1970 DORMOBILE - COMPLETE RESTO - IT PASSED :)

[pinheaduk]

found a bit of a mess on the ns panel upper which had rotten through the side of the channel so had to repair it

pic of the area needing repair after cutting out the worst of it

repair piece tacked into place to see the fit

then once happy welded into place

once its ground back it will look lovely

 

[pinheaduk]

also finished off rear arches

Now for the fun bit the ROOF CHOP

NOW YOU SEE IT

NOW YOU DONT

little bit of help from a friend to get the roof back on scary stuff when you think i could have a dormobile pickup

once we were happy with the chop we put the replacement on just to see hat needed altering and fettling with

then a few tacks and tried the door, i was expecting to have to do a bit of work with the door the get the fit right again with a new roof

3 sides arent bad with the lines, just one side will need tweaking

at the top its a decent fit but the bottom will need a bit of fettling either with door or body

 

[pinheaduk]

after more tacking and fettling welded into place and with the roof line welded i put some roof supports on the inside as so it wont sag in the future which was recommended by a few people the dont look the best but the headlining or overhead unit will cover them

i also opened up the inner corner so i could weld the suports back together

will weld back in the peice i removed so will look original

took forever spotwelding so it wouldnt warp as much and it wasnt bad just knackering and boring hehe

the ugly roof supports

finished welding both sides and primed them to protect overnight

 

[pinheaduk]

ok here goes with friday afternooon couldnt do anything in morning mum works nights on thursday so the grinding would really piss her off

and just noticed camera has put times stamp on

whilst i was welding bits and pieces on one side of the bus my buddy and myself were grinding back welds and putting a skim of filler on o/s of the bus

niceeeeeeeeeeeee

hoping to use as little as possible and not doing to badly so far secong coat

its going well this week done more in one week than i thought i ever would, yeah must admit bit peeved that i have to mess with rear hatch door to get a better line but, very happy with the way the roof went on, but i would definately prefer to do a full roof chop rather than a rear end one

next week will be hopefully bposts panels behind front seats, sliding door, which has the loveable expandable foam in, whoop dee do, [ why didnt i scrap it -- NEVERRRR] got the ns rear and sliding door window lips to repair. and maybe start doglegs, arches, aposts etc front inner outer should be fun

oh yeah cant forget the front chassis just as bad on both sides

alli need now is the money and panels, so im off to torquay center to sell my body but not hoping for much. beggars would get more than me

 

[kempy]

You make me sick.

I wish i had the skill to do what you can

Can't wait to see it finished. Keep up the good work.

Mike

 

[dandaz]

Trouble with doing these sort of buses is the underseal plastered all over the place....


My thoughts are with you.... :lol: :lol:


Nice roof chop.... 8)

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Inspirational, truly inspirational! Keep up the good work fella...

 

[pinheaduk]

ok quick update, not had chance to do much over weekend ended up fitting a bloody kitchen after the missus went shopping lol

so only had chance to repair the os rear window lip

as can see was in pretty dire condition

after wirebrushing and grinding the area clean and leting the brush poke holes every where was able to do the repair in sections rather than one whole piece

1st bit i did

tacked in place to line up

and after welding, grinding priming

the rest of the lip

tomorrow if i get chance ill close up inner rear corners behind vents after opening them up to weld inner supports and might attack the sliding door

 

[froggy]

I'm glad that my bay is nowhere near as bad as this (well i hope it isnt) anyway keep going i'm sure you'll get it sorted.

 

[Guest]

i havent ventured to remove the full belly pans yet, im getting frightened

 

[pinheaduk]

give them a whack with your fist, if you hear losts and lots of stuff jumping around, then start to wonder what could be lying on the pans but i doubt it will be as bad as mine hehe, not many are, a few are but not many hehe, unless you got yours out of a swamp you should be ok

 

[pinheaduk]

quick update

didnt have chance to do much this week as parts ordered not arrived first time for everything but oh well, gonna attack it next week and try and get done what i hoped to have done this week

 

[pinheaduk]

ok today i finally got around to doing a few things, first of all i cleaned out the garage, was a real mess old cutting discs welding wire, and rust all over floor

pictures taken with camera phone as mum still on hols

once done i welded the rear inner corners back after welding inner supports

will look so much nicer when i grind the welds back

then finished the ns rear wheel arch another repair panel that is no where near the right size to fit

ground back the welds on the roof and put a quick skim of filler, will nedd a lot more filling and sanding back to get this straight

then painted rear cargo floor area black, looks lovely

 

[pinheaduk]

seeings as 90% of the chassis and underside has been replaced, i was tempted to put belly pans on the van, but not too sure

what would you guys & gals recommend???

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

I was thinking the same,but have decided not too,it's easier to keep an eye on the underneath,cheaper as you don't have to buy new ones and easier as you don't have to do it :wink:

 

[pinheaduk]

I am now on my 7th grinder good thing i keep the receipt for some reason the brushes burn out so quickly and then lovely plumes of smoke as the grinder dies.

so i have now decided to give black and decker a try, was damn annoying as i was starting on the rear front seat area, b posts and doglegs oh well roll on tomorrow

and i have chosen the colours

sandalwood beige and white for the roof

 

[pinheaduk]

ok well progress update, aftr getting my new grinder i started on the n/s b post and the rear seat area so i could finally sort out the sliding door outer sill

as you can see the bpost area is messy and as i was in the area and they needed replacing i cut out the dogleg and wheel arch, as the chassis also needs work as shown in earlier pics so might aswell get the area ready ish

post in place so put the rear seat area back together turned out nicley doing it in sections

next i thought id try the sliding door repairs or some of them

 

[pinheaduk]

well the door is a real mess, had more expandable foam inside it than ive ever seen the window lid is non existent and the bottom of the door had liquid metal, pot rivets, and shite everywhere
i put the door on and lockied it in place, then cut outer stkin off to see how bad inner was, in fact it was bad, no bottom to it lol

so cut the bottom off and tacked the bottom inner in place to see how it lined up

after a bit of fettling sat quite nicely so put the outer skin on

bottom line seemed ok just a little tweak and it came out ok

then put first layer of filler on ready to be skimmed and re applied, the usual boring job where everything ends up your nose

also started work on the drivers side bpost and same with dogleg and arch but they wont go on until front chassis repaired and aposts etc

 

[easy]

keep it up dood, not far now :wink:

 

[Guest]

top job on the slider, thats not an easy job at all :wink: