Hi guys,
Got back from Devon last night and was down there for a week. I think now we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
First up will be alterations to the front gear linkage rod under the cab floor. Those of you who will know, if you've got twin adjusters on your beam, the bottom adjuster can fail your link rod as it did mine. So first up was to make a jig to sit the gear linkage rod in so we could keep absolute dimentions correct of length and angles. This was done using a scrap piece of floor board and some blocks, ten minutes work but well worth the effort.
The next stage was for Carl to cut the middle section out so we could lower the middle to clear the beam adjuster. Once that was removed, Carl then made some drop plates. We then trimmed the section we had removed in the length so it would fit nicely between the two drop plates. Once we was happy with the amount of drop we needed, everything was sat back in to the jig, clamped in to position and then welded up. We then added some gussets to either end to add strength. We could then confidently fit it back to the bus knowing all the dimensions in length and angles were correct.
You don't need a massive drop, just enough so that it clears as you'll see in the photos below. This then went in the box for powdercoating.
After this we then tackled the belly pans.
I don't know if any of you out there have tried to fit these repro belly pans? Nicely made but don't fit! First up was the outer lip which goes up against the inner seal, it's the wrong angle! This was the first thing Carl and I had to address but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this. It's about an hours work. Once we had corrected the angle, they then had to be trimmed so that they'd fit in between the outriggers as the existing ones did. The existing ones were then welded to the outriggers but I wanted to make mine removable. So the next job was for Carl to make some angle sections which were then welded in to place on the inside of the outriggers (see photo below for this).
The next step was to readjust all the slots for the bolts where the belly pan bolts to the chasis rails. After we were satisfied that we now had a perfect fit, we then drilled a series of holes around the edge where it butts up on to the inner seal and also down the two ends where we welded the new support brackets on. Once this was done, we then put the belly pans in to place once again and could then drill through these holes which we had done to the belly pans and mark the corresponding hole on the brackets on either end and also on the underside edge of the inner seal. These holes were then drilled and threaded inserts were then clenched in (as you'll see in the photos).
We then had a perfectly fitting pair of belly pans which look factory. I already had my original belly pan which was then sent off for blasting and all three went for powdercoating in gloss black.
On my previous visit when I fitted the servo, it sits inbetween the two chassis rails on the near side under the floor, left of the centre belly pan near the front. I then decided it would be nice if we had a belly pan made to cover the servo which Carl once again worked his magic and produced. Once the belly pan was made, it had a small hole drilled in to the middle so any moisture that should get inside, will drain through. Once we was happy with this and it all fitted up perfectly, this also went in the box for powdercoating in black gloss and also the front belly pan which covers all the steering mechanism.
We always planned to run any cabling underneath the floor rather than underneath the ply or carpet so the way I did this was to use some flexible copex which is what is used in the construction industry, really nice stuff to use and very flexible.
I started out by drilling two 20mm holes through the floor which would come up inside my rock n roll bed, just infront of the wheel arch. I then did another two which will come up in my seat locker base which is behind the drivers seat. I then fitted the ends to the copex tubing, the ends just literally snap on. I then pushed up the fitting on the underside of the floor and then secured it with the lock nut on the inside. I then set about clipping the copex round the chassis rails and repeated the same operation the other end where it comes up in to the locker. I then threaded through a draw wire. One of these tubes will house the speaker cables, the other will carry any power cables. The advantage of doing it this way is that you don't trap anything under your floor plus if you ever need to get another cable in to the locker area, you just leave the draw wire in.
Once up inside the seat locker where the TV is housed, there is then a hole in the back of the seat locker which corresponds with the back of my centre console so the cables would then come up through the hole in the floor, in to the locker, through the back of the locker and in to the back of the centre console where the amp sits. This means all wires will be accessible should I need to change anything in future and nicely all out of sight. There will also be 240v in the bus inside the seat locker and also in the living area but outside.
I casually mentioned to Carl one evening as we was finishing for the day, what was the plan for fixing the front numberplate. Carl reply was that they were usually fixed to the front panel or the front bumper. After a short discussion, we decided we didn't want to do this so we came up with a new idea of constructing a mounting in tube which would bolt to the underneath of the front chassis rail, come up straight out underneath the front bumper and then return upwards with a plate on. The front plate which will mount the numberplate was then profiled to follow the curvature of the bumper. This will allow the numberplate to be bonded on to the plate with approximately 3-4mm behind the numberplate and the face of the bumper. This will make cleaning the front bumper easier and also give it an effect that the numberplate is floating. Once again, something else for the black gloss powdercoat box!
Carl has also made a new carpet threshold strip as you step in to the "chilling zone" 8) which is all hand beaten. Simply amazing!
I've also given the bus a first coat of spray on Waxoyl. Still more to be applied.
We've now refitted the curtain rail back in to the bus. This has been detailed in satin black with lots of little tricks done to it which will be revealed later! We made a gauge out of a piece of scrap tin so we could keep the correct margin throughout the bus as you'll see in the photos.
We've also detailed the window surrounds which as you'll all know, is normally silver. This is no straight forward job to do it properly! First you have to remove the scraper rubber from the bottom, then the frame work has to be prepared in various builds of primer and paint. Once this is all acheived then the scraper was bonded back on and then it's a two man job to re-revitt. To acheive the correct finish with the rivetts, as you all know how frail these frames are, we chose to take a pop rivett, remove the pin from inside, cut the rivett down approximately 4mm to length and then with myself supporting the frame work, the rivett was then pushed through, flared and then peened over. Delicate job but it's doable and time consuming!
Here's Carl once more beavering away, cutting and polishing the paint work!
Most of you guys will know, about a year ago I made two new brackets to mount the table which would screw on to the panel opposite the sliding door. I didn't like the Just Kamper ones I had bought so I handmade them from a block of aluminium which took me approximately 10-12 hours! When I looked at the table top the other day, bearing in mind it's never been fitted, just stored away, the Just Kamper table top bracket had just shattered across the screw holes! I never did like these ones either so set about making these also in aluminium all by hand as previously described. I didn't take any pictures of the manufacturing process as I had done previously for the other half a year ago and the same technique was used. Both brackets were once again completely made from hand from scrap blocks of aluminium but this time it took me four days to make the pair! So in total, to make these table top mount brackets was 5 days work but I'm chuffed with the results.
Now for the more exciting stuff!
As you all know, we've gone for the completely smooth look on the dash. To do this correctly, this is one hell of a job because the face of the dash needs to be perfectly flat to take the gauges and also when you cut all the middle out of the dash so it can be plated over, you have to temporarily put support bars in the back so it will stay in the correct shape. If you was to just cut it out and weld the plate in, the dash could twist and cause lots of problems. Also I wanted a fully functional dash which required quite a bit of redesigning. I wasn't particularly bothered about the flaps opening behind the front grill as I never really used them much before so we just blanked them off with clamps on the inside just to keep the flaps shut tight. I am now fitting quarter lights so I can just open these if I want some fresh air so that did away with one lever.
We then redesigned the heater control lever which took the air from the windscreen to the footwell. This will now be operated from underneath my parcel shelf, similar to the early bus but with a slight twist, no pictures of this yet but it's fully functional. This then left just the heater control from the heat exchangers. It was decided a long time ago that this would still have to be fully functional. The mounting bracketry that used to house all the mechanism behind the dash has been dismantled, cut, extended and moved back further away from the face of the dash and then Carl designed and built a very clever link rod which now operates the heat exchangers as originally but instead of coming through the dash, it now protrudes underneath the dash, out of sight. The length of the rod which operates the mechanism has yet to be trimmed to length, this will be acheived once I have fitted my parcel shelf. Once it is cut to length, there will be a nice aluminium knob fitted to the end. The mechanism is so smooth in operation as it runs through a nylon guide block, there are no rattles or squeaks and it operates fully functionally. Once again, a tribute to Carls design and build skills (See photos below).
Carl has also been busy wiring all the gauges up and redesigning the wiring harness. Again even though it's never going to be seen once the dash is all back together, it is still a work of art!
Carl made a couple of brackets to support the outside two corners of the over head locker. We'd already put threaded inserts in to the cross member before the bus went off to Lee the trimmer. Fitting the locker was a piece of cake, just lifted in to position and Carl reached inside and put the bolts in. There is also a bracket in the centre of the front as well. Once this was bolted up, we then screwed the back edge to the cross member on the inside of the tailgate. Everything worked really well with the draw sliding out ok which enables me to retrieve my table top from inside.
This is where we're at, at the moment. I hope you can all understand why we've had so many deadlines for this bus which have come and gone, but to design and build this bus has just taken an age but I know it'll all be worth it shortly!
Thanks as always for looking and all your comments as it keeps me inspired.
Cheers.
Steve.
the overhead locker is looking awesome 8)
