Been one of those days today, good in parts.
Got the colour coat on the roof, then decided I didn't like it so it's off to the diy shed for some more paint tomorrow.:(:(
As it was a nice still day I got a good coating of stone chip on the inner wings, both wings are in really good condition, just wanted to get a bit of colour behind the road wheels.
White van turns up at the gate, Wooohooo, my nice new shiny galv winch bumper has turned up,:):):) looks well made, not as heavy as I had feared, though the delivery driver struggled a bit with it. This one https://www.paddockspares.com/pm695...modate-most-standard-low-profile-winches.html
LH front chassis cleaned up ready for primer, thank god thats the end of scratching and wire brushing, got through 4 cup brushes in total + a couple of hand brushes.
Last bit of welding as well, the two small gussets on the front spring mount on top of the chassis had turned to a rather fetching lace pattern, bit of a job cutting out the old but the new welded in quite neatly. This project has advanced my welding (not saying skills here - I'm not that good yet) my joints look better to the extent that I don't feel I have to grind everything back.
 
Today went pretty much to plan, got a coat of primer on the L/H front chassis.
IMG_2314.JPG

That done time for a rosy-lea and then off to buy some more paint.
The price of decent quality paint here in France is a rip-off, I wanted a Ltr of paint, not possible, 2 x 1/2 Ltr = €41.80 :eek::eek: however I was offered a 2Ltr can of the same stuff for €50.49, seemed daft not to get the extra. Still a fecking ripp-off.:(
Anyway by the time I got home, (the doris wanted some retail therapy so tagged along) it was time to get the first colour coat on the chassis.
Another brew and tried the new colour on the roof, quite pleased with it now.
Get the lawn tractor out and have a go at dead heading the weeds in our big lawn.
Final coat on the chassis. :):):):), start putting the wings back on tomorrow.
IMG_2315.JPG

In the hard light of a flash that engine bay looks rather less than bright and shiny. Oh well, a bit more job enrichment in the future.
 
Fitted storage nets from MUD UK to the roof above passenger and drivers heads, perfect for maps and light items. Small service and adjusted headlamp aim ready for our trip to Wales this weekend, a 2 week holiday 8 miles away from the nearest village, bliss....
 
ivancrx said:
And that is how my rebuild started
Click to expand...
+1 what started as my engine rebuild has turned into a full front end resto'!! Everything's out of engine bay. Start taking wings off this evening...then change front suspension and towers...then engine bay refurb with new soda blasting equipment [I'm very excited for this...], then engine bay components, then...chassis and engine bay protect and respray, new radiator, upgraded turbo intercooler, a front end rewire, all new gaskets, nuts & bolts...reassemble and line up...upgrade lights. New fluids in, prime...and...ka-boom! She's alive. All this to do before end of September :)

In other news, had a great chat with Richard Turner, Turner Engineering, today. He, Frida and Ben are uber helpful folk. Richard's given me a full run down of the engine failure points, a thorough cause & effect analysis + a worldly wise discussion on 200/300tdi engine cooling issues/things to watch out for +++
 
All these rebuilds going on inspired me to do another major job today, fitting the unnecessary but good looking fat brake pedal for an auto. I got it during the V8 conversion but hadn’t bothered to fit it as you need to drill 4 holes in the existing pedal to take the M8 Allen headed bolts.
Took my time and all went ok.
upload_2019-8-15_19-37-49.jpeg
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Got a puncture in the 90. My first in the five years that I’ve had it. I went to use it for work and found the tyre was down. Typically, the roof rack arrived today and I was go8ng to collect it too... :rolleyes::mad:
 
Box of bits from Bearmach arrived today ready for the LT230 due next week from Ashcroft. Also bought a new torque wrench. :)
 
Got the wings fitted yesterday, what an absolute pain in the aris the L/H wing is to get all the bulkhead fixings in place. Needed to borrow someones 5 year old kid to get his hand alongside the air intake, didn't have one so struggled for ages, or is it just me not knowing how to do it?
Anyway really glad I decided to give the inner wings a coat of stone chip.
IMG_2316.JPG

Got the L/H spanner arm on eventually, took a good bit of swearing and a big lever to get it lined up properly. panhard rod off for bush replacement, this will get a couple of coats of paint before it goes back.
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Today saw the van sides loosely in place, felt good to be getting on with reassembly.
IMG_2318.JPG

Roof fitted, I had decided to replace the front roof/bulkhead seals before refitting, no dramas except the roof took a bit of spannering to compress the seal, hopefully all this means the seals will actually keep the majority of the rain out.
Everything seems to be lining up reasonably well so finish bolted the roof to the van sides, then thought "pratt" took all the bolts out one by one and turned them so that the heads are seen and the extra thread/washers/nuts are within the roof moulding.
I will loose fit the front doors tomorrow and as long as everything lines up as I think it will I will tighten all the bolts on the tub/seatbox.
IMG_2319.JPG

I was sweating on getting the roof in place without scratching the new paint against the timbers on the roof over the parking area, only a couple of inches spare, fortunately a bit at a time won the day.
 
Last edited:
Great work where’s the build thread? All this will disappear in here:)

Oh and can I ask about seemingly number plate collection, I seem to have 1 too:)

J
 
marjon said:
Great work where’s the build thread? All this will disappear in here:)

Oh and can I ask about seemingly number plate collection, I seem to have 1 too:)

J
Click to expand...
I'm afraid I'm a bit of a hoarder, even number plates might come in handy one day !!!! then I thought what the fecking hell do I want these for and just before being slung out thought I'd decorate the shed with them.
That's all I'm afraid, no conspiricy (sp) going on.
 
frog hopper said:
That's all I'm afraid, no conspiricy (sp) going on
Click to expand...

Ah ok:)

We had a BG plate made in Halfords to get a couple (yep we did it twice) of trailers back here:D
Fine for the UK but sort of bends the rules in Europe:eek:
Just wondered.
I have a few to put up on my wall when I get round to it:).

J
 
Joys of friends/beer
Replace hose from thermostat to T piece as worn a groove off the pulley.they may have updated this bit of pipe by making it a bit longer.
 
Fitted the front doors this morning, everything lining up as good as things ever do, so tightened all the fixings for the tub.
Next on the list was to do something with the rear door, it really needs to be replaced but I've spent enough money as it is, so by chucking a bit of steel from YRM into the worst of the rust, I hope to get a couple of years out of this one.
I was really worried that the door skin would fall apart while doing this, but it actually went really well. A little at a time, tippy tappy, with a block of wood to reform the ally skin around the repaired frame. Get the doors back on tomorrow and try to start prepping to paint the thing.
IMG_2320.JPG
 
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