Hi guys,
Sorry it's been a while but it's been quite hectic. We brought the bus back from Lee on Bank Holiday Monday, still some trimming issues to be finished off but nothing major. Lee has got the seat cushions to do for the Rock N Roll bed, the cushion on the parcel shelf, front carpetting to footwell and two door cards either side of the Rock N Roll bed. The whole of the interior needs to be removed so Carl can Waxoyl everything before the final fit.
As you can see there has been a lot of work done but there's still a lot of work to do and because of the amount of work left and the level of finish we're all aiming for, once again I am going to miss the Breeze with the bus but will definitely be finished for the Final Fling at Woolacombe. It's just not worth trying to rush it. I will be at the Breeze so hopefully I can meet up and have a chat with a few of you.
As for the photos, the trim panels that Carl made that go across the top of the cab doors and down the windscreen pillars turned out amazing with no issues on the closing of the doors. Was down in Devon last weekend and trial fitted my unit in. Everything seems to have worked out well, just got to finish off the secret fixings for the piece of oak which to cooker unit attaches to when it swings out. Lee has done an unbelievable job on the headlining but because it's so black it's hard to appreciate.
Because we're using Autometer gauges, the speedo is electronic which works on four magnets and a sensor, similar principle to what you'd have on your pushbike. These magnets normally attach to your prop shaft but as we all know, we don't have prop shafts. The alternative to that would be to araldite them around the edge of the drive shaft on the trans axle but this is not a particularly good idea as they float up and down and also they say if your sensor is too far away from the head, you'd need extra magnets but they don't tell you what that distance is. So I came up with a different approach to the problem, I suggested to Carl that we made a spinning disc that we could place behind the speedo where we could place the four magnets and the sensor and we could run it off of our original speedo cable. Carl then took this idea and took it a stage further by dismantling the original speedo, manufactured a drum mounting that would take the four magnets and the sensor. This has worked out extremely well and should eradicate any problems with cable lengths as it'll only be a few inches from the back of the speedo. It probably would work putting it on the drive shaft but we didn't fancy that solution.
Here are some pictures...
Here's the finished cab headlining, including the finished trim panel above the cab door and down the windscreen pillar. The headlining is as tight as a drum.
Also a very neat job round the spring area which will be inside the overhead locker.
Carl tells me this is his favourite part of the bus. I think the real reason for that is because this part is actually finished!
This is the seat that houses the TV behind the panel. I can't wait to see it when the cushions are on.
The panels are held in on only a few clips at the moment, just for a trial fit but you can get some idea of what it's all going to look like.
Lee has still got to do inside the two pockets by the seats in black carpet. Carl has also made some covers that will clip over the front of the openings which will also be carpetted.
These are the front door card speaker covers which Lee has scultured. This is one of my favourite parts (Also because it's finished)!
These are the deluxe trim which we all know fits around the front cab seats. These took me a couple of years to find. Lee has now retrimmed them for me. I love the stitch line down the centre. I also have a spare top one for the passenger side if anyone needs one?
This is the piece of oak with the secret fixings on. You can also see the hand beaten trime panels that Carl has made to fit around the door.
These are all the trial fitting pictures of the interior. I was really pleased because everything has worked out spot on. The carpet looks shiney in the back area as it's got carpet cling film on to protect it.
These are the brackets I made from some scrap aluminium to hold the TV seat to the floor. While I was making these, I thought I'd make a stop so when the unit swings back in to the bus it will butt up against the buffer and there will be a shoot bolt coming through the bottom of the back to bolt in to place. The bolt will then go through the bottom of the buffer plate which I've made. I've also made and fitted a small caster wheel which sits under the bottom of the swing out unit so it will role nicely on the carpet.
This is a sheet of 3.9mm thick playwood which will be bonded to the underside of the pop top. In the previous post, you saw Carl cutting out the existing aluminium which will help to lighten the pop top and also I can get some 25mm thick insulation for those cold nights. You can see where I've hafd to router out so it'll sit over the gusset plates which were bonded on to the roof for strength. I had a trial fit the weekend and was well chuffed.
This shot is looking through the windscreen appature.
Here you can see the boards for the Rock N Roll bed which I had Lee wrap in black vinyl. All the joins are hidden behind the box sections of the seat frame for a really neat finish.
These are some of the fixtures and fittings that Lee's trimmed ready to go. The sun visors are re-trimmed in the same material as the headlining. He makes a sock, slides it over and then they're hand stitched at the back top edge, really neat.
I wish I'd taken a picture of the back of the handle to show how neat it is. This too is hand stitched.
Here is the speedo that Carl adapted for the sensor for the Autometre gauge.
These are the shots of the bus now Carl has started to rub the laquer down. This in itself is quite a task with all the rubbing down, colour sanding and waxing and polishing.
We've also now got the glass in and the sides and the tailgate so it is slowing beginning to look like a bus again.
You can all see the amount of work that has gone on recently and is still on going but shouldn't be too long and I'll be driving it again. I can't wait to see all the chrome work going in.
Hope you like the pictures.
Regards.
Steve.
