Whilst sanding the old veneer I caught a bit and it split, nothing that can't be fixed tho

I took the Og piece from behind the panel and then used the OG panel to mark out the holes on the new panel, nailed and glued them together, I used new pins and saved the OG ones as they wouldn't be on show and I might need some OG pins later.






Then I decided to make the little end wall to the wardrobe.




To get the right thickness of the extra strip I need to glue some pieces together. Orignally they were pinned but I thought I'd glue these as I was having to anyway to get the thickness right

Because this is the rear wall of the wardrobe and this wall is going to be seen I want the stain to go on even , so that means now messy glue anywhere. So I used masking tape. It was the 1st time I done this. I was really pleased with the results - shame about the glare from the light in the pics but you get the idea.



My next job was to have a look at the kick panel on the bulkhead seat.

this is pretty bad as you can see from the pics.

I was thinking of just making a copy of this panel but after my success with the other panels I have decided to see if I can give this one the same treatment. I think it's worth a go and even if it doesn't come out great it's only a kick panel and I can always make a copy if it turns out really bad.

Before I can start on the front I need to do the back as the stuff in between is pretty far gone.

To start with I need to get the 1X1 strip off but I know the nail heads will destroy the wood when they get pulled through so I cut the 1x1 to get the nails free and then push them out through the front.




I then took some of the veneer of the back and shaped a piece of flexi ply. I sanded the back of the board but I couldn't really get to much done as the wood is so soaked it just crumbles, but I managed to glue the back up and select a piece for the front before I decided to call it a night.

had another play with the wood work and I am getting close now , I can feel it.

I thought I might even get it done this weekend but there is lots to do and I can get distracted with other pressing projects such as getting the garage more work friendly and making house / garden nice and tidy.

Any way,

I thought this was too noticeable so I stained it and then the other bulkhead piece just incase it shows 5mm of the white wood when the fridge is in






then it was time to concentrate on the front.

1st I cut away the rotten venner and then made a trace of the shape, then cut the shape out but with an extra couple of mm





I then cut the bigger trace from the OG veneer

now that I had the bigger piece I lifted up the edge ans slipped the bigger piece under and then trimmed to a perfect fit.

then glued the lifted up edges back down and using the same method as before ( put tags over the glue and slip them out when the position is correct ), glued down then trimmed to size.





I thought I could get a better colour match , done a trial, masked up the OG panel so as to not make it darker and was really happy with the end result.





getting late now more updates tomorrow

one of the jobs I knew I would definitely need to do is make a hole in the rear wall of the long cupboard, this is to allow the sliding bar of the rear safari to pass through and thereby not smashing into it .

So I fitted the OG panel - or what's left of it and marked it up as best I could - I knew I'd be refining this several time to get it right



I then made a copy of the panel and transferred the measurements across and cut the hole to see how I'd done. this of course was going to be way out as I hadn't been able to close the rear door but it should get me started.



I marked up and had another go, you can see a diagonal line coming out on the top half up towards the left, this is where the actual sliding bar goes, this is marked onto a new template - MK 2

As you can see there are still some adjustments, this was furthered by sticking the 8mm support behind the template which I had so far forgotten to do




Bring on MK3







I am really pleased with how MK3 fits, however , whenever I made a new template there were always things seemed a bit further out than expected, maybe the drill holes aren't quite perfect - despite my best efforts. So when I transfer MK3 onto the piece already made I wouldn't be surprised if I had to make a little adjustment.

I 'd been at this for a good few hours now and fancied doing something different so got busy cleaning some of the OG pieces I'm going to use and made the decision that I am going to try and varnish in this mud nest. The wasps are LONG GONE but I thought it might be nice to keep a couple as they are part of the history to the van and there's no point in depriving the next owner - a long way off - of finding them.

I then got a bit fed up of tripping over all the thing I'd had out for a couple of days and so had a quick tidy up, then got distracted and built this



but a lot of stuff had to go back in and I'm still in the process of sorting it all out , throwing stuff away , and making room for more to come over.

looking good Jason

Bloody well done really ..... I lot and time and patience needed to do what you have been doing


well done



Mark

Thanks Mark.
I thought I was there when I got the MOT but interior needs quite bit more attention than I 1st thought.
But hey, that's how it goes.
Most panels have little bits of veneer coming off at the edges but theyll glue down ok, contact adhsive is pretty quick. Just there's lots of them. Some panels have a bit of bird mess on them but none as bad as the kickpanel under the RnR bed, so it just a case of a light brush so not to take of the paintina, a wipe/scrub with a damp cloth then a good wipe with another cloth and some disinfectant.
I'm doing that go all OG panels on both sides so I know they're clean. After all I'll be sleeping inches from them in a confibed space.
Once that's done I'll do my best to colour match any new panels and then its varnish time.

WOW !

Typing that out has made me realise just how far I still have to go.......

Jason

So , it's been a busy time lately, with one thing and another and it seems that time has been limited on Laura but I have been getting a bit done here and there.

one of the jobs I 've been putting off is the head banger shelf . It was mostly because of the time it took with all the little flakey bits and one edge and the time it took so this time I decided to stop faffing around with wood glue, tissue paper and clamps etc and just use impact adhesive.

The thing with impact adhesive is both sides need a coating and be left to go dry and tacty, not easy when they're still boned at one end. here's my solution.




then I found a piece of 1x1 that was quite far gone. so found a piece of OG 1x1 and replaced.



reused OG nails

This weekend I was at busfest and enjoyed having a walk around and look at everybody's buses.
I had sold some parts online, which was great as it helps make space in my limited garage( not anywhere near eought tho) and I also bought an exhaust that should fit Laura and enable me to get the rear valance and bumper on

I had yesterday off and decided I needed to be cracking on with the interior so 1st was to wipe any mess from the pigeons off, no direct hits like the 1st piece just splashes, not a lot at all - I'm so glad I took the time to cover the interior when I did. I nearly didn't as I thought I'd only be another couple of weeks, turned out to be a year or something !





here you can see one of the runners is going to need re gluing





and here you can see the bottom runner is going to need gluing back on





Another slight repair - impact again




Some of the pieces I decided to give a bit of a proper sanding, these were the pieces that are going to have contact with clothes. The reason is that the sun wood has become very brittle and flakey and when varnished that flakey parts become stiff and will catch soft clothes and blankets like sand paper.

pics or it didn't happen......




Every piece also got a wipe on both sides with some disinfectant. i had done a trial and it seemed quite gentle and didn't appear to any bleaching kind of effect but after it had dried I did think to myself that it seemed lighter, not a huge amount but I could of sworn I could tell the difference. maybe I'd got a bit carried away and rubbed a bit too hard or got the panels more wet than the trial, I have to confess - there was a part that was disappointed in myself. all that effort and I'd kind of failed at the last hurdle.

now don't go thinking that i'd bleached it all back but I could see there was a difference and it was just there enough for my keen eye to notice, it was just a little bit , a little bit , more than I would have been happy to say to myself, " nah it's alright".

I told myself it's done now and there's nothing you can do about it and at the end of the day , really, I am just being too fussy. I mean , it is still a great interior and it still has it's character, stains , and the dirt and the darkness - I am being too fussy.

and then it was varnishing time

This was a job that I had long looked forward to.
This day.
This day that things start to come together
This day is the beginning of the home straight.
I was so happy to crack the varnish open.

but nowhere near as happy as to see it go on and darken to wood back to it's former glory but now with a layer of protection on it for the next 50 years.

I am SO chuffed !

Did the post man bring you anything? Any use or not?
G

Ah, he didn't bring me anything
Here's hoping for tomorrow

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