Thanks Paul. I suspect it was my bus then - I've never heard of or seen another. Do you mean you are a previous owner or was it a neighbour? Bus is now with me in Manchester but previous owner lived in Macclesfield.

Ed Toogood wrote:Thanks Paul. I suspect it was my bus then - I've never heard of or seen another. Do you mean you are a previous owner or was it a neighbour? Bus is now with me in Manchester but previous owner lived in Macclesfield.

No, when I say it was parked up, I mean for like ten minutes or something! I expect it was you driving at the time. There's a coop near my house so you could have popped in there.

It wasn't long but if there's a bus on my street I don't miss it! It looked in quite good nick to me, I wouldn't have guessed how much rust it was hiding.

Ah, I see now. To be fair the bus wasn't hiding a huge amount of rust - it's just taken a long time to get what there was fixed...

Ah, I see now. To be fair the bus wasn't hiding a huge amount of rust - it's just taken a long time to get what there was fixed...

Got half of the windows in last week. Forgot to buy the popout inner seals though which was a pain. There are so many to remember!

This week I'll get the remaining windows in and build up the cab door tops. I was dreading that job as I didn't take them apart, until I found this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=59380&start=60

What an absolutely fantastic thread. After reading that I don't feel so worried about the job in hand - and I've also been able to get a couple of parts I'm missing and otherwise wouldn't have discovered until part way into the job. Cheers Jayvanman!

I really like the look Very nice.......

First door top built up. Need to put the 1/4 light in tomorrow. Rubber is all in though.
Also the last of the other windows will go in tomorrow.

Still plugging away at putting the van back together, with the aim of getting her back on the road for spring. She's moving under her own power now which is great - albeit the brakes aren't working yet

Recently I discovered that one of my alloys has cracked - they are EMPi 5 spoke replicas (but old replicas so I don't really know who made them). They've cracked from the centre cap out to the bolt. I presume this is the common place for them to go.

Give that they aren't original I'm reluctant to get them repaired. Does anyone have experience of alloy repairs if I did decide to go down that route.

To be honest I think the question is what to put on to replace them? Budget means I'm looking at a new set of replicas. I'm thinking about either a straight swap for some new EMPI 5 spokes, but am tempted to change it up a little and go for Slotmags. In terms of who's wheels to go for I was thinking SSP, but not 100% sure. Any suggestions welcome.

I had a horrible moment when I realised that I was going to have to make a hole in my prestine new paintwork. The Reason? The new cargo door skins were made without a hole cut for the door handle! Nobody noticed this including me until the van was painted.
Well that was all a few months ago and I've been plugging away at the rebuild and ignoring this job, as I was .... it. But today I braved it and here are the results - Not actually fitted the handle yet but you get the idea....
I'm really happy and glad I took my time.
The hole was c 14mm so I started out with small drill bit and drilled from the inside so that I could line up the fitment of the mechanism. It was scary drilling outwards through the top-coat but it held up nicely. Then I got a small round file and started working the hole, then progressed to a bigger file until finally I got the size I needed. Trial fitting the handle helped to ensure I got a good circle.
I'm so glad I didn't drill the hole in the end, as I think I may have got distortions in the door. Filing only took a few mins so definitely worth doing it the slow way!

Your bus looks ace Edd compared to when I owned it and it will be stunning when you've finished.

I've a SO42 that John at VW Welding is currently working on. It's funny but I only found out that he'd worked on your bus after we had been chatting. He was busy last week fitting a new sill, cargo floor repairs, jacking point and door bottoms. He still needs to replace the wheel arch, complete long panel, front valance and cab floor. He's a really nice fella and his workmanship is excellent.

Regards, Paul

Hi Paul,I agreed with your comments about Jon. Certainly helped me out of a spot when I was staring at a pile of bits and a part welded up van! He'll probably laugh at my previous post about cutting that hole - bread and butter to a chap like him but a .... cake to someone like me.
Who are you using for the paintwork on your van? I used Jon Cooke and would recommend him too.
When are you planning to get yours back on the road? I'm hoping that I'm not too far off now so should be ready for the end of road salting season.
Cheers
Ed

I have been faffing around with the aerial on my van for a while and found fitting the bolts behind the front panel to be extremely fiddly. Then this weekend I realised that the top hole is threaded so the bracket screws straight in. The bottom bolt was a lot easier to get at - so there is one more little job ticked off of the list. Next up insulating and ply lining the floor.

I've got the flooring mostly sorted now. Used some insulating tiles first and then on with some 9mm ply. I'll be vynoling over the top, but that'll have to wait for another day. Sorry about the dodgy picture - my phone died as I took that one, so no image of the completed floor either.

So an aerial update followup by a fuzzy picture of some wood isn't perhaps the most exciting. So to keep some shiny updates coming too I thought I'd share a picture of my new wheels. They are 5.5x15 steels from VW Heritage with paintwork by Cookies Campers - and they look cracking. I can't wait to get these on - just need to get some rubber sorted first. Anyone got any recommendations for tyres? The bus is stock height and I'm thinking of a thin whitewall, but not prepared to spend loads extra for the white line tbh.