Darwin '67 11 Window Resto Project

[Cam Biscuit]

Back into it for 2014, thanks for the encouragement guys

Hours of grinding fun on the weekend - I think if i do another floor I might just do half as many plug welds!

The photo of the sill is just to show where i plug welded through the sill to the tab on the B and C pillars for a bit of extra strength.

Lastly got the close out piece welded in.

Time to do some priming as the Picklex is struggling to keep the rust away with our usual wet season humid weather.

[kombi niko]

wet season humid weather? now that would sux!! I'm 5 mins from the beach and bare metal rusts in hours!! Its a battle hay!!

[Cam Biscuit]

We've been having monsoonal rain up here for the past week which cools things down nicely and means I can do a full day in the shed without wrecking myself! I think Darwin was the coolest place in Oz for a couple of days there! Even got below 30!

I was all set to start welding in the long side sill and then took a closer look and didn't like what I saw behind the ribs. Nothing for it but to peel the side panel off to reveal some more nasties below on the drivers side arch amongst other spots The photos dont show it well but there are holes on the rear section of the arch and under the verticle rib. Needs the whole rear arch section replaced plus repairs to the fuel filler catch tray and the sheet metal behind it!! I'll replace a couple of horizontal rib sections as well.

Thankfully the passenger side is a whole lot better and I'm just going to use the wheel arch repair section here rather than the whole side panel. At least thats the plan at this stage as the mounting plate where the side panel and rear panel both attach to has both sections joined to the left of it and getting both new panels to line up is going to be hard if I dont pull the whole lot off and start again (hope that makes sense, a photo would help!)

Took off the passender side rear corner to reveal the horror underneath as well! The whole hinge carrier piece needs to be replaced - I'll get some photos of that piece of sexiness in due course.

Lastly I finally got some primer on. Tried out my new spray gun with some Epotec 2 pac primer with obviously shit results. Anyone able to tell if its just my shit spray-painting technique? I suspect it doesnt like the Picklex underneath but not 100% given its my first attempt at using the spraygun.
The rest I just used a red oxide spray can.

[kombi1976]

Great thorough work there, Cam. It's no surprise why the price on solid Split buses is high. It really needs this dedication to quality to stop the rot.

[kombi niko]

We've been having monsoonal rain up here for the past week which cools things down nicely and means I can do a full day in the shed without wrecking myself! I think Darwin was the coolest place in Oz for a couple of days there! Even got below 30!

I was all set to start welding in the long side sill and then took a closer look and didn't like what I saw behind the ribs. Nothing for it but to peel the side panel off to reveal some more nasties below on the drivers side arch amongst other spots The photos dont show it well but there are holes on the rear section of the arch and under the verticle rib. Needs the whole rear arch section replaced plus repairs to the fuel filler catch tray and the sheet metal behind it!! I'll replace a couple of horizontal rib sections as well.

Thankfully the passenger side is a whole lot better and I'm just going to use the wheel arch repair section here rather than the whole side panel. At least thats the plan at this stage as the mounting plate where the side panel and rear panel both attach to has both sections joined to the left of it and getting both new panels to line up is going to be hard if I dont pull the whole lot off and start again (hope that makes sense, a photo would help!)

Took off the passender side rear corner to reveal the horror underneath as well! The whole hinge carrier piece needs to be replaced - I'll get some photos of that piece of sexiness in due course.

Lastly I finally got some primer on. Tried out my new spray gun with some Epotec 2 pac primer with obviously shit results. Anyone able to tell if its just my shit spray-painting technique? I suspect it doesnt like the Picklex underneath but not 100% given its my first attempt at using the spraygun.
The rest I just used a red oxide spray can.

Cam, from that picture it looks like the surface is not clean (oil looking reaction) Are you cleaning the surface down with auto thinners before painting?
Also what ratio is the primer to thinners?

[Cam Biscuit]

Yep gave it a good scuff with sandpaper and then a wipe down with thinners before painting…….

[kombi niko]

Ummmm, what sort of paint is it? Maybe too much thinners in the paint?.

[Cam Biscuit]

Its Epotec 2 pack by PPG. I mixed up about half a litre and only put in about 10mls of thinners as it seemed pretty thin already….

[kombi niko]

how much hardener ?

[Cartonofbeerkombi]

To me it looks like fish eyes from oil or silicone you may have oil in the tank of your compressor or oil still in a new spray gun next time use prep-sol or another product to remove grease and oil, thinners will just move it round and always use a clean rag.
Clinton

[Cam Biscuit]

Thanks Clinton, good tips

[Cam Biscuit]

And so the fun continues. Given the state of the inner section of the engine lid hinge carrier I've removed the whole thing but have to wait a while until I can get a new one from Das Resto (on order)

Also had to do some patch work on the fuel filler metal and to get rid of some nice angle iron.

[Cam Biscuit]

I was going to repair the guard section but had a whole replacement and it just made sense to pull out the whole thing.

Alsways some nasties lurking so glad I did.....

Also welded in some new rib section, nice to have an easy little job to complete to make yourself feel good!

The fuel filler splash pan will need some work as well.

[Cam Biscuit]

Still progressing, lots of time spent on fiddley stuff.....I think I've spent about 3-4 hours on the fuel filler base alone, it was in a bad way and needed lots of holes filled and everywhere I welded up would make another hole next to it

Anyway the corner of the rear hatch is now fixed and the new inner guard is now in along with the fuel filler base and the spill pipe. I had to frabricate up a small pice to go on to the bottomo of the pillar that meets the top of the guard. I've also filled a few round holes on the side of the bus which I assume they drilled for seat belt mounts

A trip out to Gazzas at Humpty Doo on the weekend yielded some replacement OG metal off the donor '67 panel.

Upper right rear corner is in. Not super happy with the way it came out as I got a bit of warpage despite tacking it all in place first - not enough cooling as I went.

[bevoracing]

Hi Cam
Finally got on here to see your machine. Looks great.
I see you’ve got my little brother on the job there.
I learned a couple of tricks doing the metal work on the CB, sent them to a bloke just starting out recently. Here’s the part of the list relevant to a bus:-
Put a piece of copper plate (available as “Bus Bar” from industrial electrical suppliers) behind holes while you fill them, takes the heat away and keeps the back of the weld flat.
Do (literally) 1 second of TIG or MIG welding, then blast the metal with compressed air while it’s still red hot, don’t let any of it cool. This will shrink it back straight away, shrinking warped flat sheet afterwards is very, very hard. This method takes a looong time but it’s worth it.
Get a G clamp, cut it up, get some metal and make a long reach one, or two.
Het some 10 or 12mm square bar to help clamp things, like the channels around the engine lid.
Cut some holes in the closed cavities to let the dirt out and to let the rust proofing in. You can put plugs in them later.
Get at least 4 grinders. Grinding wheel, 1mm cutting wheel, cup wire brush, flap disc (and large flat wire brush for some jobs) Changing the wheels will drive you nuts, they only cost a few bucks. I had a bench on wheels with all this on it following me around.
Make up a rotisserie, you’ll do your back in reaching it all otherwise.
Use 2 electric drills, 1 with an 8mm shallow ground drill, and another with an 8mm flat ground drill. That’s the best way to drill out spot welds, with 2 drills, 1 to start, the other to cut the front sheet away only. Polish the panel with the wire, find the spot welds, punch them with a sharp punch, tapered drill until you get full diameter, then touch it with the flat one, now that it has a guide hole, which takes it out flat and doesn’t damage the back panel, much, depending on how shallow the first drill is.
I have a hand held sand blaster too. Buy the right material for it. It’s next to useless on a standard air compressor but with a little patience you can get the tough little bits done, don’t try and do a lot.

As you saw the other day, my CB has been to the blaster and is in undercoat currently. I intend to straighten it, seal all the joints with acrylic sealer, paint it, then while it’s still on the rotisserie flood the cavities with Waxoil, in every position, until it runs out of every hole or joint. I’ll clean the Waxoil off the paint after that. It may have been built to rust but it’ll never rust again.

Good luck.
Tony Beven