1972 Crossover Dormobile - Full Restoration Work In Progress

[Haveacamper]

here are a few pics of the sliding door i forked out for:

only surface rust on the bottom edge - no pitting:

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original pastel white underneath revealed

 

[Haveacamper]

ok, my old man dropped the new front end down this evening as i have someone to buy my old red powdercoated beam. i'll be sad to see it go as i quite liked the red.

i'm off up the bodyshop tomorro to check progress, but my old man took a sneaky pic and sent it to me. How many vans van you spot on my bus hehe:

NaFe

 

[Nelly]

That's coming together really well now
Did you manage to get a new vw panel above engine lid????

 

[Haveacamper]

That's coming together really well now
Did you manage to get a new vw panel above engine lid????

you talking about the inspection hatch? the guy has made one out of the original panel and grafted in a cut down T25 surround. This kept the pressings the same.

yours looks pretty serious mate. coming along nicely though

NaFe

 

[Nelly]

The one between the tail gait and engine lid :?:

 

[Haveacamper]

The one between the tail gait and engine lid :?:

o right, no i didnt. i didnt know you could get them??? not sure it needed changing though

 

[Nelly]

Thats why i was suprised :shock:
You can't get them and yours looks like new :?

 

[pinheaduk]

autocraft engineering sell them [i got mine from there], but not sure if they do them for the crossovers

 

[AxlFoley]

Nafe - I jpent an age trawling through this thread! thats a sht load of work you have had done! rear end looks awesome, its going to be stunning when its finised dude.

Mark

 

[Nelly]

You can use my title mate
Noticed a little bit of my bus creeping on to yours already.
Any more progress??

 

[Haveacamper]

popped up there on thursday cos i needed to swap out the beams. not mch progress. there are only 3 guys and one was on holiday until monday. the bossman said that he preferes to have a team working on it as they can be more productive. they are going to hit it hard as of monday - hope not literally.

i chatted to him about progress date and came to a compromise that i'd have the camper back during the week of volksworld. prob the thursday before the show. i have the monday off work to have a potch over it then and hopfully make a start on wiring.

they have the follwoing to do:

line up other N/S inner wheel arch
outer rear wheel arches
sliding sill
rear cargo floor
fit engine
custom fuel tank
custom fire wall

some bits are just tacked in place, but he said that he'd rather get everything lined up as this is the time consuming bit then weld everything up in a day or two when everything is in place.

still not going quick enough for my liking didnt help that i couldnt trace down a sliding door for ages though

NaFe

 

[Haveacamper]

popped up the bodyshop to see how progress was going.

1st things first :

wow i absolutely love these

they have now self tapped the outer wheel arch and rolled the lip up as much as they can to make room for the 8.5J's make or break soon

nice gap where the outeer arch rear corner adn og panel line up:

rear quarters lining up on the swadge line:

outer wheel arch meeting inner:

the plan is that they are having the engine up with them on tuesday next week hehehe so excited

 

[spenmiester]

any recent news?

 

[Haveacamper]

no news unfortunately. the owner's dad is terminally ill and he's building a two seater 1940's race car for him to show (this w/e - weather depending) so he has been cracking on with that. unfortunately it is putting a massive delay on the expected completion date given by the bodyshop, but i can't/dont want to push it as he has more pressing stuff on his plate.

also, the other guy that does welding for him stopped coming to work over the last few weeks - which has not helped.

hoping to see some progress next week, because if he gets it to the show the car SHOULD be finished. if he doesnt go to the show, then i am still hoping for progress on my van because the next show his father has in mind is in may.


i'm currently designing my wiring harness - its a custom job as i have to accomodate VW, Porsche and aftermarket electrical stuff equipment together. its one thing wiring, but its another thing doing it properly and making it look the dogs. starting with the current flow diagrams, i should be able to design a wiring diagram and then a harness diagram with lengths - once i've figured out where to route the cables

NaFe

 

[spenmiester]

thanks for the update fella

 

[Haveacamper]

ok some some progress at last....

the inner N/S arch is in:

also my dad supplied some steel for the bodyshop to replace the lower section between the arches:

sliding door outer wheel arch and the sliding door track trial fitted:

i'm not overely impressied with the fit of the sliding door so they are going to do a bit of work to fit it better. should be popping up on friday to check the progress

 

[Haveacamper]

so a little bit of progress off at the end of last week. the rear cargo floor has been prepped and drilled for spot welds - not going to have as many spot welds holding the floor on the tophats or I beams. also the sliding door sills have now been tacked in place too:

the rear corners had been taken off to sort out the metal work beneath, before it had a coat of paint and the corners welded on:

also, i couldnt help myself to a sneeky pic of the rear discs:

off up there gain on friday when i'm hoping to see some more bits welded in...

 

[Haveacamper]

dirvers rear wheel arch welded fully:

good join between arch and middle panel and original:

rear corner O/S fully in place:

inside the rear corner:

other rear corner, they have lined up the battery tray:

inner arches also welded in:

the arches have been spot welded but also stitched for strength other area have been fully welded like the sliding door sills.

the battery tray is being mocve down so it is inline with the bottom of the chassis rails and this will allow enough space for my spare wheel well to be converted into a battery tray for my liesure battery.

we've heard it all before but its meant to be finished at the end of next week. a fair bit to do so i will see it when i believe it.

so guys what you think???

NaFe

 

[pinheaduk]

looking superb mate, the quality of welding and workmanship is top notch

 

[Haveacamper]

thanks - its taken its time, but i'm looking forward to getting it back

NaFe