Ok so it’s someone else's project, but it was within 95% of what I wanted, I can still stamp my mark on it & would have cost me nearly the same to reproduce……..if I could have found one as solid and genuine with its original paint! A deal was struck & she was mine.

The Bus was imported by the previous owner in 2003 from Arizona were it had stood in a barn for 17 years, it then stood another 5 years in his workshop before being restored over another 5 year period (in between other projects). The only metal work replaced was a cab floorpan, inner & outer cargo door sill & a small section of floor. Just some of the work completed is listed below


The shell was stripped and sand blasted underneath then etched primed, followed by 2 coats of high build primer then stone chipped with colour laid over. Inside was also completely taken back to bare metal and repainted including all doors/frames and door shuts. On the outside the new sill was painted together with some small areas around the windows, these were blended in and aged with the old paint. The engine bay was stripped and repainted including the engine lid (inside).

New 1641, Engle 110 cams, twin Empi 34’s, recon beetle box, straight axe conversion, vintage speed exhaust, type 3 rear brakes, adjustable spring plates, CSP 14" front disc brake conversion, dual circuit master cylinder, T2D 4” narrowed adjustable front beam, dropped spindles, Creative Engineering rack and pinion steering conversion, vintage speed shifter, modified splash tray, all new cables, brake pipes, hoses etc. Fire trace automatic engine extinguisher.

Fully sound proofed and insulated, ply lined, stained and varnished in a dark oak, so42 interior fitted which includes bed/cool box/sink/electric running water/wardrobe/overhead locker/buddy seat/stool/table x 2/all new upholstery in a distressed leather look vinyl including front bench seat, new curtains.

Creative Engineering safaris & pop out frames, new rubber seal throughout, rebuilt door locks all on 1 key, new wiring harness, Dakota digital fuel & temperature gauges.





















































































And the only photo I have of her at home, which some will recognise.



Couple of interior

Karl,

Looks awesome mate...

Awesome bus! Building a 58 Mango along the same lines!

Thanks

A few more photos until I get her outside.









As I'm a CNC machinist for a living, I thought knocked up a keyring. Not completely perfect, but version 2 is on the way.



Etch primed & mango paint filled then back in the oven for 20 minutes



Surface wet & dried back with 1000 grade to keep a satin finish, then 2 coats of satin lacquer & baked again for 20 minutes. I then lightly cut the finish with Menzerna 203 polish.

Very nice Karl

I do love a Mango (especially from 1960 ), but then again I would

I hope you enjoy the bus this summer

Phil.

OxonPhil wrote:Very nice Karl

I do love a Mango (especially from 1960 ), but then again I would

I hope you enjoy the bus this summer

Phil.

Thanks

A few shots out in the sun.

What an absolutely beautiful bus that is Karl, bet ya chuffed to bits with it!! Do love a mango

what a cool bus is this pffff
keep up the work

dustysplit wrote:What an absolutely beautiful bus that is Karl, bet ya chuffed to bits with it!! Do love a mango

s-workz wrote: what a cool bus is this pffff
keep up the work

Thanks, appreciated

Very special bus, love it ...

Managed to do a bit on the bus this week, gave it a light service oil, filter, strainer, rocker cover gaskets ect to cure the light weeps. Ended up fitting a Scat billet sump plate after the tin replacement was in worse condition than the warped tin sump that was already fitted. Can no one make a quality steel sump plate or did I miss it!

I also done some work on fitting the rear lap belts (thanks to VanBonden for the belts), although not ideal, they will get me buy until I can fabricate something suitable for inertias. Probably going to borrow some of OxonPhils idea.

Machine a piece of 50 x 50 x 6mm angle with several hole combinations to allow for lap belts in 2 different width positions & a hole combination for 3 point harnesses.

Plate machined, etch primed & satin black. 4 mm thick spacers machined to fit inbetween the panel form & the bar, plus 4mm thick square washers to fit under the nuts on the underside to help pull everything up. I also machined a curved washer with a 430mm rad to fit into the wheel arch incase I need to use it as a mounting point. I just need to machine a convex washer to mount on the inside (OCD!) all plate are zinc plated.

I then machined some rubber washers 1mm smaller than the plates,(think I'm loosing the plot) these were glued to the back side of the washers.











Also fitted a brass 1/8 BSP brass Massey Ferguson drain tap to my water tank as I wasn't happy with the bolt that was fitted as a bung.

Ive been playing with the idea of a throttle cable roller, due to stupid design of the cross bar linkage connection. So this week I made a couple of versions, one using the standard tube & one using a smaller diameter stainless tube which proved to be too flexible. I have yet to test this on the road but its a massive improvement to the staging cable in the tube

I machined the bracket from aluminium & the roller from acetal, although I may update this to a stainless roller. I may even make a small batch of these if testing goes well.

Looks good Karl. Nicely machined and finished. Be interested to know if the roller works as it's a common issue.

Biglozzer wrote:Looks good Karl. Nicely machined and finished. Be interested to know if the roller works as it's a common issue.

Thanks, I will keep you posted. If your interested in one, I will make another for test.