'70 Westy resto begins.

[Barkafer]

Got crackin on the belly pans today and removed both of them as I suspected they were carrying half of a Pennsylvanian valley! :lol:

My hunch was right! :roll: Filled an old washing up bowl full

The inner and middle sills are shot as per usual

Floor supports are good with surface rust only and chassis rails are good too

In need of 3 of the four dog leg/jacking points

This is the good one

I had a little helper today, he was there for moral support and tool fetching as the old man was starting to seize up in the cold wind :lol:

I placed an order with Autocraft for some parts today and bid fair well to well over £200.

2x front dogleg/jackpoints
1x middle dogleg/jackpoint
2x inner sills
Engine lid hinge panel
2x hinges

I still need:

2x front wheel arch inner rear repair panels
2x front complete wheel arches
2x middle sills
2x outer sills
2x rear wheel arch front repair sections
and some correct guage metal for the rear chassis repair.

I am in the process of renting some rollers and am also thinking of getting the underside media blasted to remove all the surface rust. I reckon it will be the quickest and easiest way to do it.
TBC!

 

[gninnam]

Gutted for you

Always depressing when you pull those damn things and have the chassis falls down with it.
Mine was in a similar position so good luck with the repairs

 

[Barkafer]

Thanks man, it's not too bad really, I've seen much worse!

 

[mister]

Respect! On the street restoration...In the winter!
Nice bus, looking forward to seeing more.

 

[ZedBed]

Respect! On the street restoration...In the winter!

Seconded! Are you really grinding and welding there? No complaints?

 

[Barkafer]

Respect! On the street restoration...In the winter!

Seconded! Are you really grinding and welding there? No complaints?

Yes mate, ground and welded my '71 Deluxe there too
Might be pushing it a bit with this one, tho I do work shifts and have alot of weekdays off, so maybe that helps as I'm not doing it every weekend (ooer missus!) :lol:
There is an old git who drives by and shouts, 'scrap it!', from the window of his Mk3 Astra! :roll: How I laugh, I can only think he has some strange disorder where he shouts at himself :lol:

Doglegs and jackpoints should be here in the morning.
Still got to order about £400 worth of bits yet :shock:

 

[ZedBed]

Ace! Long live them that push the bounderies of neighbourly acceptability. I wouldn't complain either, but there's usually some bright spark who will....

 

[mister]

Your hardcore mate. I should follow your lead and man up and get some work done on mine! :lol:

 

[Barkafer]

Boys, it's been mild so far this winter, to be fair I do wan't to get it sorted soonest tho.
Got me Autocraft parts today and they are quality, I tell you!
Just got to clean them and then zinc coat them.

TBC

 

[Barkafer]

Update.....christ on a bike...it was fookin cold today!
That's not the update, this is....
Removed the left middle outrigger and jackpoint

Got a better look at the chassis rot, a right mess :roll: It was full of silt and when I
started whacking it, it all fell out the holes.

Trail fitted the Autocraft outrigger/jackpoint.

It fits good!

At some point in it's life the Bus scooped up a shed load of silt, which got trapped in all
the wrong places :roll: Some you can see here toward the end of the rear outrigger.

The aftermath!

Doing the rest of the sills and front outrigger tomorrow.

 

[squareweave]

Respect! On the street restoration...In the winter!

Seconded! Are you really grinding and welding there? No complaints?

Yes mate, ground and welded my '71 Deluxe there too
Might be pushing it a bit with this one, tho I do work shifts and have alot of weekdays off, so maybe that helps as I'm not doing it every weekend (ooer missus!) :lol:
There is an old git who drives by and shouts, 'scrap it!', from the window of his Mk3 Astra! :roll: How I laugh, I can only think he has some strange disorder where he shouts at himself :lol:

Doglegs and jackpoints should be here in the morning.
Still got to order about £400 worth of bits yet :shock:

Brave man! not to be negative but would it not have been cheaper to buy a solid bus than spending the money on replacement metal.

Good on though for saving one that wouldn't have normally seen the road again over here. Keep the pics coming.

 

[Barkafer]

Brave man! not to be negative but would it not have been cheaper to buy a solid bus than spending the money on replacement metal.

Good on though for saving one that wouldn't have normally seen the road again over here. Keep the pics coming.

I know what you mean, I did take a bit of a punt on this one :roll:
It was cheap enough and complete too. I also like welding and I'm spending some of the cash I saved on shipping on the new metal.
Saved about £1000 on shipping and will spend about £600 on new metal.
I would hate to have seen it parted out.

 

[rallye dale]

Brave man doing it outside :msn4:

The Autocraft panels are excellent, i had the piece between the engine lid and hatch, awesome fit

Keep up the work and pics

 

[ZedBed]

Shame about the chassis.

 

[Barkafer]

Brave man doing it outside :msn4:

The Autocraft panels are excellent, i had the piece between the engine lid and hatch, awesome fit

Keep up the work and pics

I was out in the cold for 3 hours yesterday and today! Ffffffkn cold, I was, when I'd fffffinished :lol:
I got the outrigger/jack point, middle and inner sills off without too much of a struggle.

Good to know about the engine hinge panel, thanks for that.
Pics to follow when I've repaired the floor.

 

[Barkafer]

Shame about the chassis.

Zed, I was very disappointed mate . Still, I will buy Eastcoast buses :roll:

 

[Barkafer]

Much chopping was done :shock:

I beam floor support ends are ok

Just needs a good clean up and a few small patches in the floor near the pillars, oh and all the lower pillars
need replacing.

 

[Barkafer]

Resto has come to a bit of a stand still as I've trapped a nerve in my neck :roll:
Nathan at Alabama VW is doing some welding for me now and found the front end to be a bit of a mess.

He's fitted the engine lid hanger and it looks a treat Pic to follow.

 

[Barkafer]

Long overdue update. Funding issues due to unforeseen circumstances have stopped play!
The floor was really nice but, we couldn't get to the front top hat without removing the front bit and there where a couple of other dodgy areas too so it all had to go

New floor bought from Heritage

 

[Barkafer]

Long long long overdue update!!!
Not a lot of progress, but a lot of bear metal














A fair bit of work to do on this baby!