69 California Westy.

[clyde]

So things dont seem to moving too quickly and im getting abit worried about making my dead line, but to be honest im being really carefull not to scratch the paint as i put it back together. Also ive just un wrapped the trim that i got polished by a local company to save me some time and theyve made a right hash of it, so im re doing it myself by hand while trying to knock out the dents theyve put in it...............not happy.
Also waiting on some parts and the interiour panels so cant do the flooring and put in the furniture until thats done.
So basically its not coming on in leaps and bounds. Ive now got 8 woorking days to get it done so tomorrow i will book its MOT to give me a boost. Fingers crossed.

With a fringe on top

Possibly thinking of changing my plans and fitting the engine sooner rather than later and getting it on the road, that way i can finish the inside at a later date. I didnt want to do this because once its on the road the inside will get forgotten.

 

[clyde]

Chipped it...............................dont ask.

 

[clyde]

It was nothing to do with this.

Done some other work as well but dont want to show photos of that till its all finished. 8)

 

[gninnam]

Chipped it...............................dont ask.

:shock:

 

[easy]

Chipped it...............................dont ask.

OOOf! :shock:

 

[thru_a_lupe]

Chipped it...............................dont ask.

ahhhh ya feckin joking?!? thats what scare me a little about a shiney shiney bus! in a rushed to get it back together i would undoubtedly ruin the new paint!

still cant be as bad as the chip in my paintwork!!! though im sure it feels a damn sight worse...... :?

 

[ib-bus]

Chipped it...............................dont ask.

Dude !? !?!?

Easy with the Coronas when working on shiny buses is the rule :lol:

Come on show us a picture and let your fellow earlybayers assess the damage and tell you if it will buff out , please :mrgreen:

 

[clyde]

No photos Juan, i cant bring myself to look. It definitly wont polish out...............

Im trying to forget it for the moment as i didnt sleep last night. Today was a fecker too as i sat in all day waiting for a delivery and it never came so there goes another wasted day i dont have. Oh well got the monkey bike back on the road while i was waiting. Blocked carb and dodgy cable to the go switch = fuel all over the garage.... It was running perfect when i laid it up...today it was running perfect just spitting £1.30 a litre go go juice all over the place.
Anyway polished some trim and took the monkey for a spin so feeling better now.
On the road date may have just moved mack a week or so though.

 

[clyde]

Right then, after a weekend off to spend time with the family and 2 days sat around waiting for parcels (dont ask) i finally got to spend a couple of hours on the bus.
Ive got it booked in for its mot on May 11 as i go back to work tomorrow for 3 weeks so things come to a grinding halt.
I will miss my dead line which was to be up and running for Vanwest but its looking more like Dubz at the Pub instead.
Still waiting for the over sixed piece of plywood to turn up so still no flooring. Im hoping that when that comes im looking at 2 days to get down the floor and re fit the furniture. Ive also got a day set aside to refurb some of the formica on the units and fit some new edge trim etc. (need a sunny day)

Had what i thought was a good idea for the tailgate inner panel but having trouble getting it to stay on so may have to revert to wood panel. Ive got another plan so keep em peeled on that one.

Roof is complete, just needs new trim fitting.

Front under seat mats fitted and seats re fitted.

Headliner all fitted. Had a few coats of wood oil and a slight trim on the edge panels and up it went. Ive chose to fit the ali trim thick side down as i like it better that way. It wasnt that hard to fit alone just tricky at times. Pushing it into place takes real commitment and you think it wont spring in but then it pops in and jobs a good un.

Notice shiney new sun visors and lamp.

Put up the curtain ral then that side so had to try the curtains.

So thats about it at the moment. New exhaust on order as well as new front door panels. A couple of things to sort around the dash before i put that back together. Fingers crossed.

 

[clyde]

Sent a pair of these off to see what Chrome Powder coating brings them up like. Chromers were reluctant to do them as they are made from some nasty shit like the door handels etc only thinner.

Original dealer plate surrounds from the correct US dealers.

 

[clyde]

Well the plates came back and are another lesson learnt, dont chrome powder coat them is all ill say. (lesson 1)

Well its been a good few days. Got a nice package from Taiwan (via Kent) of a Vintage speed exhaust which fitted a dream when the engine was popped back in. Spent a day doing all the electrics and wrapping all the engine bay wires in some nice amalgamating tape i got from work. So anyway fitted up all the legal requirements and it was off to the MOT station.
It failed first time because some knob (that will be me) fitted the left headlight bowl upside down. Did it on the street and got the pass, so well pleased.

Now its back home and i can fit all the camping stuff and concentrate on the detailing and it needs a good few days cleaning to be honest..............dusty.

Didnt like the metal bars on the roof rack so decided to go for a "old school westy roof rack style". I think it looks well cool and i cant think why no ones done it before, or if they have i havent seen it. Here it is before it went on the bus.

And on it.

Got the flooring down and like some people have said the Madmatz tiles are not that great, and if i could have found the right colour in lino i would have stuck to that (lesson 2)

The exhaust came in its own purpose made box which was nice

Looks nice on the bus i think as well.

So its all the little bits and bobs now, the devil is in the detail. Got the interiour fitted this afternoon.

Also couldnt clean up the furniture trim like i wanted so i made up some more to fit the bill and its turned out better than i thought.

Anyway thats all for now.

 

[dubdubz]

good work.... :mrgreen:

 

[gninnam]

Well done on the MOT 8)

Have you not put any sound deadening over the engine area then?

 

[clyde]

Ran out mate and that panel is quite solid and i doute it will suffer from panel wobble. Easy to get at later on if i come across another bit of deadner.

 

[sparkywig]

Looking very nice.

 

[clyde]

Had to do a few errands today so no bus work. Managed to pick up my bumpers on the way past the paint shop though so one of them had to go on.

Everything takes ages when your worried about chipping the paint.

 

[dubscum]

amazing bus 8) if i see it, I will not go within 10ft of it, I'm far to scruffy / dirty to go near a bus so clean :lol:

 

[clyde]

Honestly its only because its fresh from the paint shop, ask anyone my bus is usually a dumping ground for empty beer cans or a kids play ground so i expect it will soon pick up some wear and tear.
Its just nice to try and do it right first time as its down hill from here on in.
Thanks for the kind words anyway. J

 

[Dirty Harry]

Perfect job 8) 8)
Nice exhaust how is the sound, not to loud?

 

[Clem]

Nice idea for the roof rack .

Keep it coming!