Before I post up any more on this project, I think I should explain the back story to this bus. I bought it back in 2005 when I knew nothing about cars (I'd never even serviced my own car before) with the ideal of weekends away and learning how to keep the bus running as time went along.
However, the van wasn't in good condition on closer inspection so I found a local car mechanic to carry out welding repairs, restore the lighting circuits and prepare it for an MOT. 10 months on he'd done practically nothing, so I arranged for a trailer and gave him two weeks notice. Magically 90 hours work then took place in those two weeks and the bus was made solid underneath.
At this point I found another mechanic closer to home, who prepared the van for its MOT, completed outstanding welding repairs and arranged for it to be painted.
Four years since it returned to the road in May 2007 I've had a great deal of work done on the van in terms of suspension, engine, drivetrain, interior etc etc while also learning skills myself to the point where I run all my cars and other family members too having also rebuilt by wife's 1970 Beetle in 25 working days with a friend.
Back to the bus and after today I'm now in a position where every piece of welding work which has been carried out on the chassis has to be redone. Nothing is as it should be.
I'd always planned to carry out welding repairs to the rear half of the chassis this year prior to its next MOT, but this has now extended to starting at one end and working my way to the other. Previous repairs included the front A-frame, jacking points and outriggers and a host of other panels, but the A-frame is in a poor state with thin panel plate instead of chassis plate, jacking points barely held onto the chassis (mainly with filler!) and fibre glass and filler everywhere in the front of the chassis but hidden beneath underseal and paint.
So, this is today's work:
We started by picking up where we left off yesterday by sand blasting at the front of the chassis, a long job, but worth while.
Some parts of the chassis are in excellent condition, including the chassis rail inside the arch.
Cutting back metal around the chassis after removing the belly pans yesterday - this revealed a few horrors!
Pitted and rotted previous repair to the A-frame which has been done with body rather than chassis plate and retained no strength.
Just some of the rot which fell out of the chassis after the belly pans had been removed.
The disconnected and incomplete front end.
Rot in the chassis.
Around the rear jacking point/outrigger the main chassis has suffered badly under the belly pans.
Rotten inner sill on the driver's side - something we knew about!
The front jacking point was barely attached to the van!
Peeling plates away from the front A-frame...
Looking better, but also worse as more rot is removed!
Rotten chassis legs around the engine bay.
Our view this afternoon.
The front A-frame again, which actually got worse after this photograph!
At the end of the day we started peeling back the layers behind the lower front panel.
To say the least it has been a bad day today! I knew the chassis needed work, but I never thought I'd be starting again from scratch and redoing work that I'd paid for in the past. Fortunately I have a great friend and skilled welder and working together I'm sure it will be back on the road in the near future.
