Aloha Jonathan! You'll be pleased/gutted to know that I had the van out on the sunshine today for a trip to a local classic car show and forgot to take any pictures of it with the wheels all painted and polished

I've spent most of the week ill in bed but managed to pull my carcass out over the weekend to get it washed and a nice winter coat of Collinite 476s all over it. It's a proper ball-ache of a job but because the paint is satin (porous) I try to do it at least four times a year.
Now it's all set up properly and I've got four new tyres (had the rears done a few weeks ago) it definitely drives a lot better than it had for the last year or so.
I've bought myself another set of 8-ball dust caps after some scallywag nicked two of the last ones at BugJam I've been trying to think of how to stop these ones getting pinched as well. I'd put the last set on reeeeeel tight with pliers and that didn't work. I might try drilling a small hole in the side and fitting a grub screw on this set. Just gotta find a drill bit/screw that's small enough
Anyway, sorry, no bus pictures in this update so here's a picture of Little Empi being Yoda instead






Cheers, Lee.

So over he weekend I was laying a wood floor over at Empster Mansion. Managed to get the carpet up quite easily by cutting it into strips. The underlay weighted a ton though
Here's 26'x13' of carpet and underlay all crammed on the roof



Couple of straps over it and jobs a good 'un.
I would have put it inside but that was crammed with a tumble dryer and all the flooring off-cuts plus all the other random stuff you always have to take to the tip

Onto the front......a bit more carpet plus a garden bench perched precariously on the top



It looks very unsafe but it was actually strapped firmly down. I did get some rather funny looks though as I drove along And people tended to stay well back or give me a wide berth.

No point in closeting these wonderful buses up in the garage, get out and use them for what they're intended......lugging stuff about

Only work I did on it all weekend was to fit a new horn as I had to beep someone the other day and it was just an embarrassing wet f*rt (parp) sound I then gave them a blast on the air horns but that just made everyone else laugh as they're musical
So I bought myself a decent horn and fitted that to go with my usual gestures that indicate someone's driving falls below the standard expected in the UK

Cheers, Lee.

Well here's the one photo I took at Slough Swapmeet on Sunday



It was about 2am and I'd just gone for a wee (at my age you never seem to make it through the night, especially when it's cold ) and on the way back I took this picture.
You can't see it in this pic but Joes transit is parked two rows in front of me as well.

Cheers, Lee.

Yup its was I little misty

Sooooooo, time to fit my one bargain purchase from Slough.
I needed a new towel rail for the back because it had firstly been bent all out of shape by me standing on it every time I wanted to put something on the roofrack and then the last time I stood on it there was a loud crack and it broke Closer inspection revealed that it was completely rotten. I patched it up and have been keeping a look out for one to come up on the cheap as 1. I'm a skinflint and 2. I'm not paying 80 quid for a but of bent metal with a nut welded in the end.
Managed to find a pair at Slough and the bloke wanted £70 for the pair. Tried to get him to split them but he wasn't having any of it and I was buggered if I was gonna pay that and only needed one side. Enter another bloke on the stall behind him who also only wanted one side. Queue a comedy moment trying to work out what side we each needed and conversations about "right hand drive, left hand side" "yeah but is that looking from the back or the front" "near side on a right hand drive looking for the front" etc etc. in the end, I gave the bloke my phone as security and took them outside to work out which one I needed. As luck would have it the other bloke needed the opposite side. Tried to blag a few quid off but ended up paying what he was asking in the end.
Once him it sat in the shed for a while until I got round to sorting it out. Looking at it I thought it was gonna be a nightmare to unbolt as it was like a blob of rust with no head on the bolt underneath and the top bit has a slot for a screw driver, yeah, good luck with that one !
After a few days of soaking in WD40 and some brute force and ignorance with mole grips and a hammer it fell to bits But then a bit of work with the tin snips and it was all off



Considering how mullered it all was it was actually quite painless in the end. Bit of light dusting over with some satin black so it didn't look too new on my very old looking bumpers and it was time to fit the new one.
As expected the new one didn't want to fit in the hole properly so I had to give it some beans with a very large pair of grips but eventually it went in. Only now the threads didn't line up grrr!
Bit of jiggery-pokery though and in the end it was all done. And the monkey is now happy that he has something to hold on to again




In the meantime I'm still looking at the big bit of roof I bought at last years Slough to weld up my pop top.......

Cheers, Lee.

Woohoo!!!! I have a parcel waiting for me when I get home



I know what it is and I can't wait

Cheers, Lee.

tease

maddison wrote:tease

gotta leave 'em wanting more.

Okay, here's what was in the package



Treated myself to an early Christmas pressie as I've been lusting after one of these for ages. Most of the stuff I buy for the bus (except the small things that only cost a couple of quid) are bought because I have to. I rarely spend big bucks on things I want rather than I need so i thought I'd treat myself.
Can't wait to get it fitted, just in time for them to start salting the roads, which is the only time I don't use the bus

Cheers, Lee.

doh, weird post quoted from page 1. how'd that happen ?

Hmm, dunno how this post got here.
Now deleted so I'll post another pic of my new shifter



Cheers, Lee.

Well not much been happening at Empster Mansions as its been too bloody cold
Still not fitted the Bug-Tech shifter but hopefully that'll be done next week and I've also bought one of Buttys RHD throttle linkages so I'll let you all know how that goes.
So.....decided that I wasn't happy with the lap belt that I use and as I don't want to cut anything I don't have to I chose to fit a 3-point race harness instead. Wasn't sure what colour I wanted but always thought red alway look ace regardless of what colour the car is so red it was.
As with everything I seem to do, nothing is straightforward So I work out where I need to drill the hole for the rear part and it's under the rear facing bench seat so I have to get the belt through the woodwork but don't want to cut my interior. Managed to notch a bit out of the trim panel against the bulkhead and feed it through between the bulkhead and the woodwork so no cutting of the interior
Got that bolted up eventually having p!ssed about with the fixing kit as the bolts are a weird size and I didn't have any nuts to fit them (apparently they all use 7/16 unf). Having then found suitable nuts and bolts I used large thick plate washers from McPherson struts as spreader plates. All bolted up, pub the front seat back in and the bleeding lap part wasn't long enough Had to change the mounting points for the lap section and once I'd done that it was ok-ish. I'm going to look a bit closer at mounting points and see if I can improve on where I've put them as if I have a big dinner or two it's gonna be a bit of a squeeze So end result was 3 hours in the freezing cold to drill 3 holes and do up 3 nuts and bolt :rolleyes: but it's done now and I'm happy with how it looks and feels.
No pics as I forgot to take them but I'll see if I can get some tomorrow.
I've also bought a Securon static 3-point belt for the other side to replace the one that's currently fitted which I use for the baby seat as I'm not happy with the quality of it. I'll swap them over when I get a chance, hopefully next week.
I also plan to use the lap belt I've removed in the rear where Mrs Empi sits but I'll have to look into that a bit more regarding mounting points.
Roll on summer

As I didn't get any pics here's one of Little Empi all wrapped up when we went out for a drive last week and to feed the ducks



It must have been cold as after 5 minutes feeding the ducks he wanted to get back in the van

Cheers, Lee.

I've got up sort out my seat belts as one of the next jobbies in my van. I need to get them I. The rear as well if poss, although I have so many children I won't ever be able to take them all in the van at once, so,we will forever be a two vehicle camping posse!
Little empi growing ip fast...have you bought him his first set of overalls and scanners yet...their little hands can reach awkward nuts and bolts better than we can!

I think you meant spanners
I did buy him an "aircooled mechanic" hoodie at a show but he couldn't get it over his head I wouldn't mind but he's not got an especially big noggin and it was bloody expensive as well. His teddy wears it now and it was even a struggle getting it on the that.
Seatbelts....hmmm, the bane of my life. If you don't mind cutting some of the interior at the back you should be ok but I wanted to do it without cutting the slots for the shoulder straps.
Managed to change the 3 point static one this morning. Wasn't too bad but ended up sticking a screwdriver through my finger (literally through...) and the spreader plate in the B pillar came loose which was a pain as if you drop it you'll never see it again. Mangled to hold it in place with a magnet and get the bolt started. Might look to drop a blob of weld on it to hold it in place as I don't think I'll be quite so lucky next time I have to take the bolt out (if there is a next time - hopefully not!).
Sorted the position out for using the lap belt I've removed to put in the back for mrs Empi but not sure if I'll be able to get behind the rear bulkhead with the engine/tank in to put a spreader plate/nut on the back. Will have a better look later in the week.

Cheers, Lee.

Well I know how you all love a picture so i went out into the freezing cold today and took one of the fitted up harness.



I was going to show how I'd mounted it all but in sure we all know what a nut and bolt with a couple of big washers looks like Plus it was too cold to be poncing about outside for too long.
Good news is that looking at it I should be able to get the mounting bolts and plates behind the rear bulkhead with no issues I know it's only a lap belt but it's better than nothing and let's face it, if you're in that much of a smash-up the fact that you're sitting on 50+ year old match wood is probably gonna finish you anyway

Cheers, Lee.

So finally got the Bug-Tech shifter fitted
I have to say that it's an awesome bit of kit At first the gear change felt quite stiff but the more I used it, it free'd up a bit. There is absolutely no play at all in the gearchange now and the action is very smooth and positive. You also only have to actually move the lever a small amount to engage the gears, I'd say less than on my modern daily. It feels a bit like the change was on my old MGB-GT which only had a 2" gearstick
Is it worth the money? Hell yeah!!! I love it. In fact, along with my Red9 front end its probably the best thing I've bought for the bus.
The only fault I can think of is that it doesn't come with a rubber bout so you get a bit of a draught through the floor and it's a bit disconcerting watching the road as you're blatting along I'm on the lookout for something to use as a shift boot or I'll make something up if I don't find anything suitable.
Oh, and I changed the plain black gear knob it came with for my pool ball one off my old bug that I sold a few years ago so the spirit of "the mung machine" lives on
Pics to follow later.

Cheers, Lee.