Mike Fs "Devon be gone" 72!

my good friend Mike F has been talking about getting rid of his pop top for a while now. when Graham L pointed me in the direction of a good RHD tintop for a nice price the pop tops days were numbered.
Mike F n another good friend Terry (harliquin) went to birmingham and picked this big old lump of steel up one sunday morning. you dont realise how big they are till you try to get them in the back of your van as terry found out! the doors wouldnt close but thats what ratchet straps are for!! :shock:

anyway during the Xmas break Mike brought his bus up to the workshop

a genuine RHD deluxe 72 devon, we were looking at cutting through the roof pillars but as it turned out mikes roof was so much better along the gutters that a roof cap swap is being done instead

lots of grinding and drilling gets you to this




then a few more days drilling 100s n 100s n 100s... of spotwelds out you get this

you can see the rot at the back corner so im reusing mikes existing corner

well a few more days with a grinder and wire wheels you get this...
i had to strip it as the roof had been hand painted a few times



a little rot in the gutter


and its gone



the silver paint is Upol weld thru primer, great stuff but £17 a can!!!!!!!!!!

the middle strengther that devon remove was salvaged from the donor roof and refitted to mikes bus



the roof has been trail fitted and looks sweet, next week its welding time!

good work there.

8)

With all that work I'm surprised but delighted to see that Chris is able to keep a thread going with details of the work he is doing. What a guy eh?!! Who's next to be giving him a resto job on their van?

Grazy will be pleased to hear that the doors are not going back on, Chris is looking to source a couple of rust frees. The old step block by the sliding door is due to be removed as well as the giveaway latebay line at the bottom of the replacement front panel. Thanks though to James Wotton who did that jobs in putting the low lights in the right place for me. That was all before I had any idea about Crossovers etc.

We'll be thinking about the paint later but Chris is making some interesting discoveries as he works on the bus.

Last but not least Chris knows how to get the brms to fit properly. Should be looking rather good by the spring eh?!!

Cheers Chris, Terry, Morris & Graham L.

Mike was that not a bit "shit yer pants scary" seeing the top coming off? and thats the busses top not Chris's

It is a bit worrying I have to say, but Chris gives you all the confidence you need. You just have to see the pics of his bus to know mine is in good hands. What is more odd is seeing my bus undergoing work that I thought just happened to other peoples' vans!

Good work guys!

Some serious work going on guys 8)

Mike, why the tintop :?:

this is abit strange.... as i too am changing my poptop to a tintop, but you guys are way ahead of me :lol:
me and a freind picked up a good tintop roof just after xmas, should be getting it fitted next month.
i'll keep an eye on this thread for tips

i do love to see a little, or a lot as it may be comittment in a project. the heart in your mouth feeling when you know that you have cut past "that point" i would have loved to have done my roof the same as this, but the rear gutter on the donor was a shocker so i had to joggle a patch in. keep the brit vans alive.


theres something to be said for going through a maccy d drive through onyour own

gninnam said:

Some serious work going on guys 8)

Mike, why the tintop :?:

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The old roof had a nasty patch of rust just above the screen as well as rot around the air vent at the rear. Without taking the top off we didn't know if anything was lurking under the side slabs of the poptop which leave little clearance to the gutter. Cutting out the rot was not going to be easy.

Add to that the fact that in six years the only time I'd had the pop top up was at Vanfest in a lineup a few years ago. The old top had been re-skinned so was too heavy for the springs so it wouldn't stay up without a block of wood chocking it. During the day I have the table up so cannot stand up in the van anyway.

Plus the very good reason that vans look that much nicer with the tintop not a block which does nothing for the graceful lines!

Mike F said:

Plus the very good reason that vans look that much nicer with the tintop not a block which does nothing for the graceful lines!

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Oh Yeah you knows it

Mike F said:

Plus the very good reason that vans look that much nicer with the tintop not a block which does nothing for the graceful lines!

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Ohh - have to agree to disagree on that one :lol:

Understand your choice now so good look and I will keep an eye on this with interest :mrgreen:

Araon said:

Mike was that not a bit "shit yer pants scary" seeing the top coming off? and thats the busses top not Chris's

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personally im still bricking it everytime i go beyond the point of no return, but at the end of the day its only metal, if i think back at how many times i could have easily ruined a customers vehicle..... luckily im a bloody genius! :shock:

Araon for a small fee i can send you an autographed 6 x 8 moob photo, very discretly packaged... the wife will never know! :shock: :shock: :lol:

slammedkustom said:

...if i think back at how many times i could have easily ruined a customers vehicle...

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...been thinking about the work I want you to do...

Baldrick said:

slammedkustom said:

...if i think back at how many times i could have easily ruined a customers vehicle...

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...been thinking about the work I want you to do... [/quote

Trust him. Book the van in asap as he'll have queues when this is done!

Aw shucks SK would you do that for me

Nice one Mike. Look forward to seeing this. Tintop Devons all the way !

Wish I'd got mine done like this rather than letting those cowboys ( sorry local VW specialists ) loose on it.

Definitely better than a pop top on a Devon anyway. They leak so much water and rot the van from the inside out.