Jimmy our 68 westy

Bigbear said:

I fitted the LED bulbs in both of my interior lights and I've got to say I think they are to bright at night, they actually hurt your eyes! Think il change them back when I get time.

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They can be quite harsh, I found some warm white ones on ebay last might so I've ordered those as well. Could be a good compromise!

I presume that they only have LEDs on one side of the "bulbs"?
If so, why not try rotating them 180 degrees so that they are facing the roof?

gvee said:

I presume that they only have LEDs on one side of the "bulbs"?
If so, why not try rotating them 180 degrees so that they are facing the roof?

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None on the back so that could work, I'm hoping the warm white ones will be a good compromise.

These arrived today:



Just waiting for the hair pads and then I can get the seats sorted and go back to stock. Shame really as the current seats are really comfy but I need to use the cab hammock

Had my first drive out today since the rolling road and it still makes me grin It's the first time I've started from cold since and the idle is much better, before it really struggled until it had warmed up.

Just time for one little job today before driving off for a weding. Got a sliding door threshold trim:



Just the job Waiting for some half decent weather now so I can wash the van ready for wedding duty tomorrow........

Forgot to post a pic of wedding duty

Well I wanted to fit the accuspark module that arrived earlier this week but didn't fancy sitting in the rain to do the timing so got on with a couple of small jobs in the dryness of the garage.

First was to fit some engine bay lighting after being inspired by gvee



Works a treat, got a shed load of LED strip left over as well so need to find other things to illuminate :lol:

Also received my "warm" LED bulbs for the interior lights so now we have this:





Feels easier on the eyes, light is closer to an incandescent bulb and much less clinical than the bright white so happy with that (as is the wife which is the important bit!)

Hopefully Aircooled 15 tomorrow as long as it drys up a little!

Accuspark module in tonight:



Re-timed and running nicely

So I made a start on the seats today, need them sorted before DATC.

Started with these:





Original padding wasn't what I expected:



And ended up at this stage:



Luckily they both seem to be in good nick, no broken springs which is a bonus. Tomorrows job is to give the exposed bits a rub down and a paint to smarten them up a bit. I bought a copy of KYBA to see how to do them, not a bad write up for the easier passenger seat. The drivers seat just see "do the same again for the drivers seat", great :roll: It looks far more fiddly as you can't lay it flat, any tips?

Took the hair pads out today ready for post painting and noticed that I ordered 2 sets of back pads by mistake :evil: :evil: :evil: Job for tomorrow to sort that out, my plan to get them done this weekend is obviously not going to happen now Will give me time to look at the luggage rack and change the rubber mounts I guess.

The original padding on your driver's seat looks pretty good.

My top tip :lol: would be to use a work bench, because of the number of times you have to keep turning the seat over and around to get the covers looking right.

Also if you have time, paint the corners of the seat frame if not painting the whole frame, as you only see these anyway when the seats finished.

mike202 said:

The original padding on your driver's seat looks pretty good.

My top tip :lol: would be to use a work bench, because of the number of times you have to keep turning the seat over and around to get the covers looking right.

Also if you have time, paint the corners of the seat frame if not painting the whole frame, as you only see these anyway when the seats finished.

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I was impressed by the padding but taken the opportunity to change it anyway, seems the sensible thing to do as I only want to do the job once :lol: I'll be using the dining table as a workbench just don't tell Hannah

Painted the frames today, quick coat on all the outside frame but particular attention was paid to the bits on display. Painting isn't my favourite thing but it looks better than before.

Hopefully sorted out the luggage rack. Looking at these it's easy to see why we had the occasional leak. Old rubbers were rock solid and one was an improvisation:



Also bought a new camping chair today, something a bit more comfortable. I think it'll be a while until Penny is big enough to steal it



Tomorrow I'll start the padding, hopefully the bases might turn up.....

Got this far tonight, just waiting for more padding:



Really not looking forward to getting the cover on the drivers seat, it's all a bit tight

Nice! They will be proper comfy when finished! 8)

one other tip you may have read is to use cling film/plastic wrap over the horse hair if the covers are really tight (they shouldn't be though).

This helps the covers slip on, and of course you pull away the plastic afterwards.

Cheers for the tip mike, I put another layer of padding over the horse hair so wasn't too bad really. Got the passenger seat done tonight but managed to put a small tear on one of the seats due to bad technique Not the end of the world but very annoying

StuF said:

Nice! They will be proper comfy when finished! 8)

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I'm hoping so

So heres the extra padding:



And passenger seat complete:



Still not looking forward to the drivers seat!

Done a great job on that seat love your build, keep the pics coming!

:mrgreen:

DeeDeeTheBay said:

Done a great job on that seat love your build, keep the pics coming!

:mrgreen:

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Thankyou!

Well tonight the seats got finished WOOHOO:



Was harder than I expected but got there in the end. I think they may need a little adjustment once they've had a bit of use but I'll see how they bed in. Very pleased with them, going to look into getting another passenger seat back cover due to the small rip.

Penny has tested the seat and approves :mrgreen:

Well it was just under 2 years ago when I did this :shock:



Managed to get it down to Midland Paintwerks for repairs

More damage shots:







Being fixed:





Looking good



Picking it up tomorrow :mrgreen: Means spending most my birthday on trains and travelling but I think it's a good birthday present

Super job on those seat mate and very envious of you having your paint work done at MPW.

*Sam* said:

Super job on those seat mate and very envious of you having your paint work done at MPW.

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Thanks They do a really good job, wouldn't take it anywhere else now.

Collected the van on Saturday and after getting home cracked on with changing the seats. Started off with these (will be for sale shortly if anyone is interested):



Got some new passenger seat mounts from buttys bits, really good quality and a perfect fit . Don't say that very often when I buy parts!



Seats in:



Penny testing the bunk:



And this arrived yesterday for my birthday Could be having pizza at DATC if I can fit it in:

Awesome pics mate - seats look fantastic and Penny looked comfy on the hammock!
Looking forward to the cruise down on Thurs! 8)