69 freedombus

[69freedombus]

Been cracking on with the bus, starting to come together.
Had help from some awsome friends,


Gearbox cleaned up, ready to go back in






Swapped the repro sprints for a 1600 engine, running the OG steels/ whitewalls.
Stripped top end off the motor for a complete rebuild. Engines being done at a good friends workshop,



Heads were in need of a good clean, no cracks, happy days




A good friend sold me an original late westy interior with sink, fridge, 2 ring burner, under berth board, tall cupboard. Its a rhd interior but plan is to make it work for my LHD van, with a few twists,

Made a start on the interior, found some old newspapers in the van while stripping it out , dated back to 1975

Thinned some pva glue down with water,

Carfully aplied paper and glue, papers were incredibly delicate being 40 years old

The original table hingers were shot, routered in some new stainless ones.
Quirky table.







Found an old hendrix poster, fits the fridge door a treat.
Ditched the original water tank, weighed a ton.
Plan is to have dark rum on tap instead, makes sense

 

[69freedombus]

3/4 rnr bed fitted, jigged the spice rack to fit under the bed. Planning on having a slight corner seat which will be fixed, leaving just enough room to open the fridge door,

 

[gvee]

Good progress 8)

 

[69freedombus]

Cheers dude! Getting there now
Been working on the van 3 years, this week


Researched sound/ heat insulation, bought some Thermoliner from a company called Harrisons Trim supplies. Its a closed cell foam so doesnt absorb moisture, super lightweight foiled backed keeps the heat in. Really nice to cut and fit. The rear peels off. Cut and stick, used cardboard pattern for the tricky bits,

















My younger bro gave us a helping hand, top job on the sliding door dude!
Paper patterns are the way forward

 

[marcher]

Great bus fella. Where did you get that bumper sticker??Love it!!!

 

[DeeDeeTheBay]

Looking good!!

Loving all the pics 8) Great idea with the dark rum by the way, I might steal that idea if you don't mind!! :mrgreen:

keep the progress pics coming

Stefi

 

[69freedombus]

Cheers guys!

Have a look on ebay buddy, usually a good selection of quirky stickers

Haha, the rum tap is essential. Ive cut and extra door into the side of the unit to refil the rum. Ive managed to squeeze a shelf in there as im planning on using the rest of the cupboard for extra storage,


A friend of mine sold me a roof locker from a matching westy continental interior, been fettling that in place. Slotted up and around the roof shape, to gain an extra inch headroom. Using tge locker for duvet, pillow storage






Picked up some westy windows from a local guy, haggled hard to buy the pair.
Full stripdown and fresh seals needed. Bought a complete rubber rebuild kit, stripped the whole frame and polished each part. Well worth the effort.
If anyone is looking into rebuilding a westy window, theres a great step by step videos on youtube. Patience needed!!!







Round two . .

 

[69freedombus]

the bus came with the heavyweight OG horn, no joy at bench testing.
Stripped off the cover plate to find corrosion on all the terminals/ internal parts.
Carefully cleaned the brass terminals and connectors using a wire toothbrush,
Scotched the ali cover plate, coated that with clear laquer.
Oiled then Re assembled the horn,



Works a treat, worth saving

 

[69freedombus]

Been getting stuck into the front end,

Started off by removing the front beam







A friend from the boatyard popped over to cut and weld in some CSP adjusters, Johnny done a top job, now back to bare metal ready for paint.








Front end bits cleaned, in primer waiting for topcoat




Finished scraping layers of underseal, soul destroying job, but well worth the effort. Fresh seam sealer and keyed up ready for primer and stonechip.







Looking forward to getting the front end back together