Heading south There’s plenty to explore in the Outer Hebrides, but sometimes you might need to head off to the mainland. Good job, there’s plenty to see on the mainland too. These road trip adventures normally begin with a ferry journey just to get you in the mood. All part of the experience if you’re … Read more
South to Scalpay I was really enjoying road tripping around the north of the Western Isles on Lewis. Great people, incredible locations and breathtaking landscapes. Now I wanted to begin heading south. From the more undulating, boggy, peaty moorland of Lewis, down to the island of Scalpay. This would take me through the very different … Read more
It’s never easy being original It’s one thing loving the cool aesthetic of an original paint ‘survivor’ bus, but keeping the look, without the bus deteriorating in the English weather is a whole different ball game! If you’ve followed the earlier ongoing adventures of my bus, you’ll know by now, that I’m keen to preserve, … Read more
Rollin’ into Ninove Well, the main day of the weekend had finally arrived, and it looks like it’s going to be another bright and sunny Freddy Files, perfect weather with sunshine and 20º+ temp, good weather really helps make the weekend 🙂 Having got up early, we parked our buses up and went to get … Read more
Bonjour Ollie and Gez’s journey by train on the Eurotunnel wasn’t so quick in the end. Unfortunately, they got delayed so didn’t rock up till 1.20am in the morning! I had long since hit the sack for some shut-eye. So it wasn’t until bright an early the next morning when got to catch up over … Read more
Change happens Funny how sometimes you can look back on a year and think you’ve not done a lot. As 2016 morphed into 2017, I was beginning to think exactly that. It was only when I started to put a small nine (3×3) image montage together for my Instagram #topnine2016 post that I realised this was not … Read more
Paint preparation OK, so with the bus roof gutters cleaned right back to bare metal to remove any rust, it was now time to treat the metal that had been affected by rust with some Granville rust cure, prior to getting them painted in grey primer. Seeing the gutters all cleaned up and in primer is … Read more
Roof rust Having got the underside of the bus cleaned up and protected, it was now time to look at the roof and gutters. The most obvious issue was an area over the rear corner of the bus. At some point in the past, some filler had been applied to an area. Unfortunately over the … Read more
Rust or patina? Know thy enemy, and for most people who own vintage VW’s (or for that matter, any other classic car) rust can be public enemy Nº 1, well I say for most, but there are some who it might be more a lifestyle choice! War on rust Whilst doing some more research on … Read more
Looking a little worse Working under the bus, I was admiring just how solid the original metal was, and what amazing condition the original paint was like in the wheel arches. Things could have been a whole lot worse when you start cleaning and stripping things back. However, one of the guys at Resto Classics … Read more
This year as I was wandering around admiring the various vintage buses on display at Brighton Breeze, I was struck by the number of different roof top conversions there were. Having the ability to stand up and move around inside, or having additional sleeping or storage space would be a real asset, plus depending upon the type … Read more
Project winterisation begins Unfortunately, it’s time to take the bus off the road briefly and get the underside cleaned up and protected against the UK weather. Along with the future protection of the bus, I was going to use this opportunity to upgrade the front braking and steering system. My order of the Epoxy mastic … Read more