Spend since last report: £2,747. Total hours labour since last report: 52.05

As 2022 draws to a close, I am prompted to look back at the progress made this year. Ahead of what happened this episode, here is a summary of the year:

• Kitchen pod created.
• Bulkheads removed.
• Flip / fold front seats made.
• Engine case purchased.
• Poppy’s old engine dismantled.
• Eric’s old engine dismantled.
• Brand new engine being built by Stateside Tuning.

In addition to the above, I have also made progress elsewhere.

The front beam has been dismantled, removed from the van and was hanging on a block and tackle for ease of movement for about a month. It is an adjustable beam of unknown origin that came with Eric. The bottoms of the clamshell sections that form the chassis mounts were both rusted, but were by no means unsalvageable – cutting out the minor amounts of rot and replacing it properly with butt welded sections made for a great look. Much easier and more satisfying than the work on the vehicle that has been rather worse hit by rust!

Each component of the front suspension, steering and brakes was removed and either stripped, painted in anti rust treatment, primed and painted or was replaced. The brake calipers have been painted in 3 coats of bright green Kawasaki high temperature paint and all other components were top coated in John Deere tractor paint in gloss black. This was a recommendation some years ago by a VW restorer and the colour and protection are great.

Then with the beam off the van, I was able to tackle the chassis rails in the sections that had been hidden by the beam. As this was only about a foot on each chassis rail, it did not seem like a long job however, the access is only by laying on the ground and understandably, 50 years of water, mud and rust had accumulated to rot out a large chunk of this. New sections in 2mm semi-galvanized steel were fabricated up and welded in place, and with new thick steel onto nicely tidied chassis 2mm steel, this went in smoothly and with minimal grinding required. Once fully smooth, again this was rust proofed and primed but top coat on the chassis / underside is the original L90D pastel white. I am using synthetic enamel for its hard wearing and easy to apply properties.

Once finished (first picture), and with the anti roll bar back in place complete with the new rubbers and mounting brackets, it all got a final check before calling on a neighbour. The recommended way to refit a beam is to get it under the van and jack it up on a trolley jack, keeping it horizontal and continue lifting onto the chassis rails.

I had a brainwave and for once it worked out well. We wheeled the finished beam to underneath Eric, ensured that it was approximately as vertical as needed. Eric was on the block and tackle to get it high enough for the beam to go underneath, then we simply lowered Eric onto the beam, which was therefore completely flat and the sheer weight of the van helped press the chassis rails into the beam. A few little wiggles and we were able to get the first bolt on each side before a little further wiggling could get the remaining bolts into the chassis. From the beam being up on the block and tackle, to moving the beam, lifting the van on the same block and tackle, lowering the van onto it and aligning all bolts took 45 minutes. We felt that was a big result! Picture 2 shows the offside front wheelarch, all painted in white with the beam in place and shiny green calipers.

Picture 3 shows the chassis under the beam, the lumpy underseal was hiding some gremlins but new steel sections have made it all strong again. With the chassis rail opened, I have been able to add rust proofing paint to the insides of the rails in a lot of places and will follow that up with underseal in due course.

Once that was complete, Eric had a beam with which to roll him over. The garage was suitably tidied and emptied, Eric was turned nearly 180 degrees (not easy in a double garage) and the offside wheels removed. The rollover jig was bolted in place of the wheels and Eric was laid onto his off side. This allowed me to get to the underside to work on the sections not easily accessible when he was on his other side a year or so ago. The key section here was the nearside rear chassis rail. Picture 4 shows the remains of the chassis rail – I knew this was bad when I did the other side of the same section. If you have a box that has seen better days, replace one side then the other – more reliable for positioning than replacing it all at once. Just behind the torsion tube was about 30cm / 1 foot that needed a significant section replacing and as it was curved, this was done in 3 sections, again rust proofing the inside as it became accessible. Anything rusty was cut out. The mounting bracket of the bump stop was removed as that was very bad, new sections fabricated for that before welding that back on to fresh steel.

It looks much better with steel instead of holes! Picture 5 was when the rust proofing paint was still wet, once dry it goes purple and then the primer went on twice and several coats of L90D top coat as well.

A similar story on the offside rear wheel arch – remove buckets of underseal, get visibility on the metal, remove the paint unless it is looking great. Remove rust, add new metal if required, rust proof, prime and paint. Once all of that was complete, the majority of the underside is now done – just minor bits that were missed plus the underside of the fuel tank to go then it is build up time. Picture 6 of the offside rear wheelarch and bump stop all clean and white made me feel rather good!

With that section complete, I was able to tackle the offside rear suspension. Nothing major here as it is heavy steel that needed stripping and again rust proof / prime / paint. On investigation of the driveshaft, this was ok but the CV joints were sadly not – I had bought new gaiters for the CV joints and now need to buy CV joints. Which come with gaiters. That outlay will have to wait for a while until I feel happy about paying good money for something that I already own!

Next jobs are – assemble the rear drum brakes, add the brake cables, brake pipes, find which brake servo is which and where they go. Add the brake flexi pipes to the right places, join everything up. Add the steering box, connect that to the beam. Gear selector mechanism. Air heating pipe completion. Finish cleaning the gearbox, prime it and paint it, mount it, add the driveshafts once I buy the CV joints. Around that time I can put Eric back on his wheels for what I hope will be the last time. Perhaps I will manage that for the next issue but it is cold. And that list feels daunting! Until next time.