Taking time out ..

[Hilly_70]

Hi chaps ..

Been off here for a while and out of the vw scene as I reached one of those points where I guess the best thing is to just step away for a while!

Few niggly bits pissed me off with my bus resto and I haven't touched that or the beetle for 6 months plus ..

Cut a long story short, I spent 2 days trimming all the window reveals in the bus with perforated headliner fabric, HD spray adhesive and a heat gun .. ya know one of those jobs that just takes a while to get right .. but I did and was really pleased with it.

I also fitted new front underseat rubber mats from Heritage ( that I had bought 12 months or so previous ) tucking the lips under the edge next to the dog legs where they go and it took ages to get them just how i wanted them before fitting new seats ( non standard )

.. so what happened ..

The glue decided that after a week of so it would turn to back to liquid form and ALL of the liner fell out ..

The brand new underseat rubber mats i fitted ( well the one on the drivers side ) decided that it would just 'perish' and fall apart before my eyes .. other side fine .. drivers side .. *****!

Anyone else with any probs with these?

Pressures of this, Mrs inflicted deadlines to finish it or get rid, work and stuff .. just threw me off it completely and I went from loving it and doing a bit everyday to not even bearing to look at it when i went in the garage ..

Anyone else?

..even stopped coming on here ..

Anyway .. Im back ..

lets see how it goes!

See if i can lift the dust cover!



Hilly

 

[*Sam*]

Yep defo had moments like that at the minuets I have a whole house to decorate so I trade 2 jobs on the house then 1 on the van.
Doing it this way seems to keep my motivation up for both projects.

Stick in there mate it will be worth it.

 

[ozziedog]

Hilly, :| know exactly where you are. I had mine off the road for nearly two years with new roof panel required, cant rails, one side of van etc etc etc , it was just me doing it, every weekend and some evenings and bank holidays and when Mrs Ozziedog went on hols, got to the stage where I was toying with chucking it in about two three years ago. Little dog (nephew) and some of his mates came round to give me a boost just for one evening and one was a car glass fitter. That got my bus back on the road and off to the Oktoberfest which rescued my sanity. It`s still not finished and I still had another side to put in him and there was a hell of a lot of gaffer tape involved in the mot, but I know now that I`ll always keep him rolling and resto-ing at the same time otherwise it just won`t work for me. How these guys keep going for year after year with the vision of perfection is a bit beyond my grasp :? Mine don`t win any shows and as far as I know,,,,,, he`s only ever got one vote :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: and that was from Telford Mulisha`s kiddies because they is a bit wacky like me :lol: I hope they like what I`ve done to him now :shock: But sometimes a break is the order of the day to sort of balance everything up,,,,,,,,, sometimes you got to really give yourself a great big kick up the pants to remind yourself what you is doin and why,,,,,,,,, and what the end result will be, even if it`s a show slayer or a roller resto that gets used, just get him rolling asap 8) 8) 8)

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Get camping mate :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Quincey]

I agree with ozziedog. Take a break now and again and try to keep your frustrations to a minimum. Easy said than done, I know.
My bus ain't no show stopper, but it keeps me sane. What with work, tending to the garden, decorating the house, housework to keep the mrs happy (happy wife = happy life), three young daughters one if which has gymnastics 4 times a week totalling 13 hours blah, blah, blah.
Gotta get my head in a different place and the bus and this forum does it for me.
We need to Keep the faith and don't let the bastards get ya down!

 

[Hilly_70]

cheers chaps ..

All wise words ..

My plan is this .. GET IT MOT'D .. Then I can drive it, albeit empty .. which will inspire me to complete it.

I think I had this stupid vision of it rolling out of the garage complete and shiney .. Ah well!



Hilly

 

[ozziedog]

Hilly, if you everbump into me at a show,, just have a look at what I drive, it`s almost complete bodywise (almost) the interior in the cab is,,, `Original' and I got a rock and roll bed, a basic portable camping stove, a washing machine drum that I can BBQ on and do Pizzas on MMMmmmmm pizzas 8) and a home made cool box that will keep a mountain of Stella cold for a long weekend. I have a leisure battery that`s only hooked up to a cigarette lighter with crocodile clips but not hooked up to anything of any use or rechargeable at all :roll: but I can charge me phone up And I got a battery powered radio, and battery powered led magnetic lights, an old gazebo and an easy chair It`s perfect,, absolutely perfect and who gets waved at the most ???? My brother in law in his all singing all dancing T5 whatever it is ,,or me ?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Simples Just keep it simples :mrgreen: 8) :mrgreen:

 

[dazza1975]

i bought mine in feb 2012 which was imported from texas, being my first ever vw that i had owned i hadn't a clue, thank god for this site which made me feel very welcome and answered the silliest of questions that i had, and there was a few :lol:

Our first official trip was vw skegvegas with a further week in skeggy and i wouldn't swap it for the world now. 12months ago i would have given it away but thank god no one came knocking.

The biggest issue i had was the weather as all my work was done on my driveway under a tarp or a gazebo before it was blown away in a storm. I would have given my right arm for a garage as the weather was my biggest contender.

To keep my spirit up my wife gave me deadlines which i must say did help but due to the weather kept moving!! My last deadline was my sons leavers prom which with help and encourage from good friends i managed to hit and the look at my sons face when we turned up at his school was worth every bit of the resto, good and bad!

Still have a few things to do like mop the van, recover the back seats and bits and bobs but really glad i managed to keep the faith!

Chin up and it will all come together in the end!

 

[Supertramp]

I couldn't imagine working on a bus that wasn't on the road. When I have a bad day with the bus, I just take it for a drive and immediately love it again.

 

[5erge]

Had my for 4 years, most I'd ever driven it was 40 yards. I had young family growing up around me and considered selling my bus many times, I even put an ad on here for it. I took 5 months break from it and never even opened the garage.

I then took the decision to send it off to midland earlybay and Graham finished off my bus for me and got her MOT'd. I'm in the process of getting her registered and my enthusiasm has come back.

Can't wait to pick her up but I'm at the mercy of the dvla.

Des

 

[Trikky2]

Agreed. It's no bad thing to take a break from a resto if you can. Otherwise it becomes like a job rather than a hobby and there is a temptation to start cutting corners.

Re the adhesive, I have always bought the stuff direct from a local trimmers. They tend to have it in bulk so you will need a suitable container. The stuff I used was a special automotive trimmers impact adhesive which resists heat and ageing. It's sort of runny and looks like honey or treacle but smells similar to evostik (which it's not).

It's less easy to use than household impact adhesives because its runny but it's well worth the effort because even after twenty years it still holds everything in place perfectly.

 

[gninnam]

Glad your back dude

8 years and counting for me and still not road worthy.........
Know the feeling and it is good to leave it for a while then have another crack.

Hope to see some pics soon
:mrgreen:

 

[steamo]

This sounds massively familiar, took me 7 years to do mine. During that time there were numerous period of 6-9 months where I didn't even look at it. I even restored a mini and a mk1 golf as interim projects. Came incredibly close to swapping the unfinished project for a T25 but the guy changed his mind at the last minute, that was the impetus I needed and I knuckled down and got it on the road. Boy I'm glad I did now!!

It is worth it believe me.

 

[Hilly_70]

Cheers guys ..

See the thing is .. Im quite close!

Bodyworks done .. its in paint ( except the doors ) .. Mechanically done except a brake pipe ..

just seems harder the closer you get to the end!

.. Im gonna do some this week in the eve's and stick some pics up!



Hilly

 

[ozziedog]

Well done Hilly, sounds like you can almost smell it, maybe even taste it,, the bus when he`s on the road will be a different beast to you. It won`t be that troll that sucks all your time, energy, motivation and money any more,,,, it`ll be exactly what it should be, your pride and joy, your passion, your lump of cool, and your enjoyment because that`s what it`s all about,,,,,,,,,,, enjoyment. You`ve done a lot of `time' with this bus and you are nearly at the stage when you will get some rewards

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,, Next summer,, you`ll be laughing about this post :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[toffo24]

Hi Hilly , keep the faith fella, I had mine in paint, 95% complete running etc. but I had a electrical fault that would not go away, it also sped me from driving it on the road and getting it MOT'ed, 4 months looking at wires does your head in and I must admit I contemplated pouring the bus with petrol and burning the bloody thing! Anyway I suppose as we have all had our low points and having meet so many people though this forum, I can honestly say its one of the best clubs that I have ever been envolved with.

Keep on going, get the doors in paint and the brakes sorted and your bus MOT,ed and I look forward to sharing a bear with you at a show next year ....

Pete


Ps OZ love your bus fella .... Especially the the new paint job..Louise wants them bumpers and roof on her first car.

 

[ozziedog]

There`s a couple of piccys she can copy :mrgreen: Tell the rest of the gang, I can`t wait till we all hook up again, I just got back from a week in Cornwall and I really did not want to go to work today, you just can`t beat this country when there`s a bit of decent weather about . Going back to the bumpers and pop top trim, not sure on how long it`ll stay like that but then again tell Louise I might re do them again and she can park next to me at wherever we meet next.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,, Love to the gang Pete :mrgreen:

 

[our bus 68]

Yep, I've just been through that too....

Van had been off the road since feb 2011 and in need of a replacement engine. Totally lost interest especially as time was spent more and more with my best mate who was dying with a brain tumour.

However in the last few months, I have fitted my replacement engine, got a set of newly upholstered seats, and a pair of 68 only sun visors after looking for nearly 7 years.

Really got the bug again now and hoping to get the van MOT'd in the next couple of weeks