Jimmy our 68 westy

[creationblue]

Soon be back on the road and super solid! Staying L87?

I hope so mate. L87 all the way

Perfecto!

 

[67westy]

Welding has actually finished now Panel beating and prep ready for paint will start soon. Here's the last few welding pics:

Rear arch cut out

Rear section replaced

Lower arch in place

And the finished product

Last bit was a dodgy looking seat belt mount, luckily it was just the outer skin

 

[68_early_bay]

How's it coming along??? Any paint ?

 

[67westy]

No paint yet unfortunately Stuart and Drew have had a van in that has taken longer than expected so there is a bit of a delay with ours. They have repaired the westy roof though and some bits are in epoxy, from next week the attention is back on ours so we should see some progress

Did have this arrive today though:

And inside was this

Picked it up from a guy in italy, NOS 68 mirror in near perfect condition.

 

[68_early_bay]

Oooooh shiny new :shock: :shock: :shock:
I want one

 

[Doris]

That mirror is lovely....And rare!

 

[67westy]

I had to find a new one really, the old one was a bit too tatty to go back in a shiny bus Been looking for one for a while now!

 

[Marriedblonde]

loving the thread. Your bus is in almost the same sort of condition as mine

 

[67westy]

loving the thread. Your bus is in almost the same sort of condition as mine

Just been looking at the pics of yours and I see what you mean What plans have you got for yours?

 

[Marriedblonde]

Just been looking at the pics of yours and I see what you mean What plans have you got for yours?

Uncanny isn't it I've gutted mine and have acomeplte new interior to go in, retrimmed seats/door cards, new headling etc.

Mines in for it's MOT at the moment (I've still not got it registered) I had planned to run it for the summer and take it off the road over winter to have the body work done but I quite like the RAT look and after having it checked over it is really solid with no welding.

So my plan is:

Lower it, new bumbers, new 15" rims (all on order) and spend the money I was going to spend on the body and have a large lump built, new gearbox fitted instead.

I think with a bit of polishing, touching up the bosy will look the right side of ratty...

But if I am being honest I know when I see the final pics of yours I am going to be extremely jealous and change my mind. The only worry I have is if it is too perfect (and lets face it what comes out of midlands is absolutley F'ing amazing) I think I would be scared to let my kids climb all over it...

So for now I am sticking with my original plan but lets see the final pics of yours and see if I change my mind I have a sneaking suspiscion I may...

 

[67westy]

Sounds like you've got big plans for it! I know what you mean about being protective over it, I'll certainly be a lot more careful in car parks and parking miles away where it's quiet :lol: Should the worst happen though I know Stuart and Drew will get it sorted. I think getting the body work sorted was the best thing we've done, it uncovered a lot more work than I expected. I knew there were a couple of bits that needed attention but it would have been a lot worse had we left it longer.

Less than 10 weeks until our wedding now so time is beginning to run out! Stuart and Drew are pulling out all the stops so hopefully it wont be too long until we have it back

 

[creationblue]

Adam did you order your door cards mate?

Oh and I hope your spending this much time & effort on the wedding

Just

 

[67westy]

Oh and I hope your spending this much time & effort on the wedding

Just

:lol: that's Hannah's job. I just have to get the van ready and turn up in a suit

Not ordered the cards yet but I got the samples, cheers for that! Hopefully found an original set in excellent condition courtesy of Strongy. Popping over to look at them next week so holding off until then.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[67westy]

The guys have been working hard this week, many hours spent straightening up the body work:

The rear arch was a way off being straight:

Rear corner looking straighter:

The front panel was quite crinkly :shock: :

Pin welded:

And after a lot of hard work and skill:

Can't imagine how much effort goes into to getting it as straight as possible with the minimal amount of filler.

 

[creationblue]

This is gonna look great!

 

[67westy]

More progress this week, it's moving fast now!

Blasted seams and repairs

Then it's been phosphated, keyed and baked

Then epoxied and baked again

 

[68_early_bay]

Getting there happy days 8)

 

[68_early_bay]

How's it coming along ? Any top coat??

 

[67westy]

Last update I had Drew was still working on the panels and prepping for paint, sounds like he's spent some serious time on it! hopefully not too long now until the painting starts.......

 

[67westy]

I thought it was about time that I tackled my jalousie windows as they've been sat here a couple of weeks now. I was recommended Meguiars NXT metal polysh and it seems to do the job well! I don't have the time right now to strip the windows right down so I'll be polishing the visible bits and seeing how that goes.

I started with the mozzy net surrounds and rubbed on a layer of the polish and then attacked it with a felt wheel on a drill. A quick wipe off with a clean cloth and this is what you get:

Took about 30 mins to do the outside of the first surround, I reckon I'll get quicker though. So hopefully 4 or 5 hours work and I should have realtively shiny windows