One last snap

Here's one last picture before I take her all to bits again for painting.

Rolling project now...

Here's a picture of Chitty on her wheels. I put the gates and doors on her as well this evening. Next wee job it to drill holes for the belt line trim. Then get all the other parts on to see what needs welded up. Then its make a start on the body. I've not a clue what I'm doing but I'll have a go and see how I get on. I'll start with the easy flat bits first.

Front end sorted

Rear running gear

Finished off painting the bits I needed to underneath. Used POR-15 which is quite different to other sorts of paints I've used before. I'm surprised with how thin it is, not that runs are going to be a problem as I'm only putting it on the underside and wheel arch inners. Paint shop are going to spray over it aswell to make it look a bit more tidy. Started on the rear running gear as well. It's three years since I took them off the pick-up and it all looks not too bad. Both rear hub backing plates needed some fresh metal cut in as they had given up where the springs attach. Both good for a long time yet. I've undercoated all parts and then put a couple coats of hammerite on. I've a beam orderer from Creative which is a stock ball joint beam. I like my buses sittin' proud so didn't bother going the narrowed route this time. I plan on putting on the rear wheels and getting the front beam on then doing some basic prep. on the body before sending it to the body shop to get going with. Loads of jobs in between times though to do such as small repairs to gates, rear hatch, doors, pop out hinges etc etc etc. It's a never ending list! Getting the wheels on and pushing it out of the garage though will feel like a big step forward.

Finally finished window frame

What a job that turned out to be.... Finally managed to get the window surround in this afternoon after 6 or so weeks fiddling with it, shaping it, cutting it and welding it in. It was a mammoth job. I'm pretty happy with the overall result though. Just a small side window hinge repair to do now and then onto grinding down some welds and getting her back on wheels ready to prep for paint....

Front window screen

I've taken to replacing the front window screens. I thought I might get away without having to but after stripping the paint back, there were quite a few pin holes in the metal. I had a go at welding it up but wasn't happy with the result. So out with the old and in with the new.

Gates

Here's a piccie of the van with her gates on for the first time in 3 years. She looks quite smart in her sides.

bulkhead

bulk head

Bulk head cut to size. It needs a few drill holes and then welded in place.

Load Bed

Pinned on the load bed today. What a job.... Need to trim the lip and bend it over then drill the holes for the tarp and bows. Then it's the bulk head panel and then it's prep for paint....

Preping for the load bed.

Spent a bit of time this evening on preparing the foundation for the load bed. I drilled a few holes on the inside which I'll use to attach the lip of the small load bed panel. I've still to mark the underside and clean the paint off but that wont take too long.

Welded up the short load bed section

Here's a few snaps of me welding up the short load bed section. It took a while to stitch along.

Take 1 on the load bed

I've made a start on the load bed this evening. I'm opting for plan A in the first instance. I had a long single cab section which I'm going to cut the middle section out of and weld the two ends together. The old addage of measure twice cut once was recited a few times. Anyways, here's a few snaps of the cutting and putting together. I haven't welded it up yet as I need to figure out the best way of getting the two parts welded together. I'll take my time over it as if I get it right it will mean I don't need to mess around with the joining lip.

sin e a-nis

Here's my finished Eberspacher in pipe. I just needed to fold the lips over on each end and then press them against the opposite tube. The guage was a bit bigger than I'd prefer but a strong pair of gas pliers saw the edge folded easy enough. I did the other end on the vice which meant in only need to be crimped. Room was tight on the other side. I put several welds on the edges as well just to make sure there will ne no movement. I also finished the load bed top hat sections this evening after drilling what seemed like a hundered small holes and droping it in place. That's all the smallish jobs for now. Next job is the load bed! I need a bit of time to think about what I need to do to the bed section. Pictures are a bit dodgy as the smoke from the welding hangs a bit in the garage!

As my grandpa used to say....

....if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing right.....so, take 2 on the intake for the eberspacher. The first attempt would have done the job but the problem I had was that when I connected the handbrake cable, I didn't give enough space for insulation around the pipes. I plan to lag them with insulation (but not the original asbestos!) so have given myself a few more inches to play with. It has taken me a good few hours to figure out and shape the tube but I'm happy with the end result. It will do the job this time (as long as I haven't missed something else obvious!). I made the tube up out of a piece of steel from a shelf... So I can number the parts from the van from a BBQ, a steel cabinet, a zimmer frame and now a steel shelf which I'm assuming is from a skip. Waste not, want not.

Underside tubbing for Eberspacher in

Here's a few snaps of where I've joined the underside of the Eberspacher into the main heater tube.

Hole made in heater tube. It wasn't easy to get in.

Trial fit of the Eberspacher join onto the heater tube. Yes - it's the end of a rusty fuel tank!

Final tube welded in showing piping from inside the cab. I'll route the heater tube around the back but need to put the beam in, handbrake cables and gear linkage to see where the best routing is.

Finished the Eberspacher for now

Here's the Eberspacher sitting in its resting place. I had to think up a way to get the rear bolts in place. There's a thick plate used to mount the seats on these non-walkthrough models. I couldn't get at them to do the same method of riveting in a couple of captive bolts. I needed to drill a couple of access holes to the rear of the seat and make up a sort of prong with two bolts on the end. It needed shaped so that it could get in and out of the two holes but hopefully you get the idea. I also drilled the hole to take the control nob although most of the electronics are done through the electronic box which will go where the ash tray currently sits. It might be a bit difficult to make out whats going on but basically i just need access to the on off button and the knob controls the thermostat. This has been an interesting diversion and bought me some time to think about what I'm going to do with the load bed.

Eberspacher holes drilled

Hope you get the idea of what the plan is.....

Eberspacher

Planning on putting the Eberspacher in here again. Same place as I had if in the '60. I'll route the tubbing outside into the main heater ducting. That way it will push the air directly onto the windscreen. Great for those cold winter mornings.

A rare day

I've had a whole day in the garage today! That's a rarity and I've enjoyed the long stint. This morning I fitted in the heater tube. Very little difficulty getting it in although I needed to make up a collar to slip in the end. I was going to take a look at where to put the eberspacher as well but I've left it for now and removed the top hat section where the two load bed panels meet. I drilled out the spot welds and it came away nicely. I also put a wee brace behind the nearside top air vent as it was a bit uneven. I've elded it in place which brings the vent flush with the panel. Also made a start at stripping the inner bulkhead.

Tilt

Think I'll have a go at making a set of these one day...

Trial Fit

I've trail fitted the load bed this evening. It looks good but there's a problem...... a 5mm gap between the two panels. Not sure what to do with it. I've put a post on the SSVC forum to get some ideas. Other than this minor glitch, this panel perhaps has the biggest impact on the look of the van. I also took the opportunity to have a bit of a clean out of the garage this evening. The place was a bit of a tip but there's a bit more space now for manoeuvring around. I'm going to replace the top hat section under the join of the load bed panels. It'll be much easier to get a flat surface to weld on.

Finished the load bed top hat sections this evening

3 Top Hat sections in

Welded in two other top hat section this evening. One left to go. I'm wondering whether I'll rue the day not putting in a whole one where the two panel sections meet... I might yet need to put one in. Quite pleased with the end result. Shiney new metal is always satisfying to look at!

Load bed supports

Replaced a small part of the load bed top hat near the bulk head. Water must have been getting in between the two panels and rusted through the metal. I thought about replacing the whole thing but opted to just graft in a new bit of metal. I had a piece of chassis top hat section lying around which came in useful. I also dropped in one of the three new top had lengths. There was a bad bow in a few of them and one has so many holes on the top I was bound to hit one when it came to welding the load bed on. Next jobs are to replace the other two top hat sections and then start laying on the load bed.