have a new lid to fit at some point but need to convert the hinges on that first): The passenger corner panel needs a new bottom on it, and, as the flange which attaches to the rear hatch seal channel had started to rust out, I ended up cutting fairly high up: The bottom of the D pillar is completely rusted out, but the rest of it looks to be solid: The engine bay skirt needs major repair. Only the section which sits on the chassis legs needs repairing though: With the skirt out of the way the top of the chassis leg also needs replacing: The driver’s side is in an even worse state and will be getting a complete new corner: The battery tray had been “repaired” in the past with a delightful plate of sheet metal straight over the rotten tray: A good day was spent just carefully chopping rot out to get to this stage:
Finally starting to get some fresh metal in. The O/S chassis leg needed a new end making up and welding in: Both chassis leg tops cut off, and the insides rust treated and then epoxied: Repairs made up for the tops of the chassis legs and welded in: And finally the new inner valance welded in.
as always, excellent work! I cannot wait to see the bus completed, it will be superb if the work to date is anything to go by
It feels surprisingly close to having the welding done! Can't wait to start paint prep Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Before I fit the engine bay skirt and battery tray I wanted to get the corner repair fitting nicely. It still needs trimming down a little in places but it's looking good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
