Guido the B-Movie Bus

[junglefacejake]

SHINY!
How is the project going?
No need to remove the paint but be sure to re torque the wheel nuts after driving on the new wheels for about 50 miles. I know of a few people who didn't and we're very lucky.
Hope "everything" is going ok

 

[davesmith84]

Thanks for the info guys. I will definitely do that with the wheel bolts.

Jake, I seem to remember reading some advice you gave someone about adding silicone into the valley between the rim and face of the wheel to prevent rusting? Is that all I need to do you reckon?

Other 'projects' are going very well thanks - can do a big reveal before the end of Jan hopefully!

 

[junglefacejake]

Thanks for the info guys. I will definitely do that with the wheel bolts.

Jake, I seem to remember reading some advice you gave someone about adding silicone into the valley between the rim and face of the wheel to prevent rusting? Is that all I need to do you reckon?

Other 'projects' are going very well thanks - can do a big reveal before the end of Jan hopefully!

Glad to hear it Dave.
Regards the silicone, not sure that was me? I do remember reading a thread where someone suggested that. I would have used seam sealer before they were painted. I'm guessing now your wheels are finished you could run a small amount of clear in the join if you are worried about it?

 

[davesmith84]

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking of doing.

 

[davesmith84]

Just quick update.

Rebuilding callipers at the moment then the beam will be going back on tomorrow. Should have it back on it's wheels tomorrow and an idea of ride height. Exciting :mrgreen:

 

[squareweave]

Thanks for the info guys. I will definitely do that with the wheel bolts.

Jake, I seem to remember reading some advice you gave someone about adding silicone into the valley between the rim and face of the wheel to prevent rusting? Is that all I need to do you reckon?

Other 'projects' are going very well thanks - can do a big reveal before the end of Jan hopefully!

If you want to put a small amount of silicone in the gap, just go to the pharmacy and get a curved syringe like this fill it with non corrosive sealant and you can cut back the tip to the opening size you want. That way up you can put a nice small little bead right down in there and not have a big mess.

This is a trick we used on aircraft for fine jobs and works really well

 

[Robb]

Thanks Zenwee, sure feel free! It's based on a rare bay westy interior - details are in this thread somewhere.

Sooooo peer pressure is a terrible thing!

I went with SILVER! I really like white wheels but I think they look better on ealier bays, especially USA buses with white roofs. I thought I stay OG and go with silver and I'm really happy with the results.

Check out the before and after:

I got them done at 1st Class Alloys in Lichfield nr Birmingham. Great service. Very happy with the finished result.

nice one mate! hows the rest of the bus?

 

[davesmith84]

Nice one squareweave. How would I know if the sealent is 'non-corrosive'? I just bought some cheap trade stuff from B&Q. Haven't applied it yet so I can go get some more if needs be.

I can't imagine what a 'curved syringe' if used for!

Coming together Robb. Rear wheels are back on, although I haven't removed the horseshoe plates yet. Just need the wheels out the way for now. Callipers are rebuilt, beam is back on the bus and three torsion arms are back on. Rain stopped play at the weekend and I've been needing to weld the ends of the leaves together so I can locate the arms properly. Fingers crossed for drier weather this weekend. Man, I need a garage!

How's your 72? I need to catch up on everyone's build threads actually.

 

[Robb]

good stuff, I think silver wheels will look a lot better with the body colour than white.

your motoring along then!

72 is fine, I think- put it away in a friends barn back in November- glad I did with the amount of rain we've had!

rebuilding calipers is one job I didn't enjoy! :lol:

 

[squareweave]

Nice one squareweave. How would I know if the sealent is 'non-corrosive'? I just bought some cheap trade stuff from B&Q. Haven't applied it yet so I can go get some more if needs be.

I can't imagine what a 'curved syringe' if used for!

It should say on it, but sealant that is used on flashing and gutters of houses id usually non-corrosive. If it smells like the stuff you put on your chips (vinegar), it'll rust out the seam. :lol:

 

[davesmith84]

Right, new stance served...

I'm really pleased.

To recap, the bus is now on a stock ball joint beam with T2D adjusters. I've taken the horse shoe plates off the rear but kept the CE spring plates. The spax rear shocks will be going on the front and I'll put stock rear shocks on the back. I'm hoping to keep the front bumpstops, probably just cut down a little bit. Tyres are 185/60 on fronts and 185/70 on rears. I think I'd like bigger tyres on the back, maybe even larger than stock!?

It drives like a boat again :mrgreen:

Still quite a bit to do but hopefully should have it all complete by the end of the weekend.

Oh and he's in desperate need of a wash and wax!

 

[davesmith84]

Front wheel hubs rebuilt last night with new bearings. Surprisingly easy to do!

I rebuilt my track rods too with new boots and grease.

Brakes to be fitted and bled tomorrow and I should be done.

 

[junglefacejake]

Charging ahead my friend
Still, going to be busy soon

 

[davesmith84]

Certainly will be Jake!

Brakes all bled, just need to adjust rear drums and handbrake.

Had to cut off the front bump stops in the end. I did cut down the rubber to about 15mm but the raised but on the casting of the lower arm was still hitting the bump stop arm over speed bumps. I may invest in a Red 9 design lowered bump stop arm although the tyres didn't hit the arches. I think there's enough clearance between the tyre and wheel arch, combine that with spax gas adjustables and I think I'll probably be OK. I had about 3 fingers of tyre to arch gap before, now I have over a whole fist! (oooo errrrrr)

Struggling to get a ball joint tight enough and getting camber set correctly. Tough getting sockets and spanners in there due to the brake backing plate. May have to strip down to the hub to get it tightened. Getting there though!

 

[davesmith84]

Bit of an update...

Decided to pop one of these out:

Which has slowed down progress some what!

Anyway, I took Guido for an MOT but I took him to a new place as it's much closer to my work. He failed! The first time in 4 years! The fact that he failed on still having euro lenses though says more about my old MOT inspector than it does about the condition of my bus. He also failed on a rear bearing and handbrake efficiency - so all in all not too bad at all.

So, the last few weeks I've slowly done a few bits. I've done both rear bearings and whilst I was at it I've repacked the outer CV joints with new CV grease and new boots (old ones were starting to crack, inners look good still).

I've also decided to go for dropped spindles as I'd like to close the front wheel arch gap just a touch but any lower on the adjusters is going to seriously reduce the amount of travel I have in the front suspension. I've gone with the safest option with is the new Vintage Autohaus spindles but this means I'll need to fit late bay brakes again. Luckily I picked up some fairly cheap late bay brakes from the late bay .com and I rebuilt them last weekend.

I also started to install my original full width westy bed which I've had for about a year sat in my shed! It's so much more solid than what I had in there. I'll be using my own kick board though so the original one will be up for sale.

That's it for now. More very soon hopefully.

 

[squareweave]

Congrats on the little one!!

 

[junglefacejake]

When you say late bay is that 73 onwards?

 

[davesmith84]

Yes, I believe so Jake.

 

[junglefacejake]

Why are you unable to use the 71 callipers?

 

[davesmith84]

The Vintage Autohaus spindles only accept late bay brakes mate