Hi Phil, just been looking through my Sandown Park pics.
I needed to take a few pics of a samba the same age as mine and the attention to detail areas so to get mine as close as possible & to get some insperation for my project!!!
Didnt realise till now I think it was yours!!!!
































A stunning Bus.

Steve.

Hi Steve,

Yea that's my bus.

Thanks for the kind words

Next time you see it, come and say hello, and you can have a propper look, and ask as many questions as you like

I'm making curtains tonight, and needed a break (and all I've done so far is measure )......think it may be a long night

Phil.

You Love It Phill all that hard work is paying off ....... bet it feels great !!!!

you going to the big bang ???


Mark

Hi Mark,

That is the plan (Sunday only).

I'm hoping to get out tomorrow to check the timing again, as she has a massive flat spot at the moment

Fingers crossed......

Phil.

You shouldn't talk about your wife like that, Phil !

BTW, you bus is a beauty too!

Dave.

Cool good luck for tomorrow Phil

I'm doing the Saturday at big bang ....... shame I'll miss meeting you but theres always the next show hu

Mark

I finally got around to fixing in the aux battery today.



I also took her out for a spin, and I think the timing is OK now, just need to slow down the tick over, and check the mixture now (at least she runs, and doesn't stop as I'm pulling out of junctions now ).

I made a start on the curtains last night, and made a sample one up to see if my plan with magnets would work.....





After a bit of head scratching, I managed to work out how to use my mums old sewing machine , and how / where I was going to fit the magnets

Making the real ones is the job for tonight

On a lighter note, I drive past this place every day to work, and thought it would make a cool backdrop for a photo.....





(It was a bit chilly driving with the sunroof open, but it was the first time I've ever done it, so who cares )



Also decided to ditch the GB sign out of the back window, as I'm not really happy with it, and it was starting to bug me

Phil.

p.s. Markp - Shame we are going on different days, as I was looking forward to meeting you, and congratulating you on all your hard work you have put into your project - TOTAL respect for what you are doing

bus looks great phil and it looked good on the m40 i assume you knew it was me and matt partlett who beeped you in the blue vito on the way to vw orld on the sunday morning

Hi there Phil,
Just been through your thread from start to finish over the last 2 nights. Thats a story of epic proportions. You must have the patients of a dozen saints to be able to carry on through all the problems you had, but the outcome is a stunning bus that will turn everyones head for years to come.
Im at the start of my resto & im sure reading your experiences will help me to make the right decisions with my bus as I restore it over the next couple of years
By the way, I dont know if I missed it but how did your gearbox troubles end up. Did the new front rod sort the problem? Did you find out how the rod got bent. Cant see how moving the gearbox at the back could bend the rod at the front.
Hope to catch up with you at Big Bang & have a chat.

Steve

Well we have done our first ever camping trip in the bus now

(Club AGM at VF)





However, we got so cold on Friday night, that we had to come home on Saturday as we all felt really ill

It was a shame as I wanted to enter the bus into her first ever show......

Never mind, our health is far more important

It was really nice to meet up with other club members off here, and be able to put faces to names

I hope we can meet ever more members at the next shows

I have already been looking at heaters, so this doesn't happen again - so I guess my answer to the question is......no the resto isn't quite finished yet

John was our first official visitor (who also helped us test out our new cooker ). It was a pleasure to meet you sir



It was a shame to bail out so early on Saturday, and we were both personally gutted, as we had been looking forward to this weekend all winter. I was really impressed by the set up and all the effort that the club had put into organising this event, so we will be back in 2013 for more of the same please (but with a heated van ).

Cheers,

Phil.

Looks great Phil! Whens the next show?

webasto or erb mate i had a propex first but it would blow out on the motorway and a diesel heater costs pennys to run
i have an ex bt erb in the lockup if you are after a cheap one but looking at the bus id say get a nice shiney one with a thermastat then you can have it 21 degrees all night

Doogle, our next show will be 'The Big Sunday' in Croyde in a few weeks time

After last weekend, I have a job to do this weekend.........

I need to fit all of this.....



Into here......



So unfortunately, the amp for the sub has to go (I'm sure I will be able to find a new home for it soon).

The first trial fit up to see where everything could go.



I read the instructions a few times before drilling any holes, and then went for it...



And only in a way that I can manage......I cocked it up

You will see in this pic, how I managed to drill one of the 40mm holes directly above the chassis rail (and the instructions even warned about this ).



(I even drilled a pilot hole and checked it with an inspection lamp )

Oh well, too late now - I'm pleased to say that I found away around it by using spacers .

I placed the bottle in place, and secured it with a strap.



I don't want to have big holes in the front of my bench seat (and I don't want to fit the plastic vents that are supplied in the kit), so I decided that I want the heating to come out of the OG heater tube (even though it isn't straight for some reason ).



So time to hack into it



This will give me the connection to the heater, as well as a safety air vent for the gas bottle.

I need to make an adapter up next week to go from 50mm (heater tube) to 60mm (Propex tube).

Tomorrows job is to fit all the parts, and wire it all up (still not decided where to put the thermostat yet though ).

I also had a problem with the split charging circuit, so gave Peter Good a call last night to discuss it with him (as my fuse has melted )



The good news is that this happened due to the battery being totally flat (and I put the wrong fuse back in on the motorway last week). So I will charge the battery tonight, and see if it fixes it

Many thanks to Peter for such a useful and friendly free service

Also need to sort out the electric hook up tomorrow........

Phil.

p.s. I do realise that as soon as I have a heater fitted, it will be summer and therefore warm (this is the plan )

Great update Phill as it's good to see a step by step on how to fit gas heater

well done and A personal thank you as this is one of the things I'll need to fit to Gerry

WHEN I FINISH HIM


Mark