Come on Paul....keep yer chin up!
Once on the road you'll ne beaming like markp...
I am fitting my interior panels at the moment..
My post needs updating but I am plodding on..
Pop top fitted and works well..
Work needed on headlining edging not sure what to do...

Interior furniture woodwork all restored, Interior panels restored and most fitted.....
Finally got rear hatch lock apart and re-tumbled to match the cab door locks
Just musing on fitting the floor panel and vinyl flooring..

Keep going...an easicool will appear soon!

Rippers wrote:Not done a think since that last update

I've gone really negative about finishing it again.. which is crazy as its probably a long weekends work to get it ready for MOT.. I just don't have my head in it at the moment

HEY you've come this far!!
Get your head right,still time for a couple of trips out this season
Didn't have you down as a quitter fella!!
Tony C

Paul
Get that MOT done!

Soon be tripping and smiling...

Rippers wrote:Not done a think since that last update

I've gone really negative about finishing it again.. which is crazy as its probably a long weekends work to get it ready for MOT.. I just don't have my head in it at the moment

Go into the garage and polish a panel (I love doing round the headlamp bowls), it may not be on your list, but will give you a bit of van love time

It is one of my rules: Little and often keeps me HAPPY...




I am always fiddling....




...and it is amazing what you can achieve...




ususally fiddling with locks and trim and cookers and lights etc.....

I know I need to get back into it, as per usual I have been finding other distractions too.. sold my Early Bay and '64 Beetle as they where distracting me from finishing the Split and ended up buying a Late bay Westy and then a couple of weeks ago I bought a '63 Puck.. I need my head examining where actually I need my back examining as I have crazy sciatica pain down my right leg at the moment.. I blame camping for two weeks in the T5 grr


The Puck




The Westy




and a few shots from the holiday we had in the California in Almeria

Cool.


...

and not so cool.....

Sorry to hear about the sciaticarse. ...
I have suffered the same for 40 plus years. ... but it does diminish and come back when I do something stupid....

Hi Paul.

hey come on now, such a lovely bus and nearly nearly there.

we're all wishing you well and willing you on, although I can understand with you're bad back.

Type21f is right, little and often.

do yourself a list and try to make a bit of progress on one part at least every other day, even if you don't finish the task that day - you will have made a bit of progress, and then 2 - 3 weeks down the line the list will be a lot smaller and you'll be chuffed and will probably find some time at one weekend to finish it off.

Laura is kept a few miles away from me, and its outside a BnB, so popping out isn't always an option. I've got Monday and Tuesday off work so I'm spending them working on Laura - I am hoping to have her pretty much road worthy by the end of play but I have a nasty feeling that the 9 pin relay is shot and I'll have to buy a new one.
I don't mind, but it's the waiting. I really think I'll have everything done except the damn relay. we'll see.

As for you tho.

write the list, come on, you can do that with a bad back.

and like type21f said - soon you'll be beaming like MarkP

Jason

Right ok.. going to 'try' to make Brighton Breeze in the Split. I'm in the mood and going to try and dedicate some time to it over the coming weeks.

Mean while I'm also going to tag on the Restro of my '63 Eriba Puck and my '71 Westy Trailer to this thread.

Ok first one up the Westy Trailer.. I sold my last Westfalia Essen trailer which was a later one as I always wanted the slightly earlier one with the lighter wood and rear hoop stands.

6 Months later I found an early one (1971) with potential and picked it up last friday on the way to my Brothers wedding up North





Owned it for all of 5miles and was rear ended at a roundabout by a Lorry driver that wasn't paying attention! lasts 41 years before meeting me, 10mins later and its buggered lol



So basically going to have the rear hoops re-fabricated and straighten out the frame and replace the Hella Lights. The plan is it to strip it bare, have the metal powder coated off white, new tyres/bearings/suspension bushes, replace/restore the wood, find/fit a new lock and find/fit a spare wheel carrier... and fit some Westy uprights to the lid.

So the trailer in its new damaged state:-

The vin plate, the second number of the Fabrik nr (Factory number) denotes the year of manufacture so 1 means 1971.




The hitch arm doesn't have the usual Westy tag and I assumed this meant it had been replaced or missing but it turns out that for one year only.. 1971 they didn't put the tags on!.. I'm assuming thats probably because they used the Winter Winterhoff hitches which had their own tag which has all the relevant info the Westy one would have had, so they stamped the arms with the factory instead too which I found.





The underside is good, the metal wheel arches are going to need a bit of attention thou






More on this soon..

Next up Puck Rodgers. I have fancied a Early Puck for a long time. Early as in a Smooth skin without the fridge vents and plastic windows, they are also lighter and more suited to being towed by a Bus, later ones (mid 70's) started to have a dimple effect skin which not only doesn't look as good but is also nigh on impossible to repair. After being out bid on a few that sold just under £4K and just over £4K one popped up that looked a bargain for the money... oh when will I learn.. .. wait and see how this one unfolds lol

I wanted early and early is what I found! this one is a 1963, my Split was built in dec '63 so quite fitting Earlier Pucks the lighter they are, the tag claims its 400kg which is the load limit of the the Westy trailer above!

Early original Pucks are unbraked (no parking/hand brake either) have 8" wheels (10" ones on the later ones), the opening door is square and all windows bar the front are glass.

The Puck as purchased:-












Came with its original receipt too from 1963




Next update will show you want an absolute lemon i've bought

Other then the fact it needs tiding up the Puck had a few things I wasn't happy with mainly being the fabrics inside in general and the crappy cheap carpet that had been stuck to the inside walls. A later fridge had been fitted BADLY, the front curved window was crazed and the rear window had been replaced with a sheet of perspex and all the fittings missing. The hinges on the door where home made jobbies and one of the rear number plate lights was missing its cover. All this I was prepared to live with for the price I paid...

The plan was to have it resprayed pearl white to match the split, fit new seals, get the rear window replaced and re-trim the interior in a Devon style.

Eriba Pucks are basically steel framed with aluminium panels and a fibreglass top.

First thing to sort was the inside smell.. it smelt vile like mouldy damp plastic is the only way I can describe it. I initially blamed the fridge thinking it was because it had been left closed. After anti bac'ing it and leaving it to dry it obviously wasn't that. I took the curtains out and washed them, took all the seat cushions out and the smell hadn't gone at all.

I decided to take all the seating area woodwork out and see what was behind the carpet on the walls.. wish I hadn't








It just so happened that the night I was stripping the inside it was absolutely ....... down out side and it was absolutely ....... down inside too! from the rear and the near side window area... this has obviously been going on a long time! check out the frame







The wooden batons on the rear lower panel had rotted to dust!




This is not going to be a light restro now this is a full rebuild. Interior out, floor out, roof off, aluminium panels off.

Despite its age their isn't too much original about this Puck and with the difficultly in finding parts for it some are going to have be fabricated
or similar alternatives.. so I've decided to have some fun with it along the way with personal touches

Will update as I go along.. if anyone is interested that is

cant wait...you need to check out the guy with the acme bus's thread on steering box scrapers or whatever they are called...he went to town on a famila, but the resto thread may help

http://www.steeringboxscrapers.net/foru ... &start=525

maddison wrote:http://www.steeringboxscrapers.net/foru ... &start=525

link not working

should work now