first van

Post by **bustersmate** » 03 Sep 2008, 21:44

hi all ,just got my first van dont know what type etc it is only know its a 1983 1.6d.it has had two owners from new and has been lying up for around ten years, clock shows 10700 but not sure about that.needing quite a fair bit of work done as u,d imagine but im realy looking forward to having a go at it all myself, im a mechanic so that side is no problem, but everything else will be a first.will try and get some photos up for it now and some as the rebuild goes on, wish me luck. ps just want to add this site is amasing and u guys realy know ure stuff. im thinking i will be calling on ure advise a fair bit lol.

thats me had her for about 3 weeks now and done some work to her. first thing to do was get it running, the guy i got her from said it was about 4 year since he started it. decided to drain fuel tank/oil and filter and water b4 i even attempted it.so with new fuel/filter,oil/filter and water in i gave it a go, i was well surprised how quick it fired up and didnt sound to bad, then disaster the oil light was on and wouldnt go out, whipped the rocker cover off and fired her up, no oil so deff no pressure, ripped sump off and took pump off and stripped,that seemed ok, took oil filter carrier off, that was ok, took vacuum pump off and noticed a tiny gallery between that and oil filter,eurika it was blocked. sorted that and fired up sweet as a nut. next was brakes as u can imagine there wasnt any, so after new shoes/pads/cyls/fitting kits/repaired back plates/h/b cables and every brake pipes she now starts and stops. after all that it was time to give it a clean to see wot was underneath.

.

more to follow.

some more pics of the van.

Post by **kevtherev** » 03 Sep 2008, 21:50

your not the first, or the only masochist on here....

best of luck
let's hope it doesn't take ten years to restore

Post by **mininut** » 03 Sep 2008, 22:01

Hello, welcome to 80-90.

Looking at the roof on your van, it looks like you've got yourself an early, solid side poptop Autohomes Kamper. Have you opened up the roof yet?

Great conversion, although I am slightly bias

Good luck with the resto, nice to see you're prepared to save another of these fine vehicles

Post by **bustersmate** » 03 Sep 2008, 22:21

its deffinatly meant to be solid but im afraid this ones going to need some woodworking.

Post by **Robin!** » 08 Sep 2008, 20:35

Good luck with the the resto

Post by **bustersmate** » 27 Sep 2008, 17:16

ive decided that there is so much to do that im just going to start at the back and work my way round and tackle the work as i see it.ive just came back to work after a holliday in egypt, and it was amasing the buzz i got walking in and seing the bus sitting there, this thing has realy got to me, even go to bed thinking i,ll do this then that etc lol. am i just a bit sad or does ure bus get to u that way?.

Post by **bustersmate** » 27 Sep 2008, 17:55

back panel wasnt bad, a good rub down some underseal and primer and it was sorted

next up was o/s/r wheel arch which was totalled so it had to come off.

nice new panel from a panels(£20) my first EVER bit of bodywork.im quite proud of it.now just to try my welding that i have been practicing. ps the screws are just to hold it in placr while i tack it on (honest)

ps did u notice the wheels? well every woman needs new shoes to keep them happy.

Post by **dugcati** » 27 Sep 2008, 19:37

bustersmate... where do you live as I reckon thats my van your restoring for me on the sly

that !van looks very much like mine.... rusty and very sorry for itself! hehehe

have a look at some of the bodywork I'm dooing on mine....

http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h101/dugcati/t25/
use club8090 as a password

I have loads more pics to put up there so check it again soon(ish!)

Doug

Post by **bustersmate** » 28 Sep 2008, 09:10

that is some ammount of work ure doing there mate.looks like ure doing a great job

Post by **kooldubs** » 28 Sep 2008, 19:16

get on boy..i`ve broken vans that looked like that.. the last one was the same model you have there ..i have that interior in my caravelle..
good luck with the resto

Post by **Nicola&Tony** » 28 Sep 2008, 21:55

bustersmate wrote: . . . this thing has realy got to me, even go to bed thinking i,ll do this then that etc lol. am i just a bit sad or does ure bus get to u that way?.

Aye, that's how it gets!!

Welcome to the madhouse, err, I mean club.

Sounds like you're doing a great job, imagine how chuffed you're gonna feel the first time you go camping in her!

Tony

Post by **bustersmate** » 11 Oct 2008, 17:40

time for some new pics. im not working to a set plan with this restoration, when i get pi***d off doing something i go and do something else,so i,ll apologise now for this thread chopping and changing. anyway the van had a hard sided pop top which was fooked and would have needed major refurbing, but after chatting about something else on the site i ended up getting pointed in the direction of rusty red who had a sheldon high top on top of his garage. so to cut a long story short off came the pop top and on with the high.

heres some pics

Fingle · Post by **Fingle** » 11 Oct 2008, 20:12

Dead impressed....good work so far.

Makes my tinkerings look pathetic

Post by **shallyscarlet** » 11 Oct 2008, 21:03

your van is gonna look saweeeeeet when its done. i cany wait to see it....the most resto mine has had is a respray ( well blow job) and new curtains !!! lol

Post by **Titus A Duxass** » 12 Oct 2008, 05:55

Good work.
I am always amazed when I see a project like this.

To me that bus was a candidate for the scrapyard.

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