Rusty, our 1962 11 window bus, resto now in year two……er, three...

[rusty1962]

Hi everyone, I'm very, very new to all this but Mary (the wife) has been wanting a camper for a while now.

I think she wanted one that went but I surprised her with "Rusty", a 1962 Texas import, registered in Oklahoma. He's in a bit of a bad way, but as you can see, the benefit of an A level in metalwork from a long time ago is paying dividends and I've cracked on. He weighs a lot less now and I've just taken him to be blasted.

Thanks to the many interesting posts on here I'm getting an idea of how to proceed but will undoubtedly ask many daft questions as I've never done anything like this before!

So here goes, daft first question - several of you raise the height of the steering box. Why is this? I'd guess at lowering the ride height?

Any help, or tips greatly appreciated, and can anyone tell me how to post more pic's?

Steve

[rusty1962]

Some more pic's

[markp]

Welcome dude

Welcome to the wonderful world of the split screen bus .... There will be highs there will be lows ...... But in the end there will be a massive Splity smile ..... Trust me its an amazing feeling


Ref to the steering box question ..... Correct the boxes are raised if they are slamming a bus as it's one on the lower points on a bus .... If not the lowest point on a bus


Well dude be sure to post loads and keep any pic'y updates coming ... As it keep the pic'y perv's happy ... ( me being one of them )

Enjoy !

We are all a friendly bunch ..... But just don't ask Bren rolls for one of his biscuits

And remember the rules ..... No pic ! .... It didn't happen

Always feel free to ask any questions as there is always someone that will know the answer


Over and out


Mark

[rusty1962]

So I got the angle grinder out.......

[rusty1962]

rotten seat mount/ wheel arch cut out and off to be blasted

[markp]

Sweet





Mark

[rusty1962]

Just got back from the blasters. Nothing that I didn't expect. Chassis look good but lots of welding to do. Good job I've been practising! Got a bottle of Argoshield lite now, rather than the supplied CO2. Makes the job a whole lot easier!
A few pic's

[rusty1962]

a few more......

[rusty1962]

and some more

[rusty1962]

and finally.....


Lots of parts now on the way from Autocraft, van in garage, let battle commence!

[markp]

It's mint !

You'll be done in a few months


Happy welding over the winter months


Good updates dude


Well done .... Thing are looking good


Mark

[busbug]

Very nice looking project, it actually looked far worse at first but after the blast it looks quite sweet.

i would say though that engine lid looks totally shot and fit for the bin, but it just so happens that I'm looking for a totally shot engine lid should you wish for me to dispose of it for you

Nice bus buddy and look forward to seeing it come back to life

[rusty1962]

I had a couple of hours spare today and managed to cut out the cargo door sills and begin tidying things up

[rusty1962]

Spent today removing the top hats. The front one was a b#$@& as it' attached to the bulkhead and when I did get it off the centre chassis section is full up with dust and needs replacing, which means the heater pipe has got to come out. Started to make up some patch pieces to repair the bulkhead.

Question! What gauge metal do you guys use for fab?

The rear centre chassis section is ok and I bashed out a couple of dents but as I'm now doing the front one and playing around with the heater pipe I'm considering replacing it bit that means unpicking all the tack welds on all the pipes. I know this is ultimately better but any tips for removing the tack welds?

I'll post pics soon.

Thanks for comments and help so far.

Steve

[rusty1962]

I had the afternoon off and was able to have a good look at the chassis cross members. While they looked ok on the outside, once the tophats were off they were found to be full of sand and other american dust so they had to come out. I quickly cut through them before I changed my mind!

I've decided to cut all the tack welds off the pipes so I can thread them through the new top hats and chassis cross members which, I think will make a better job so marked all these with a sharpie so that I can reposition them.

Today's work has thrown up a few questions that I hope someone can help me out with - it is now that you'll realise I'm a relative beginner!

Where the chassis cross members meet the chassis rails, there is a bit of rot. Not all the way through by a long way, but not as thick as the metal was. What's the correct procedure here?

I've posted a few pics!