Got quite a big job out of the way today, fitting the new lower front panel we got from Autocraft engineering, had to make a few mods to get it to fit, along with putting in the salvaged headlight bowl we made up from an early beetle, we had to remove some of the old mounting rim to get things to line up, saving some of it to repair the damaged pieces from our front panel, along with some hammer and dolly work to get most of the dents out.







Plug welding the folded edge to get things lined up, will grind out then smooth down later.

Finally got the front panel welded on, as they say take your time and allow the steel to cool before welding again, and the same when it comes to grinding down, it worked, as the join and surrounding area looks good, the inner door jam is the next piece to make up as this damaged section was cut out and will be replaced, another home made section for the bus, we'll try to make it draught free, lol.

Good work on the nose!

What a day to be in the garage when the sun's shining and every ones sun bathing, at least we got a few more jobs done on the front and cab area, decided to weld up the old holes when we removed the twin mount aerial, the front panel edge repair near where we repaired the the top hinge, along with the bottom 3" section of the door seal channel around the bottom hinge.

Finally pushed the van into the sun to have a look where to skim the joint in the front panel, only requiring a small amount at this point, we were able to use the hammer and dolly to knock out most of the accident damage, and warmed up some of the dents to knock out the rest.

Decided to apply some etch primer today, after the last couple of days of trying to get the front ready, looks good but not perfect, YET.

looking bloody good that

well done



Mark

Still got lots of small bumps and ripples to get out.

We thought it was almost there but now it's dried we can see damage that still needs doing, it's easier to see and shows up more and acts like a guide coat.
More work required in the cab area, along with the A pillars that need some minor rust repairs, also need to get the front screens out to make sure there's no rust under the rubbers, and around the vent, slow progress but at least it's coming along.

Getting there!!

We started to work on the paint bubbles above the cab front guttering, BAD idea.
The bubbles were in fact filled holes or filler holes as it turned out, bodged work from previous owners we think, after removing the paint and filler we are now left with holes under and above the guttering line, and will have to remake the centre section of guttering as it fell off as we removed the paint, the Mrs says it would make a good air vent, lol.

what is market value ? as the market price nowdays is probably higher than most of us have our buses insured for? so how does that work

We were advised to get another valuation done once all the work has been completed, the insurance company we were with valued the split at around £10.000 agreed value, we should have insured it for more as the price it would cost to replace it is nearer the £13.000-£15.000 mark.

It will cost us around £7-£8.000 to repair and return it to a usable condition, not top quality but something you could use on a regular basis, this is with us doing most of the work.

If we had taken it to a restorer and had the work done by them, the repair costs would have put it out of our reach, no doubt if we had put it up for sale as a project it would have sold for £4=£5.000.

As the costs of buying a good split have gone up over the past years, I would expect most people will insure them about the £15.000 mark for a good one.

Finally cut out all the rust from the cab roof and repaired it with new steel, made it all up piece by piece then find out Schofields do a repair section for it, dam.






While we have the front screens out it looks like we have found out where the water is getting in, we repaired the drivers side a few years ago near the door pillar, looks like repairing the same again in the centre along with the passenger side front window, thanks to Rick at Schofields for making us the repair sections.

Another busy week cutting out and welding in new steel, headlight bucket was one we didn't expect, while rubbing down found the repair was silver tape covering the lower inner rusted out area, no choice here but to cut it out and replace with another hand made piece.




Also got the near side front cab window repaired while we were at it, at least this should keep the water out.



Second coat of primer going on as a small amount or reaction occured with the filler.



We know that some folks won't like it but trial fitted some modern seats in the camper, the old standard walk through seats will be up on the site for sale soon, after the accident the Mrs decided we needed seats with headrests.

This has become my fav SSVC thread at moment. Great work and high praise for not losing faith!

Its turned into a build thread. I know its not what you wanted, but it looks like you'll get an even better bus out of it in the end.

Thanks for your comments, we all need a push in the right direction once in a while, didn't know about the Facebook page until now so we might put a shot or two, as you said it has become a rebuild thread, i think we should have thought about that when we started.

More to come.