[Happystamps]

First things first- i bought this at Vanfest 2010 for the princely sum of £200. no pictures or anything, all i knew really was that "the floor's good"- in fairness, the floor isn't bad. it's been off the road since 1992, although suprisingly is still registered.

Gotta be clear- this isn't going to be a show style restoration... but neither is it's going to be rat-look. with any luck it'll become a relatively straight, safe, drivable bus, possibly with a bong in and some snacks. the paintwork can come later.

anyway, here's the story of how i became a sad, lonely, hairy old man.

1. I decided to wear a hat. that is usually the way these things start, isn't it.

2.picked up a trailer-

3.And Hurray for roads, off from Worcester to south yorkshire, still having not seen the van.

4....and here it is. no show winner, but it was £200, which is probably about right, and i'd driven for about three hours to get there.

5. it'd been living in an old mine for about 10 years, which i found kinda interesting (i'm a very dull person)

6. From this angle, the chassis looks ok. it's... not.

7. a large bald man on a forklift.

8. The anchor- as it'd gotten so rusty, it was necessary to weigh it down with a brick to stop it blowing away.

9.and we're off. i felt really sorry for the thing, and wanted to save it. maybe it was a bad move on my part, but nuts to it... how else am i going to afford an early bay!

10. stopped to fill 'er up.

feel like i should mention tommyhove on here- who i popped by on the way home, and he gave me some doors, a front panel, a tailgate, and a co2 cylinder for nowt. good stuff.​

 

[hicksy]

Really?! I dont wanna sound negative about your new baby but you really have your work cut out! What did you pay for her?

Best of british luck with that one mate

 

[ARCANE67]

Bloody hell your one brave man thats not for the faint hearted but fair play to ya for saving her

 

[Happystamps]

11. back home, i had arranged for a number of friends to help lift the van off the trailer. i had a few beers and let them get on with it.

12. and there she is, all ready to be mucked about with.

13. Internet, meet Keith. Keith, internet.

14. as i'm sure you've gathered, this shell isn't in particularly good condition. every single panel requires either replacement or repair, and it's going to take a LONG time. as i'm at university for the next year or so, well, not much is happening. but here's a picture of a rotten gutter i'm hoping to tackle next year!

15. The van is being kept at my parent's house whilst i work on it. my sister, Hannah, doesn't like it, even though she doesn't live there any more, but whatever. anyway, in order to placate her, i decided to chuck a tarpaulin over it. then i realised it'd be funnier if i were a dick.

16. although it's not obvious from the pictures, somebody had torched off the front chassis rails right where the beam mounts. so i had to find a new set, and they came via Ozziedog- who not only helped me hack apart his van and give me parts for free, but also taught me the correct method of dunking biscuits. awesome bloke. this section lived on the roof of my beetle for a month, until I drove back to Worcester from uni in Swansea- i couldn't get it off, and i had nowhere to put it if i did. i got really sick of scrap metal guys by the end of that month.

 

[66]

thats a tough one! you get many parts with it? my project has cost me a small fortune for missing bits!
good luck with it anyway

 

[andycoco]

i take my hat off to you,good luck with project..

 

[sparks3107]

good luck pal!! ur a braver man than me

 

[sieyt]

Good luck, I think you're gonna need it!
and I thought mine was bad when I bought it!

 

[adz_db]

if nothing else youve just given everybody on the forum a new found confidence in how solid theyre ride is :lol:

but seriously, fair play to u dude for taking it on! will be an interesting one to watch for sure

 

[freddie89]

Definatly rat look. Id say minimal welding a slam it

 

[Stumpy vdub]

That's in alot better condition than mine was, Mine is slowly taking shape an will defo stand out when fininished, Good luck with the build

This is a picture of how my '69 early bay panel van looked at one point lol!!

 

[Happystamps]

So, i decided that the rough plan would be...

1. Restore chassis.
2. replace/repair necessary body panels.
3. paint up and wrap in cotton wool until i find a decent donor van (although finding a van more rotten than this one will be difficult)
4. strip donor van, refurbish parts, swap them over
5. go camping with the lady i does like, enjoy some festivals, collect some wild herbs, make some babies and stuff... i dunno. enjoy life.

considering the extent of the chassis repairs, i thought it'd be best if i made myself a roller. £80 of steel and a couple of weekends later, i had this fellow...
1. front cradle, mounted to A and B pillars

2. rear cradle, mounted to rear valance mounting points and tack-welded tobodywork above engine.

3. some ruddy triangles! slot them all together and you get this!

4.

so it's not pretty. i don't care. it was cheap, and it works.
i must admit that whilst i was jacking the van up to fit the roller together, i was absolutely bricking myself. i had no idea where the centre of gravity was, and was terrified that at some point it was going to just swing over and fall straight on my face. but luckily, it's just about perfect. here's a video of her being rolled over for the first time.

view from the front-

the back-

and the full side-on shot.

pretty rough, eh.​

 

[Stumpy vdub]

It does look a bit more complete now, as you maybe guessed it's not going to be standard by any means, has a 4" roof chop and 5" body section so it's 9" lower before we even slam the suspension

 

[Happystamps]

.

 

[greenbugboy]

im going to be watching this one closely, hat off to you tho mate.

 

[kmxrudebwoy]

I like it, fair play to you sir!

 

[richygolf]

Cant wait to see this one , much respect good sir, i wish you well

 

[Happystamps]

so- plans for the weekend just gone were to replace the centre section of the chassis below the "load bed" area. didn't get it completely done, as i hadn't realised the the front top hat section's knackered- still. here's what i did do den.
removed front o/s outrigger

said hello to fossilised rat, the only occupant of the van at the moment- say hello to the internet, ratty

cut the rails off- all the cable conduit and stuff was crackered as well, so that's gone. i'm gonna have to be creative when re-making that... strongly leaning towards diesel power though, as at this stage the conversion is a drop in the ocean...

one of the old chassis rails

made up two shiny new chassis rails

balanced one in place to see how it looks- a little long, but that was deliberate. i can trim down and make it right snug.

also managed a roast gammon joint, a trip up the malverns with friends,and a couple of nights in the pub. not bad for two days, i reckon.​

 

[ange-brierley]

this is quite possibly then craziest resto ive ever seen, i love your approach to it all!

 

[grzesiek]

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