Post by riffraff on Feb 19, 2009 14:32:52 GMT -5
I've been spending way more time in garage than I should have been since early last fall.
My nine year old laid down the law that Mango must be on the road this year, so I sent the 15 window into hibernation a little early so I could get a jump start on Mango.
My wife insists on parking her car in the garage when it gets below zero at night, so I can realistically only have one bus "with me" at any time. Off the 15 goes for winter storage.
I have to give big props to Fred here as he has been my main source of motivation this winter.
For instance, I was agonizing over where to cut to get the rusty front floor pieces out. He came over, grabbed the angle grinder, cut out a piece and said "There - now fix it".
I fabbed up the replacement piece and Fred welded it in. He was kind enough to leave me his welder too, so in the dark of night, with no one watching, I attempted welding.
I cut and patched the other side of the front floors, fabbed an inner rocker, replaced two jack points and three outriggers.
I patched and welded the small holes in the cargo floor and even fabbed small sections of B and C pillar.
I stopped short of doing the rockers as my welding skills do not permit any welding where it might actually be seen.
At any rate, it is pretty solid now.
I cleaned and straightened and sewed and patched the interior panels and seats. The Long panel had been folded in half and the bulkhead panel had been flattened. It was all filthy and warped.
I attached some 1/8" oak plywood to the ceiling so it looks a little more like a westy and less like a soup can on the inside.
The wiring was a disaster - the first thing I found was a bundle of charred wires when I dropped the parcel tray.
As I was standing there, scratching my nuts, wondering where to begin -once again Fred to the rescue.
We spent the better part of a day rewiring the front end and the fuse box. I carried on and got pretty much the rest done. It's impresive how motivating a kick in the ass can be.
I hot tested it last night and there are only a couple little glitches that are easy fixes.
It was pretty cool to power it up for the first time in almost 40 years!
I have a set of AJ's 1.25: rockers, so I'll bolt those on and redo the rocker geometry on the boat anchor, a couple other checks on the engine.
I'll find out if the re jet, and overhaul on the carbs has helped them at all.
I am going to build an 1800 for it (74x MI 88) but I'll use the spare engine in Mango for now.
All in all, I'm still on track for a test drive by the end of the month.
I'm sure it will need some things after the shakedown, but I'm getting close
My nine year old laid down the law that Mango must be on the road this year, so I sent the 15 window into hibernation a little early so I could get a jump start on Mango.
My wife insists on parking her car in the garage when it gets below zero at night, so I can realistically only have one bus "with me" at any time. Off the 15 goes for winter storage.
I have to give big props to Fred here as he has been my main source of motivation this winter.
For instance, I was agonizing over where to cut to get the rusty front floor pieces out. He came over, grabbed the angle grinder, cut out a piece and said "There - now fix it".
I fabbed up the replacement piece and Fred welded it in. He was kind enough to leave me his welder too, so in the dark of night, with no one watching, I attempted welding.
I cut and patched the other side of the front floors, fabbed an inner rocker, replaced two jack points and three outriggers.
I patched and welded the small holes in the cargo floor and even fabbed small sections of B and C pillar.
I stopped short of doing the rockers as my welding skills do not permit any welding where it might actually be seen.
At any rate, it is pretty solid now.
I cleaned and straightened and sewed and patched the interior panels and seats. The Long panel had been folded in half and the bulkhead panel had been flattened. It was all filthy and warped.
I attached some 1/8" oak plywood to the ceiling so it looks a little more like a westy and less like a soup can on the inside.
The wiring was a disaster - the first thing I found was a bundle of charred wires when I dropped the parcel tray.
As I was standing there, scratching my nuts, wondering where to begin -once again Fred to the rescue.
We spent the better part of a day rewiring the front end and the fuse box. I carried on and got pretty much the rest done. It's impresive how motivating a kick in the ass can be.
I hot tested it last night and there are only a couple little glitches that are easy fixes.
It was pretty cool to power it up for the first time in almost 40 years!
I have a set of AJ's 1.25: rockers, so I'll bolt those on and redo the rocker geometry on the boat anchor, a couple other checks on the engine.
I'll find out if the re jet, and overhaul on the carbs has helped them at all.
I am going to build an 1800 for it (74x MI 88) but I'll use the spare engine in Mango for now.
All in all, I'm still on track for a test drive by the end of the month.
I'm sure it will need some things after the shakedown, but I'm getting close
