Today I attempted to retrofit an insulating collar to the steering tube. Fair to say it didn’t go well. I’ve left the whole assembly off for now to tackle another day with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. To cheer myself up I fettled with the slider locks, hinges and catches with some success, fitted a new accelerator cable, the firewall and headlamp rings.
With the help of a true professional, my screen popped in today - Cheers Dunc - along with my rear o/s window. Offered up my louvre but it it didn’t seem to really like the opening to me. I’m going to post elsewhere on here for a formal identification. I then reintroduced the engine to the gearbox after a winter apart - it was a beautiful moment. Ruined only by my stupidity of porcine excrement standards. But, it only cost me an hour and things nudge ever forward. Next job up is to tackle engine reinstall in the coming weeks.
Did ok on the bus today. Managed to refit the tinware to the engine after it came out of storage a few weeks back. Changed the starter bush in the bell housing (drove it out with a 9mm socket on an extender btw) and finally, finally, got the steering column back together - well, most of it. More non-compliant after-market stuff is currently snookering me on a few bits though. That’s going to be more or less it though until the schools go back. I might get an hour or two here and there… bit of a shame as I doubt I’m going to get it on the road this year. Still next spring can be the target…
Well, it’s been a while since I posted and I don’t have that much to report. I’ve plugged a few things in here and there but today I did manage to finish fitting the drive shafts - I say finished, they’re not torqued to spec but they’re fitted. Fitted the fuel line between the tank and the hardline which takes it through the firewall. There’s still a laundry list of things I’m snookered with but while I have things I can do - or at least attempt - I’m just leaving them until they become the only thing left to do. At that point I can attempt a way forward. Hopefully, at some point next year, it’ll go up and down the road under its own steam. All the best for Xmas and new year folks. Tell your loved ones you love them.
Hiya, has been a while… still inching forward but approaching the vinegar strokes on this now. Got a bit of assistance from Dunc to recommission the engine and it only blooming worked! Even if it lets go next time, I’m pleased it didn’t just die on its first turnover. It’s now almost weatherproof- I’ve just got to suss out the offside door latch which for boring reasons has to wait. Going through the brakes next as I’ve almost finished the 20,000 piece jigsaw that is the dash. I have a clutch but still not convinced by the gear linkage - I only seem to have two gears - either 1-2 or 3-4. Can’t seem to find any others. Would that be plate adjustment do we think? Other than that, It’s coming on and the in-house parts mountain has diminished massively. Puck Futin.
Ticked off a few jobs today and can see light at the end of the tunnel now. Did manage to snap a bleed nipple off in one of the front callipers which wasn’t what I was hoping for. I’ve opted get a new calliper rather than subject the neighbours to another stream of furious obscenity trying to extract the stub. With a bit of luck it might go and stop soon
Just by way of a little update on things, the bus is now going and stopping under its own steam which is ace. Ive put most of the interior in but am probably going to look for an alternative solution to the panel lining. I bought some ply - the cut to shape stuff off eBay - some of them are a good fit (the tail gate and slider), some are ok (cab doors but the pre-drilled holes don't line up and the boards are too wide to use the stock offset clips plus they look pants) and the rear wheel arch and above the engine bay are poor and need significant trimming to even nearly fit. Even then, it's not a flexible enough material to accept the contours. Hardboard would be better but, it looks pants. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, but it'll probably be expensive. Fixed the speedo which was hastle free - cable wasn't threaded through the hub very simply and, don't ask me how but I finally got the glovebox strap screwed in. I'd refuse to pay me if I was charging an hourly rate for that particular job. As detailed elsewhere on here, I have an issue with rear ride height which means I'm going to have to tackle the rear torsion bar adjustment job. It's riding too high and something is bottoming out on the glass-smooth roads of South Manchester. There's a few good guides to the job in Bentley, on the Samba and an adjustment table in the back of the 'restore your camper' Haynes. There's a useful vid on YouTube too. It looks doable and includes donuts and talc oddly, got a camping trip in July which I'm aiming for - fingers crossed. The 'to do' list is getting shorter and shorter
Do not use talc or any other lubricant, these things are supposed to be clamped hard and not slip. The flex/twist internally. Any movement will cause them to wear and you'll be doing it all again so fit them dry.
Today was the day to realign the rear suspension. Under Duncan’s expert guidance, we managed to lower the back by a spline and instantly solve my ride height / bottoming out issue. Result. It started like this: and ended like this: loads better. The old donuts were toast - well, more egg-shaped actually, but goosed certainly. The trip to Dunc’s workshop was also a really good shake down run for it. Got through all the gears, up to warp speed, couple of semi-emergency stops, annoyed a taxi driver, spun the wheels in reverse and entertained some cool teenagers. I hope that if it was going to fail catastrophically, it would have happened by now. So, it is essentially in use now, a few things left to do - roof canvas & headlining for eg - but we’ll be out and about from now on and do those jobs as we go.
Reinstated the leisure battery / split charge gubbins today which all went suspiciously smoothly. Fitted a replacement bronze rivet in the 1/4 light. Looks better than the laughable nut and bolt I had in there since changing the seal. Plonked a few more bits of sound proofing on here and there. Next major job is the roof canvas in advance of a trip to Norfolk in early August… Good day at it really… and then took it for a spin with the hound
The last week was the first big trip of the summer - the first in the bus actually and it was, erm, eventful. Dry and sunny, lots of days out, spotted a few bays here and there. Yesterday, we did about 200 miles from Norfolk to Manchester and, we made it via a few stop offs including Matlock where there were many pirates for some reason. The catalogue of bus related near disasters is as follows: Carb stud self removal - detailed elsewhere on here. Very rough running / power loss - partially diagnosed as wobbly rotor arm and possible dirt in carb. Investigations continue. Inclining toward fuel starvation now. Front Westy pop to roof partially ripped off by fast passing wagon on A road. Timber square on inside surface destroyed. Ratchet strap fix - still in situ. Strong fuel smell tracked to dislodged fill tube. Fixed through sender access panel and stubby screwdriver… Only to notice the tank tie down straps were loose. I assumed the nuts on the straps had come undone- even though I was sure I used nylocks. I had the 13mm deep socket but no wobbly extension so, off to another garage. Up on the ramp, only half a turn loose. I was right that the straps were loose but for the wrong reason. My tank has imploded and now carries just 15l of fuel. Presumably a venting / breathing issue. I’ll post some pix when it comes out. Nice otherwise
