1970 DORMOBILE - COMPLETE RESTO - IT PASSED :)

[pinheaduk]

cheers dude

considering this was supposed to be a quick repair job, im happy with the way its now coming together, be glad when i can start on the interior, cant wait to get my upholstery in there and see if i have done a good job

 

[pinheaduk]

ok decided to sort something out which was bugging me for a while, i needed to feed a new wire through the steering column as there wasnt one. so stripped out the wiring loom which is now packed away nicely reeay for the interior paint and removed the steering column

which left me these

and after reouting the wires and temporarily putting column back in, all this for a little wire to help you go BEEP

 

[pinheaduk]

what a nightmare

my brother in his infinite wisdom decided to try and store his triathlon bike in the garage and low and behold there is a nice dent and scratches on the n/s rear panel

so i had to start it again

this time though sofar its going well and seems to be straighter than before but not happy about having to spend the afternoon trying to sort out something which id done

last bit drying out

at least all the filler going on most o it is coming off

also finished the front panel finally and put some stopper on it to remove the scratches etc

this weekend i might get chance to work on it so im want most/all of filler/bodywork done and i can them prime, check, do the stopper flat back ready for paint, but i willl be painting interior before exterior

but not sure if to paint the interior white or paint same colour as exterior????

 

[chrisvrscrx]

Brilliant work mate. I wish I had the space, time and skills to do what you are doing!!

 

[pinheaduk]

Brilliant work mate. I wish I had the space, time and skills to do what you are doing!!

time is fortunate as not much work around at moment and i wish i had more space

ok today i finished the rear panel that was so violently damaged and also smotted off the inner rear area and a few other places

the o/s a post is almost done just needs sorting around the gutter area, i would have photos but mupper boy here left my phone at home and couldnt be bothered going and getting it, plus it was nice not having to answr it every 15 minutes

im down there tomorrow so ill take the pics. hopefully over the next week ill have the whole van in primer and check over it and stopper any scratches etc and then im ready for my choice of paint

i also picked up a mondo exhause other day which needs a 1 inch weld on the underside seam as it hit a speedbump at speed but for £5 i aint going to argue.

hopefully my beam plates and my other bits might arrive this week

 

[pinheaduk]

ok these are the two pics from the other day the side panel done and the o/s apost

and today managed to shorten the list of bodywork down a lot

work on the n/s and o/s door areas mainly the inner front panel door area, seam sealed smoohed and painted

painted in white rust protector and will be primed over afterwards

the list
the top is work needed and the bottom is the paintwork list and the bits to buy, os corner is all but done and the engine bay doesnt need much at all, just tidying up and some clips welding in to hold the cables above the engine lid

 

[pinheaduk]

ok today had a bit of fun with some paint fumes and did a bit of primering which helps as i can see what needs stopper and what could do with a bit more attention

cab area

rear

also primered the rear of the bus and then stoppered the panels which i havent done and had to redo

also managed to get the engine out ready to spray the engine bay area as i would like to do that first PLEASE NOTE THE EXSPENSIVE ONE ONLY GEARBOX MOUNT , i think ill fabricate a gearbox mount as i never liked them hanging loose

im glad i have got another decent steering wheel to use as this one has had a few accidents over the years

oh yeah pick an exhaust. [only reason i got three is i got em mega mega cheap at car boots and the mondo was £5]

 

[pinheaduk]

ok quick update, not done much today as i been shopping

and i got the paint which is a beige grey, took some of my interior material with me to put against the paint chips and i love the contrast, plus the gf likes it so thats a bonus

i know its not to everyones taste, especially when i loked in the tub but apparently it dries a few shades lighter due to the mix, so the chip colour looks promising

 

[sparkywig]

Colour looks OK. 8)

 

[pinheaduk]

well im still having nightmares over my colour choice hehe, certainly wont help if i ever need to sell the van

well today i covered the engine bay and rear hatch area in stonechip as its a good sound deadener apparently and it will also get coverd with the flashing tape i got a while back

inner engine lid has been painted and the front flatted back ready for final coat

i also flatted back the stopper on the corners and the side panel and the shine and refelction were pretty impressive

niceeee

then i covered the o/s rear in stopper

touch rust most of the panels will be ready for final flatting after this weekend maybe sooner

 

[pinheaduk]

ok today im going to spray maybe the engine lid in the colour to give me an idea how how the paint will look on and see if i made a good choice, i know with this paint job to get it to look better im going to hopefully buy a nice polished set of radars

pics will follow of todays work, now everyone else get working on yours

 

[pinheaduk]

ok today was lovely and sunny so i enjoyed doing the work today as i wasnt freezing my nads off

i painted the rear valance as to see the colour and its one of a few panels ready for paint and i am quietly impressed with my colour choice, looks awesome

i then flatted back the panels with stopper, o/s panels and front panel and gave them another coat of primer ready for paint

i also did something that i wasnt looking forward to and that was attend to the gutters and suprisingly there were only two or three places that needed attention and that was obviously around the dormobile hinges, have repaired them but ill take the completed photos later

and i them gave the van a cover over the rear so i could work on the roof

 

[gninnam]

Some cracking work still going on - can't wait to see what you have next

 

[surfbus]

i also did something that i wasnt looking forward to and that was attend to the gutters and suprisingly there were only two or three places that needed attention and that was obviously around the dormobile hinges, have repaired them but ill take the completed photos later

Did you leave the dormo roof on while fixing the gutters?

 

[pinheaduk]

in a word - no

i tried to work around the hinges but i ended up taking the roof off today and it made checking and prepping the roof so much easier - pics to follow

 

[pinheaduk]

ok here are the pics fo rtodays work, i ened up taking the roof off to access some rust around the gutter areas that needed attention, and was glad i did as the canvas turned out to be in worse condition that first thought so not happy about having to get a new one but think ill get a nice one from proud to pop

roof off, loads of headroom

nowhere else to put the roof at the moment so in the garden it goes for now and a good area to give it a sand and respray

i also removed some of the trim and used a wire wheel and removed any loose paint and some old masking tape that was on the edges of the inner roof lip and painted it with white hammerite to protect and painted the inner roof areas with black hammerite as ran out of white

the front hinge area was dented so i did my best to beat out the dented area and got it pretty darn straight so a very minimal amount of filler was used and then covered with primer

smooth

primed

at least now the roof and gutters are done so can think about spraying roof and the inner bus but going to check over everything tomorrow and see where i stand

 

[pinheaduk]

well yesterday i was in the garage but i was rubbing back the inner areas of doors and hatches that will be seen so couldnt be bothered taking pics

today i made some funky hooks and hung my doors so i could spray all the areas of the lips etc

nice hooks

and sprayed

door 2

the hatch both sides where done on this

i have done the sliding door but forgot the pic

engine lid is now ready for flatting after this coat

whilst waiting for the doors to dry i cleaned the gun and sprayed the engine bay, the colour is cool but wierd as it always looks different every time i see it

then i flatted back the engine lid and petrol flap ready for top coat

i know i wont achieve a show winning finish but as loong as it looks good from 2 foot im happy

 

[Guest]

it looks great, nice work

 

[Jason]

Looking good. Bet you've got no skin left on your thumb.... all that bloody rubbing!

 

[pinheaduk]

your not kidding my fingers and thumbs are wrecked

well today the weather was nice to start and then went downhill fast and it made spraying a few panels a tad tricky

the hatch was not to bad but noticed a little run, my own fault put the first coat on which you are supposed to see through and i put the 2nd coat on a bit to quick.

the run, just below the camera flash

so let it dry and then flatted back the run and resprayed the panel and happy with it now

the rear hatch has been sprayed but there is a wierd looking mark just under the beltline, and due to the weather going downhill, i havent been able to flat back the problem area as its not dried fully so will sort that and respray tomorrow

the rear of the sliding door is done

also sprayed the front of the cab and the floor

i then temporarily attached the dash as i wanted to see how the beige went with the darker beige and im quite happy with the contrast but wasnt happy with the black dash pod, so i sprayed the outer part and left the inner part the lighter beige as done before

looks way better

as i have an old knackered steering wheel i put a quick coat of white on it to see what it looks like and i like it but not 100% yet

having never sprayed 2k/acrylic before i can understand the length of time it takes to dry but to me the fumes dont seem half as bad, but what you cant see kills you

also being it a satin finish i dont really want to flat the paint back as i like the roughish effect