Work progress
Whilst I was out having fun and enjoying seeing all the different buses on display at the SSVC organised Brighton Breeze event, it was good to know that my bus was in good hands with the guys at Resto Classics who were busy making a start on getting the underneath cleaned up and trial fitting the new front disc kit.
Stopping power
The trial fitting of the Fellows Speedshop front disc kit on the front of my bus certainly attracted a lot of attention from visitors to the Resto Classics workshop.
No Porsche power
It’s funny but they immediately wanted to know what kind of monster engine is fitted in the back, maybe they’re thinking… 😉
Scrubs up nicely
One of the great things about using Epoxy Mastic 121 to protect the underneath of the bus is that it can be applied successfully over the components once they have been cleaned up with a wire brush, rather than having to have the entire underneath of the bus media blasted. It should still offer the same performance as coatings that are applied over blast cleaned steel. So with that thought in mind, it was time to get under the bus and get some cleaning up started…
Hard graft
Fortunately for me, the slightly OCD nature (in a good way) of one of the guys at Resto Classics, bizarrely rather enjoyed the challenge of getting stuck in and cleaning under the bus! The results of his work were rather impressive! Thanks Dan!
Rust stripped bare
It was quite an amazing transformation seeing the underneath of the bus getting cleaned up and any surface rust removed. With the surface rust removed, you really got to see just how solid the original metalwork was!
Access all areas
Some areas were a lot harder than others to get reach by hand, so took a bit longer to clean up and prep, but where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Dan did a cracking job underneath the bus getting rid of all the surface rust. I guess you could have had the bus fully stripped, rolled over on its side and media blasted? That would be a lot more involved for my purposes. That kind of leads towards more of a full-on restoration, and that was not what I was after, or for that matter, what the bus actually needed! It really was in very solid in all the right places!
Plenty of life left
The original German VW factory steel was largely in great condition. I really just wanted to clean it up and maintain it in this state for a good few more years to come. I wanted to give it a more sympathetic renovation to help preserve its original condition for a good few more years to come.
Although generally, the underneath of the bus is incredibly solid, there were a few bits that I knew about which needed some minor attention. There were a couple of small pierced square holes (from some kind of pick maybe?) in the cargo floor from its previous early life in California. The holes were remarkably clean and solid and didn’t let in the water!
If it ain’t broke…
At this stage, it seemed a bit over the top to cut around and weld a new section in. With a hammer and punch, the original metal was folded back in place and shape which pretty much fully closed up the holes again! Remarkable just how much thicker a gauge of steel was used on the original floors compared to some reproduction panels I’ve seen! Once cleaned up of any surface rust, this could then be sealed with seam sealer. It seemed a slightly more appropriate level of repair at this stage.
I had been busy with a design project recently. So with my sense of perfect timing, I arrived to give a hand with the cleaning up underneath when most of it had already been done! ‘Fortunately’ there was still some stuff for me to crack on with! Once all the preparation and cleaning up was complete, I could give a helping hand applying some Granville Rust Cure Heavy-Duty Rust Converter to any areas of bare metal, so that it was all neutralised and protected from rust.
It’s a tough old job doing this by hand, easy to see the attraction of getting it blasted, but hopefully, it will be worth it when it’s all done…
