57 11 Window - Penny

[vanell]

Looking good so far mate, the only thing I can suggest is that the section over the gearbox is not actually welded to the chassis except at the engine end, so the wheel tubs and sides are actually only held up with that rear floor beam you have still on, so maybe some supports on the outside would help so they don’t get in the way with floor structure you are putting in. Another option is remove the rear one from the new floor piece if your old one is still in good shape

[Perik57Splitty]

Cheers mate, might put a couple of braces in to support it a bit more in that location as the current one is actually already coming away from the body ‘by itself’!
I keep going around the bus with a tape measure and checking measurements to make sure nothing has dropped or is way out of line but will prop the body up around this rear brace before completely cutting it out.

[Perik57Splitty]

Welded up both rear chassis sections today, cut out the rest of the floor brace assembly and a fair bit of the door sill and side panels, chucked the new frame assembly in and seems to fit pretty good so far…

[vanell]

Good work mate, making it solid again, getting the floor back in will be a great milestone

[Perik57Splitty]

Pretty pumped to say the least…after chatting to Coop and him being absolutely drowned with work and not able to do anything for another year or so I decided I’m too impatient to wait for the major body/panel works to be done and started to search around for any other options. A good mate of mine who lives just out of Newcastle told me about Dubsmith Garage. Few phone calls later and it’s all fallen in to place!
Dubsmith can shuffle a few jobs around and get started on her late Jan/early Feb so I’ve booked a flight to go and catch up with Adrian for the day and go over my plans while I’m still off work early Jan. At the same time a bloke who lives in Cessnock responded to my TruckIt post and will be loading her on to a car trailer and towing her from Adelaide to Dubsmith ($700!!!) so it’s delivered at the same time! My mate only lives about 25 mins away and will be keeping a regular eye on her for me plus Adrian will be sending heaps of pics and vids to keep me updated. Just completing the metal works for now, possibly paint job but will see where the bank account is at by the time we get there…
Would have loved for it all to be happening closer to home, but I’m just stoked to have some real progress in the pipeline!!!
So I finished off the rotisserie I’ve had in bits for months and bolted onto the bus with some heavy duty wheels to help with loading/unloading but that can easily be removed with 4 bolts if needed.
Pulled everything down from top of my shed and started to realise just how much I’ve spent this year already….
Spent the day yesterday making a list of everything being sent, then loading it all in and getting my Tetris on…lined the floor with plastic, used up most of my drop sheets/blankets for padding and was surprised with how easily everything still fit…with plenty room to spare!
Cable tied and duct taped all the doors back on, then more plastic and shrink wrapped the whole way round so hopefully this will keep it all together and relatively dry!
Might add a few more layers around the bottom just for good measure but she should travel safe enough i reckon…now to be a part of ‘the week that was’…

[MID WEST DUBBER]

Awesome, will be great to see some more progress

[Perik57Splitty]

Been a fair while since I updated this so thought I’d throw up a few pics with how things are progressing up at Dubsmith Garage in Newcastle.
Chassis rails have now been properly joined and misalignment fixed up - not the best job done in my amateur workshop!!!
Pillars all had either the bottom section or the whole thing replaced
Floor assembly installed and properly fixed in place
Doors repaired - some just the bottom 6 inch and some needed more extensive repair work

[Perik57Splitty]

More pics…

[Perik57Splitty]

And some more…

[Perik57Splitty]

Enough yet???

[Perik57Splitty]

[Perik57Splitty]

One more post for tonight…

Been looking at colour options and changed my mind a few times of course but think I’m pretty keen on dove blue for below belt line, white on top and a couple of 6mm pinstripes in white and grey to break it up…thoughts???

The pic doesn’t really show it very well but gives you the idea i guess…

[splitthis]

It’s your bus paint it as you want……but if you may ever want to sell it OG colours will always appeal to a bigger market. Full dove blue with a white pinstripe looks awesome.

[Perik57Splitty]

To be honest my second choice would be all dove blue with a white pinstripe and white roof…

[warb]

looks the goods, it's your bus for the colour, I personally like period colours, or simply OG shitty.

it's in good hands up there.

More pics please!