1970 tintop resto part 1 - the not my work part

[weeboll]

hands up, I confess! I am not very good at body work so after years of trolling around on here whilst reading the many amazing resto jobs that you all have posted I thought I'd post pics as my bay is given some bodywork love. this is part 1 of the resto, part 2 will be putting a new interior inside and finishing off all the little bits and bobs but this part I leave in the very capable hands of stuart munroe at oil droppers in Aylesbury.

we've had the van since 2004 when I bought it in new Zealand and we got it resprayed at the time as was being kept right next to the coast and all the salt spray. ten years later and with quite a bit of rust and we are in for a more major job!













a whole load of parts have been ordered and will post progress pics as they arrive!

enjoy

Ian

 

[weeboll]

the respray had been hiding a fair bit of rot - mainly I suspect from keeping it outside under a cover which retained more water than it should..








lesson learnt, its being kept in a garage from now on!

the front valance was well gone; my theory here I think is because the brake fluid reservoir used to dump its contents when ever it got below -5 as a pipe was contracting in the cold - the brakefluid was all sitting inside the valance and took away all the protective paint.

 

[weeboll]

work progressing @ oil droppers

I'm now needing to sort the inside out and make a decision on lowering - think tranporthaus 3.5" drop spindles at the front and a couple of splines at the back but want to run 15" with fairly stock size tyres at the back to keep the motorway crusing easy. lots of options here to choose from..

inside I am making a new interior - will post some plans shortly and ask for comments - I want to keep the walkthrough and as wide a bed as possible but also add a side unit and fold out table. I've never had a rock n roll bed - always prefer to sleep low in the main compartment so will need to construct a new bed platform too..

 

[weeboll]

popped over to visit Stuart at Oil Droppers who is working on the van, really pleased with progress and its starting to come together and mean decision time -

transporthaus or French slammer drop spindles, would be interested in the pros and cons of each if anyone has opinions, I'm sure i'll find a thread or two somewhere when I start looking.., and keep it brown or return it to original colour of L345

I think I've made mind up but likely to change by tomorrow..



the next big think is how I am doing the interior - all my vans have had a full width bed in the load bay rather than a rock and roll. much prefer the lower sleeping position but I want more storage and maybe some kind of kitchen equipment inside which either means loosing full width with something down the side or going rock and roll bed with kitchen unit behind the front seats..

I will load some sketches up soon..

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[gas1man]

Looking ace there. 8)
Ready for late summer?

J & P

 

[robins]

dont forget the drain hole in the front valance under side in the middle
found mine when i first got it it was raining when it got diliverd
put it in the garage next day there was a wet patch in the middie had poke around
put the screw driver up in a hole cleand all the dirt out and out came a bucket of water :shock: some think there should be ascrew in there for the pan :roll:

 

[weeboll]

thanks for the tip, will make sure it has a drain - explains a lot actually as the brake fluid reservoir was slightly leaking when very cold and I suspect it all poured in there, took away any paint protection and then the rot started.. mind you that doesnt apply to the gone sills, arches, etc! so maybe its just old and rusty!

 

[robins]