Loxys mini-resto/arse in gear thread - RESSURECTED

[Loxy]

Bought my 72 dormobile bout 3 years ago now I guess & despite it being a one owner rust free 40k bus, I seem to have managed to make it worse & worse rather than better :lol:

Haveacamper & I are booked up for EB3 and its going in the show&shine (nothing to do with the free camping whatsoever :wink: ) So the time has come for me to get my arse in gear and give Loxy the attention she so desperately desires.

The PO had her resprayed a good few years ago for no apparent reason (possibly due to some minor passenger door damage??) & it was a pretty poor job with some of it just peeling off - so I started to help it a bit

So this is what she looks like at the moment.

I rebuilt the engine a while back so it is now running a 1700 (74mm crank, engle 100, 36 drlas, turbo thomas exhaust etc)

Interior is all original & it is still rust free other than a couple of little dings - if a little untidy.

We have used her for a couple of family hols inc. trips to Hungary & Scotland, but not enough really.
So its time to knuckle down, continue to scrape off all the re-spray paint & then polish,tidy up, sort wheels, some decent front seats, repaint underside & fit all the stuff I have squirrelled away around the house.

I should at this point point out that my greatest fear is Haveacampers van being ready before mine is

Heres some pics of my mates kids holidaying in the van (his father-in-law was the first owner).

The little kid is about 22 now I think.

 

[Haveacamper]

good on you mate.

i will be pushing you on this as hard and persistantly as you have been pushing me

NaFe

 

[Loxy]

good on you mate.

i will be pushing you on this as hard and persistantly as you have been pushing me

NaFe

I need it hard to get me going :wink:

 

[Justin & Muttley]

I need it hard to get me going :wink:

Surely you didn't expect that post to pass without comment? :lol:

Your bus looks just about ready for the show and shine if you ask me...

 

[Loxy]

J&M, your mind is obviously in the gutter :lol:
Can you not picture the innocent scene of two grown (bearded & sweaty) men in a barn late at night with their vans going hard at it :shock:

As for the bus well....
Its the nitromors look dontcha know, its this years must-do bus mod 8)
If anyone wants their bus "sorted" in the same way PM me :wink:

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Ever the trend setter...

 

[Haveacamper]

is there any progress on this resto thread?

NaFe

 

[Loxy]

Well EBI3 is nearing and I still havent completed (or anywhere near to completed!!) work on the van

latest pics of my paint scraping efforts:

Still havent decided on wheels:

I have half finished installing a new steering wheel though :lol:

But havent finished filling all the holes in the engine tin

So I'm currently hoping to win the tattiest paint job prize at EBI3.

On a positive note I have bought the following (but havent fitted any of it)
CB & Antenna
opening 1/4s for cab doors
grille trim (not the outer edge one but the 2 piece one
a New aerial for the radio (with an Esso tiger in my tank tail)
Jail bars for rear & side windows
An old radio to go in the dash
& lots of other little bits & pieces I've forgotten about.....

 

[71Dormobile]

Whats the plan then are you stripping it all to bare metal longer term?

 

[Loxy]

Whats the plan then are you stripping it all to bare metal longer term?

Nope (although it may appear that way in some areas :lol: )
Gonna get it all back to OG paint then polish it up, touch up a few holes & dings, then drive it like I stole it

 

[andewilson]

a bit of t cut and it will come up like new mate

 

[Loxy]

a bit of t cut and it will come up like new mate

Thats exactly what I was thinking when I started it

 

[ant]

Nice wheel 8) ........ i was looking at something similar at bus types but i don't think i can bring myself to take the old one off the van after it been there so long.


Anyway, whats with the red tints on the instrument cluster?

 

[Loxy]

Nice wheel 8) ........ i was looking at something similar at bus types but i don't think i can bring myself to take the old one off the van after it been there so long.


Anyway, whats with the red tints on the instrument cluster?

That is a one off custom digital "kienzle" clock - made by my friend about 30 years ago for his father-in-law who owned the bus from new - priceless - literally
Just below it on the steering column is my cruise control lever

The Wheel was a real pain to fit as the indicator stalk hit the rim - had to dismantle it then bend the stalk straight & then re-assemble - which isnt as easy as it sounds :evil:

 

[ant]

I see, lovin the retro mods ...... how does the cruise control work then?

 

[STUMP]

Loxy, i like your style I have also being going down the nitromors route. I started off buying a compressor and DA sander but the tank just drained straight away so after 20 secs of sanding i had to wait 30 secs for it to fill back up again :evil: it was like torture. So i thought fook it , it can't look worse than a paint job with runs in almost every panel can it?????? Then i had one of those moments when you wish you hadn't started something :roll:

:mrgreen: MAYBE WE CAN HAVE OUR OWN NITROMORS LINE UP AND START THIS YEARS NEW TREND :mrgreen:

no more rat and narrowed its stock and STRIPPERS all the way

 

[STUMP]

Had another go this afternoon. Wot kind of scraper are you using as i'm starting to go bare metal in places Are you using green tin or yellow tin of nitromors ?? I'll probs end up sanding it all down and respraying as it must of had a different colour door on at some point

 

[Loxy]

Had another go this afternoon. Wot kind of scraper are you using as i'm starting to go bare metal in places Are you using green tin or yellow tin of nitromors ?? I'll probs end up sanding it all down and respraying as it must of had a different colour door on at some point

was using green tin - however I now have some other make that doesnt work quite so well - which is good as its harder to make a mess of the OG paint......

Mostly I paint it on wait 2 minutes then rub paint gently off with wire wool - this normally leaves a thin layer of primer ontop of the OG paint so I then leave it a bit then have another go - the primer seems to come off a bit quicker & i use a very fine scouring pad to remove it - then lots of water.
The OG paint seems to be pretty tough - I tried a small test area and it wasnt shifted after I left it for a got 4-5 minutes.

My respray was a particularly bad job though so it may come off easier than most?? In places it can be removed by using thumb nail 8)


Nitromors lineup would be good - but we better be quick - I'm back out there tonight :lol:

 

[froggy]

After reading this i'm tempted to nitromors my van :shock: :shock: .
The paint thats on it now has been sprayed over at least 2 other coats of paint, the thumb nail test proves this :lol: :lol:
Seriously though i am tempted with nitromors but think DA might be quicker (i've got an electric DA), not to worried about trying to save the OG paint as i'm spraying back to original colour.

 

[Loxy]

After reading this i'm tempted to nitromors my van :shock: :shock: .
The paint thats on it now has been sprayed over at least 2 other coats of paint, the thumb nail test proves this :lol: :lol:
Seriously though i am tempted with nitromors but think DA might be quicker (i've got an electric DA), not to worried about trying to save the OG paint as i'm spraying back to original colour.

I would go with the DA as well if you arent looking to keep the OG paint, but give the nitromors a try - there might be a good solid OG paint under there somewhere

Nitromors is the new Rat look