yep, i was pretty surprised how straightforward it was to get the roof and canvas off. should get it back on today i hope..
Looking good - I followed Grahams original thread and so great to see the continuation of Winnie's resto! I actually have Winnie's original engine that I'm having rebuilt to go in mine! Regarding your interior, mine is a Berlin and originally had a 3/4 width seat, however I turned it in to a full width losing the fridge down the side, and then remodelled the kitchen unit so that I could fit a modern compressor fridge in it, with spare wheel moved to the front. I also shortened the rear side wardrobe so that the seat belt mounting point is fully usable. I relaminated all my original units. Can post pictures if you are interested in seeing any of what I did. Keep up the good work - looking forward to seeing what you do Where in Oxford are you? I'm Kidlington. Nick.
Hi Nick I'd love to take a look at your van to see what you've done. We're in Yarnton so very close to you.
What a Illegitimate child it is to get those staples through the strip... grrr. Almost done now, on our third stapler. Roof will go back on with gas struts, just waiting on a parcel This lovely thing turned up in the post from Germany today: Bug Tech shifter by lotus-gt, on Flickr Bug Tech shifter close up by lotus-gt, on Flickr
our joiner chap has made a start on the first unit and the quality is great so we're going to get him to do the rest of the cupboards - along the same lines as @PeaSoup we'll go with the smev 927L in place of the original westy hob and sink and keep it hidden under the cabinet lid. need to order it so he has it for when he starts on that part.. here's the overhead unit WIP... he'll router out the door from the front piece so that the grain matches. overhead unit work in progress by lotus-gt, on Flickr Oh, and winnie isn't roofless any more - we got the top back on over the weekend along with the gas struts. I'll post a review and some more pics of that shortly but its a great mod - Pete @ Space Roofs was very helpful and a pleasure to deal with.
brief update.. sold the bug tech to @Joker and bought a gene berg instead. Gene Berg shifter by lotus-gt, on Flickr Gene Berg shifter by lotus-gt, on Flickr not fitted yet as i've been too busy, but we have now (finally!) been camping in winnie which is great. Good weather too which was nice. IMG-20140526-01168.jpg by lotus-gt, on Flickr Winnie is now with madmatz for a week getting carpets, door cards and curtains. I pulled the interior yesterday to make access easier for them and finished off the superflex sound insulation in the doors, cab floor and the rear areas that will be covered by the new panels: IMG-20140529-01208.jpg by lotus-gt, on Flickr superflex sound insulation on the cab floor by lotus-gt, on Flickr superflex sound insulation - interior by lotus-gt, on Flickr Can't wait to get the van back now. Next on the list: - finish the replica interior units - vinyl flooring - re-make the r&r bed to be full width - fit the berg shifter and the full bush set for the linkage
ok, brace yourselves, pic fest coming up Collected the van from Mark @ Madmatz on Saturday - really, really happy with the results. Here's the new cab mats, gene berg shifter and door cards - looks fab! cab mats and new shifter by lotus-gt, on Flickr new cab mats by lotus-gt, on Flickr new cab mats - seat base by lotus-gt, on Flickr cab mats - rear seat base by lotus-gt, on Flickr here's the berg close up: gene berg shifter by lotus-gt, on Flickr I've replaced the squirrel-ised escutcheons with some shiny ones to go with the berg. Its a shame to take out the original (brown) items but they are really knackered and will fall to bits if i keep using them. I have the finger plates to go in (not in the pic) but you can only buy black ones - i'll paint them a suitable brown before they go in. The escutcheons i went with are actually T1 items as i think they are a nicer shape: escutcheon - old and new by lotus-gt, on Flickr I also replaced the window cranks today - came close to buying the billet ones that mcj sell but i couldn't get over the price. These ones are from fiftysixdelux and are great quality and a perfect fit. Old and new side by side: window cranks - old and new by lotus-gt, on Flickr Crank close up: fiftysixdelux window crank by lotus-gt, on Flickr And here's the finished article: new door cards, escutcheon and crank by lotus-gt, on Flickr I'm very happy with the way this is turning out - feels good to be fitting stuff back up now after a few months of stripping things out. Oh, and the BERG.. wow! Absolutely fantastic - i've not had a chance to sort of any of the replacement bushes i've got but even without these the shift is super - really short throw, super-precise - massive improvement over the sloppy floppy stock shifter plus i didn't get a bad back driving home from Kettering as i don't need to lean forward/reach to get 1st and 3rd like i did before. Push the button and it snicks easily into reverse - so easily in fact that initially you don't think its actually in (but it is). Did some other stuff over the weekend too but i'll leave it as this for now.
Thanks guys. Really pleased with the way its turning out - run out of money so i'm selling a bunch of other stuff to free up some dosh. Also, I find out today if i'm redundant or not fingers crossed. Edit: i'm not redundant
Just to bring this up to date with progress: Cleaning up some surface rust prior to the new interior going in: before: under the r&r seat base - before by lotus-gt, on Flickr After: under the r&r seat base - after by lotus-gt, on Flickr .. didn't get a pic but i put a top coat of pastel white on there too over the grey. Superflex sound insulation under the R&R bed: superflex sound insulation - under the r&r bed by lotus-gt, on Flickr I also have my other 3 point belt in now using davidoft's super mounts, so when the wider rear seat goes in I'll be able to seat three across all with belts. Pic of the new finger plates compared to the originals. You can only buy black so i painted mine: door handle finger plates; old and new by lotus-gt, on Flickr New dash vents to replace the tatty/ squirrel nibbled ones: Old and new by lotus-gt, on Flickr NOS horn push arrived in the post from the USA a few days ago - mine was faded and cracked so i was chuffed to bits to find an OG/NOS brown button for sale on the samba: NOS horn push by lotus-gt, on Flickr I've also polished up my jalousie window frames this weekend - after three or four failed attempts with various different products, the best result seems to be wire wool and wd40. they are cleaner but not shiny/polished which is the look i wanted. I've also removed my throttle linkage; tried to fit butty's bits replacement, doesn't appear to be the right shape - removed, refitted the old link and emailed butty. Butty's high quality replacement link: Buttys Bits Throttle linkage by lotus-gt, on Flickr Old and new link side by side, you can see the difference in quality. The OE item has 36 years of wear and lots of slack. Butty's is all top quality bearings and ball joints, shame its not going to work - although butty's website lists LHD late bay its only for a carb setup. Simon is developing a link to suit a FI bus (which mine was originally) so i'll have one of those off him when they're ready - this one has been sent back. You can see in this pic the hole to connect the cable is in a different place.. old and new throttle linkage side by side by lotus-gt, on Flickr Heating: I've removed the heater hoses that run under the floor and vacuumed out a bunch or squirrel **** and dirt. still no heat but at least i've ruled out the tube being blocked. Back to basics and did some diagnosis - had SWMBO pull the heater levers back and forth whilst i was under the van - yes we have movement at the elbows but too much slack so it's not moving the flap. As a test i cable-tied the lever forward and took it out for a test drive - i have HEAT.. woohoo! just need to sort out freeing off the cable adjusters (siezed) or get some replacments and it looks like i can have my heating working. Oh, and i also stripped off the plasti-dip i'd painted on my plastic spare wheel cover. This looked great when it was first done but the product is just not robust enough and a few scrapes had started to make it look tatty. maybe it would have been better with a thicker coverage but i'd already used a full can.. So.. i used a can of plastic primer and top coated with rover "maple brown" which seems a pretty good match. Looks great - needs one more coat i think after which i'll take a pic. I bought some insulation to go on the floor, should have that installed in the next few days. Nothing special, just the alu stuff from wickes. Whilst i was under the van fiddling with the throttle link i saw i was missing the front bush for the shifter rod so i ordered up another one - that would explain why it "clunked" into reverse before the berg shifter was fitted. Looks like a simple fix. I have also fitted a "dis-car-nect" battery cut of whatsit. Not much of a security device tbh but more useful to avoid battery drain if its going to be parked up somewhere. Updated "to-do" list: - new connectors/adjusters for the heating cables - front shift rod bush - see if i can seal the fresh air flap at the front (i get lots of cold/fresh air irrespective of where the lever is!) - get the new floor down - replacement cupboards/wider R&R bed - wiring: fix the horn and the headlights. That's going to be it for this summer. I have some other plans longer term but that'll have to wait until i have the funds $$!
Ok, so from that "to-do" list above I've replaced front gear link bush (missing) and put in a new rear link a few weeks ago: Old: old gear link by lotus-gt, on Flickr New: new gear link by lotus-gt, on Flickr Also sealed the fresh air flaps and sorted out the heater cables so I now have heat Some pics from today as we finally make some progress on the rest of the interior: New headliner in: Walnut headlining cab area by lotus-gt, on Flickr Walnut headlining rear by lotus-gt, on Flickr Full width rear seat / r&r bed going in. New full width rear going in by lotus-gt, on Flickr Should be able to finish the floor and get the new rear seat foams covered by the end of today hopefully!
Floor is in and the full width r&r bed too. Absolutely stoked with how good it looks Floor prep: floor ready for insulation by lotus-gt, on Flickr Insulation: thermal insulation on the floor by lotus-gt, on Flickr Underlay: Underlay by lotus-gt, on Flickr Ply (having a coat of pva to seal it in this pic): Floor prep by lotus-gt, on Flickr Vinyl finally in late last night (lousy pic, I'll get some better ones..) Late finish putting down the new floor by lotus-gt, on Flickr R&R pics: Ply bases are both like this: New seat base by lotus-gt, on Flickr With foam added: New base plus foam by lotus-gt, on Flickr Recovered. OG Westy cloth with matching retro brown stripe: Full width by lotus-gt, on Flickr New full width rear by lotus-gt, on Flickr Ready now for its role as wedding transport for Tuesday, need to get the electrics all hooked up for camping later in the week.