Gunter - 69' Adventurewagen conversion + Dodge & crewcab projects

[thejones's]

Hightops for the win!
They are THE bus for 2015! 8) 8) 8)

Love the AW roof! It's the only one of all the hightops/pop tops we could agree on. Searched for ages for this one!

 

[Myvanway]

Nice patina on the roof, the AW hightop is cool and makes the van more practical. 8)

Cheers - shame to hide it, but this is the most practical way for us to keep our bus.

exactly. 8)

Good hit.

 

[thejones's]

Not much progress. Ordered the adhesive over a week ago but it's yet to arrive! And found some original style window seals for the opening windows from a place called vintage trailer supplies in the US.

after a lot of sanding/buffing, we have a shiny hat!

 

[Aircooler]

Nice! Looking forward to see the roof on your bus!

 

[admwllms]

Love this thread. Looking forward to seeing the roof too!

 

[thejones's]

Well Mother's Day meant that the dads were both round ours so with the ladies all out shopping, and dinner in the oven, we cracked on and fitted the roof.

Went well with no real issues other than getting the adhesive all over us. I used Sicaflex221, which I was recommended by every place I spoke to. Apparently its the same stuff windscreens are bonded in with, so should be up to the job. We used 5 300ml tubes in total.

Fitting was straight forward, apart from the fact we're all shortarses. Basically cleaned all mating surfaces and mounted the roof on a couple of 3x2's. This allowed room to apply the adhesive, lift, remove the 3x2's and carefully lower the roof down. Any excess adhesive was then removed and lots of wedges stick in to press the fibreglass top to the roof. Used a trailer strap to hold the front whilst the adhesive dries.

Still tempted to pop a few screws in, but don't reckon it needs it. Seals for the windows, ordered from the US arrived Friday, meaning I should have the bus watertight soon. Turns out the windows are Hehr items, the same they use in the Airstream caravans. Pics;




Father in law getting sticky


Done

 

[dazza1975]

Looking good! :!: 8)

 

[thejones's]

Looking good! :!: 8)

Cheers fella

Picked this up today. Going to be a mini me of the bus. Figure with another baby due in the summer, we'll need something to cart the extra stuff around.

 

[thejones's]

We've been cracking on when we can, around work and DIY. With a short break in Windsor next week we're cutting it a little fine.

To make it watertight, the windows needed stripping and re sealing as did the skylight. I've reinforced the roof to take out the sag using 10mm box section bent to the roof profile. I've also reinforced the cut sections at the roof edge




No sagging



Windows in



Started fitting it out a little. The front bed sections coming together as is the rear storage cover. In still figuring the best way to fabricate the pull out bed, but for now its not a priority. Seagrass headlining we had on the tin top roof before, has been extended onto the high top.








Last, but definitely not least, Gunter is stuck in the garage! Our current doors are about a ft short, so after a trip to buy wood, the new doors have been started. I had to take a lot of bracing out, hence the circular/semi circular bracing pieces - the whole garage, apart from the doors is reclaimed (free) timber, so inside isn't too pretty, but its solid, dry and presentable from the outside.

 

[Lee C]

Ha ha class!!.,
He's stuck in the garage!
That'll keep him in tip top condition for years to come!!!!

I'm well impressed that a change in family size , simply means a change in bus size!!!
No panicking , selling it & buying a fook ugly caravan, like some people do :roll: mentioning no names !!!

Interior work looks spot on & the "bonding" session with the olds looks fun!!! :lol:

 

[*Sam*]

Looks fantastic, great work.

 

[gvee]

I full on love this bus!
Love the change of direction with the roof; gutsy, practical and will look rad.
Encore!

 

[thejones's]

Cheers for the positive feedback guy's

Its finished for now. got the garage doors mounted yesterday and he's now free to roam the inside lane of europe's motorways one again!

The interior has a little finishing to complete, but its dry and we're off to Windsor tomorrow to take the kids (and me) to Lego land - and the weathers looking good too! 8)

Few pics from yesterday and today...Id like it a litttle lower, but its practical at the moment.

New garage doors - not pretty, need painting/staining, but cheap at £136 all in - and very home made :?


He fits!


first outing this year...

 

[Myvanway]

cool as. 8)

 

[admwllms]

Looks awesome. As already noted, I love how you kept it and modified it rather than getting rid because of a growing family.

 

[thejones's]

Looks awesome. As already noted, I love how you kept it and modified it rather than getting rid because of a growing family.

8) Cheers fella's

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Awesome transformation. Well worth the effort.

Your starting to make me think about something similar for my clan.

 

[mychatype3]

nice, lovely bus

 

[subheatadey]

Cool bus and if you get bored you can flip it over and use it as a boat

 

[thejones's]

Cool bus and if you get bored you can flip it over and use it as a boat

Even got a little one for the kids :lol: