Finally got both front seats fitted and adjusted, making up spacers and brackets to ensure they work and are in the right place for comfort, put a first coat of etch primer on the cab floor to seal it and hopefully keep the rust at bay.


As the front end is almost complete we started to have a look ate the damage at the rear, in the crash the N/S took quite a hit so most of the damage is from the centre all around to the left, we had to cut the rear lower hatch panel as this was beyond repair, both twisted and bent along with the hatch, rear valence and N/S rear quarter.



The damage extends down the N/S rear wheel tub, engine side shelf, gas bottle/battery tray, with the side panel in need of replacement, lucky we managed to get a section of chassis for the bent section where the bumper bolts through, still lots to do before it gets painted.

After drilling out the spot welds from the hatch slam panel we decided to try and get the new used one to fit, we found that the new panel was about 5 mm too long, possibly due to the accident things have moved more than we thought, the hatch was pushed in at the middle and left side, it was the same around the light area.
The big hammer was used to put things back in place and line things up so the hatch would close, and the gaps would be OK and hopefully everything will line up.
Placing the new panel on and clamping it showed that it should fit, the corner panel fitted up with good joints, welding it on over the next few days and then fitting up the engine lid.

We thought everything lined up perfectly until we tried to fit the engine lid, the hinge's lined up with the lid bolted up but the engine lid was offset to the right, and wouldn't fit as you can see, we bought the panel off someone who said it came from a late split/early bay, we now know it didn't so a trip to Schofields tomorrow to pick up another new panel.



The overhang is about 5 mm to the right when the striker plate for the hatch is in the centre, the hatch closes OK with good gaps all around.


Just the ends of the hatch sides to make good with some home made pieces and its onto the rear corner.

Had a good couple of day in the garage this week, took out the petrol tank before we blew ourself up, it also improved access to the areas we'll be welding at the weekend, after 40 odd years in the same place the tank was in good condition an not rusty, not the same can be said when working on a beetle tank.
The new engine hinge closing panel from Schofields is now ready to be welded on, the one we bought earlier was found to be from an early bay, advertised as split panel on ebay.
We cut out the steel around where the rear wheel tub will sit and adjusted the damaged area with a "clarkson tool" HAMMER,
along with trial fitting of the rear corner.

Day 200 or it feels like it, had the new hinge panel from schofields and the old closing panel to line up and weld in, now at least the hatch closes and the gaps look right, the engine lid fits but the gaps don't quite look right, maybe its because it was damaged when I bought it and we didn't get it straight enough, the rear valence fits up and we have welded the rear N/S corner, put in the wheel tub, this was easier without the spare wheel well in place.
You can see we mocked up the short wheel arch panel for cutting and it looks OK, cant decide if we should cut some metal off the new autocraft panel as it sits a bit high near the vents.

That light at the end of the tunnel will be shining bright very soon.

Keep up the great work

After returning from Tatton park VW show and admiring all the mint and not so mint busses, we were in the garage agin getting on with the rear end repairs, while we had the side off we decided to repair the bottom side door hinge, trying to ensure it was in the right place, once we tried the new side on and the door we noticed the door was'nt in line, so made up a coulpe of shims/spacers to put between the hinge and the mount, they then lined up perfectly.
The rear quarter is now all welded in and the short side panel was attached to the seam, sill and wheel arch, trying not to warp the steel when welding is difficult but we just welded a bit then moved onto another bit.






The rear lights in the rear quarter needed cutting out (hope they line up) we marked and drilled the light shape, then used the dremmil to cut and shape it to size, and it fits.

Now time for the filler to get it all smooth ready for primer.

Since the last post we have moved on from the rear to the side and floor damage, while poking around (not always a good idea) found a few other areas that need repair, the small hole in the floor turned out to be 12" square once we cut back to good metal, the rear section of top hat section needed replacing, and the offside wheel well/battery tray needs a small repair, apart from that the project is going to plan, the engine bay will be painted soon so the tank and engine can be refitted, freeing up some much needed space in the garage.

Some good work going on there dude. Well done Always a pleasure to see what you've been up to.

Cheers, Lee.

Getting there now, repaired the side and wheel arch areas, put on first coat of etch primer and grey primer in the engine bay, sourced some noise reduction pads for the engine bay roof and other areas from B&Q, someone on the site recomended the stuff.

Put the first couple of coats of our chosen colour in the engine bay (mint green) reinstalled the repainted fuel tank along with the new filter and bottom elbow fitting, and started to fill and block the rear end ready for primer, this weekend is going to be hectic at home instead of easy at Bus Fest, we had planned to source the last few parts required to complete the rebuild from the show.

Now we have the engine bay done and painted we trial fitted the engine just to ensure everything lined up, we had a new fuel outlet and filter in the tank, so decide it was wise to fit a new copper fuel pipe and flexy hoses, (dont want our work going up in smoke) the exhaust may need a tweek as at the moment it touches the rear vallence.
We have now moved on to the inside, as you see we have removed almost everything and had a look at the small holes and rust spots, cure rust or rust isolator and galvanising or etch primer should keep most of it at bay, not sure at the moment if we should put sound deadening in before the wood floor goes back in.

Today we decided to start covering some parts of the van in primer, along with a first spray on the rear valence in Beryl green, this is the colour chosen by the Mrs and matches her bag, along with cream on the top section above the belt line, only time will tell as at the moment not my favorite colour.

As work progresses at a slower rate this week due to other comitments (work) we decided to invest in a couple of new tools, air die grinded, mini DA sander and mini disk grinded, these should help speed up some of the work on the van, and would'nt you know it my compressor isn't big enough to run any of them for more that a few minutes.

They did however help us cut and grind away the repairs needed to the window surrounds, again Shofields supplied the repair pieces and with a little work fill the old rusted areas, here's a before and after shot.

Great work rate anyway, when you think people take 3 to 5 years getting buses restored!
You won't recognize her when all done.
I'm curious as to what compressor you will 'upgrade' to?

I have a small compressor bought from machine mart a few years ago, it is a Tiger 8/50, a small 50 ltr capacity that has a design pressure of 115 psi, good for small jobs OK for spraying but not really upto the jobs we have been putting it through, waiting for it to tank up all the time.