my 1971 danburyfalia pop top project

[andewilson]

cheers mate. ive got a few bits planned for the lower dash aswell. im planning on frenching out the glove box and fitting two fold out screens (one to run the sat nav for the driver and one for the passenger to watch a dvd while on the move) then in between them i'll fit the pro logic controller

the wheel is on a pop off boss so i can share it between my golf and my camper. alpine made it in conjunction with momo about fifteen years ago to fit in there lambo diablo show car and they sold a few as a limited edition For £600 each. i managed to scoop one on flebay nos 2 years ago but still had to part with £180 for it.

 

[T2-Nate]

cheers mate. ive got a few bits planned for the lower dash aswell. im

the wheel is on a pop off boss so i can share it between my golf and my camper. alpine made it in conjunction with momo about fifteen years ago to fit in there lambo diablo show car and they sold a few as a limited edition For £600 each. i managed to scoop one on flebay nos 2 years ago but still had to part with £180 for it.

:shock: I hate you guys who know just when to score a nice item on ebay 8)

180 quid instead of 600 is a great deal for such a rarity! It doesn't look too intuitive but that's
Alpine for ya :mrgreen:

 

[Nelly]

Andy good to meet you at Breeze, just looked at youy dash your doing some good work 8)
Any new ideas after the show?

 

[andewilson]

Andy good to meet you at Breeze, just looked at youy dash your doing some good work 8)
Any new ideas after the show?

yes mate, but all of them pretty much consist of stealing all of yours :mrgreen: the sound of your bus leaving mediera drive was my favourite part of the day. awsome

 

[Nelly]

No worries mate. If my bus can be of any inspiration to someone restoring a bay then they are more than welcome to take my ideas,the more good buses on the scene the better :wink:

 

[andewilson]

did a bit on the bus this week. it took ages to weld the new inner bottem to the slidding door as my welder although being awsome at welding chassis work is a little too powerfull for the thin stuff.

i hope to get the inner section painted in por15 so i can fit the outer skin this weekend. then i can get the door primed and moved out of the way. to concentrate back on the van floor

 

[Guest]

i have to say im envious of your welding skillz :mrgreen:

looks really tidy

 

[andewilson]

not much progress on the van as of late as soon b***ards moved out of one of my flats having made a real mess of it so ive spent the last three weeks grafting on it to get it rented out again :evil: ive resorted to simply spending lots of money on my parts hoard for the bus since i cant actually get round there to work on it.

parts bought this month are dropped spindles from wagons west, $500 all in to the door when the rate was 2 to 1 and i only got stung £20 by customs which was a bonus.

and my most recent buy was a polished rear safari from ce. £320 all in. bit of an extravigence but i wanted to buy it before the bus goes in for spray.

and i final little treat for me was a pearl mlx durm kit from the early nineties from ebay as i sold mine years ago and have wanted one again since joining my band six years ago.

seriously broke now

 

[Guest]

question about your welding, are you using CO2 or Argon/CO2 mix?

 

[andewilson]

i used to use a little portable mig with co2 bottles from machine mart. it was good for intricate work but cost nine quid a bottle so cost quite a bit.
now i use a 180 mig welder with a huge bottle of boc argoshield, argon/co2 mix. very smooth and great for thick metals etc. though i do now struggle as my new welder is a bit powerful so welding v thin metal requires so patience as it is easy to blow through

 

[Guest]

i had a thought it was argoshield. nice smooth welds with little blow through. I'm having trouble blowing holes with CO2 as i think its a hotter gas than argon/co2 mix. Guess i'll have to fork out on argoshield to get the thin stuff right.

 

[andewilson]

when doing any thin plate work like bodywork i find that it welds better with no gap at all on the butt weld. i tried the frost clamps which give you a 1mm+ gap to fill up but with a powerfull welder i found that blowing through was a big problem. with no gap it seems to weld smoother and the and due to the higher power penetration is fantastic. it only do one spot at a time then move well away, its only when i get impatiant and go for a second spot that it ends up melting through. :roll:

 

[andewilson]

not spent any time on the van for the last month which is very disheartening. but managed to finish off the flat renovation so should be back on it later this week. and cant wait. i got a new phone a week ago and managed to bluetooth a my photos from my last two phones on to my new one which has now enabled me to get them onto my laptop. heres a few that o have took over the last two plesurable years.

 

[cunning plan]

Just read your blog from start to finish and ... WOW. You sir have skill.........

Now come do mine :mrgreen:

 

[andewilson]

if you can wait fifteen years till my business (dub works) gets up and running you can be my first renovation, and if im really lucky my van may be done by then.

 

[fahrvergnuegen]

i stopped at this thread an had to stop. just read all postings (which is a bit difficult for a german :wink: )
i love this thread - and just want to say that you are doing a really good work!!!

 

[andewilson]

cheers mate.

i've not touched the van for two months and its been doing my head in. i did plan on a full day last sunday but sadly went out on the saturday and suffered one of the worst hangovers ive had for years so the plans got canned.


however i did get permission from the wife to spend today working on it. heres a few pics onf the work



chopped the front skin off it which broke my heart as i had already replaced the top section and frenched the grill.
took me ages to remove all the plug welds.

sadly the a pillar on the drivers side has suffered from a serious rust issue over the years so i had to remove most of the edge

job done. killed off any more rust with jenolite the metal readied it so i can por 15 the two pillars tommorrow

then trial fitted the new skin to see if it fits

the badge bump and indicators will be next on the list

 

[Camperdan]

Yet more excellent work... good progress!

 

[gninnam]

Yet again, excellent work 8)

Still think you are very brave - keep up the good work

 

[BigG]

I so love this thread, glad your back on it 8)
The satisfaction you must get when you complete another section must be superb
This bus is going to be very special.