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Thu Feb 02, 2012 3:20 pm

Dasdubber wrote: BarryL wrote: Total righteous sheesh. How did you make the glove box door such that there's no old radio hole?

Do you have picture of it opening and the clearence between the door/lid and the steering wheel? I really dig this and would love to see more.

Be Great. 8)

Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:30 pm

KombiMarc wrote:
Quick question, as I am doing metal work myself right now, I understand using heat to strech the metal, but what is your process to shrink? might be a noob quesiton, but gettting these panels straight is tough, thanks in advance!!

G'day Marc,

There are loads of links on youtube etc which will give a visual demonstration of shrinking with oxy acetelene. The actual process is not too difficult, but it is very hard to know where to shrink, how much to shrink and how it will affect the surrounding metal. You can end up chasing oil cans all over the panel. I tend to leave it to my panel beater who has years more experience than I do with such metal work. Essentially you get the spot almost cherry red with the oxy then with dolly and hammer (often textured), you work the metal back towards the hot spot to lose some of the extra steel (that has been stretched). This is a very basic explanation so check out some links which will explain it better :)

Cheers
Al

Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:36 pm

zcruisers wrote: Dasdubber wrote: BarryL wrote: Total righteous sheesh. How did you make the glove box door such that there's no old radio hole?

Do you have picture of it opening and the clearence between the door/lid and the steering wheel? I really dig this and would love to see more.

Be Great. 8)

Initially we set it up so it would open fully (so that the door was close to horizontal when open) however it built up a lot of momentum when opening and we knew the hinges or surrounding steel could be damaged over time if allowed to fling open at full speed every time. Hence we reduced the travel so that it only opened about half way (it just clears the bottom of the steering wheel by around 10mm)....this limits the functionality to a degree but since we weren't using it as a traditional storage glove box to filled with all sorts of crap, we weren't as worried about the reduced travel. It could have been offset towards the passenger side to get a larger box or full travel door but I wanted to keep the symmetry in the dash and have it centred.

Sorry I can't find any more pics at the moment - there are around 1200 photos of the rebuild if you ever want to kill a couple of hours scanning through:
http://dasrestohaus.com.au/gallery2/v/Current+Restorations/Armandos+59+11+window/?g2_page=1

Cheers
Al
I'll try and find some of the opened position soon.

Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:28 am

Dasdubber wrote: ...Initially we set it up so it would open fully (so that the door was close to horizontal when open) however it built up a lot of momentum when opening and we knew the hinges or surrounding steel could be damaged over time if allowed to fling open at full speed every time. Hence we reduced the travel so that it only opened about half way...

The old cassette player door gentle-open mechanism could be employed. I've seen some with gears and spring and others with a tiny shock. I even saw one that housed a little vaned shaft in STP that was sealed.

Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:40 am

delete

Mon Feb 06, 2012 4:01 am

Dash vents control hot air and can be directed onto windscreen or back towards driver/passenger - billet trim ring has been machined to fit

Lower heater vent will provide hot air to the feet area - booster fan is mounted in line under the bus to help speed up air flow

The roof lining treatment is another area that makes this bus truly a custom one-off as the time spent on its fabrication would rival the time spent on most full resprays! But the time/dollars will be well worth it in the long run

We have incorporated a solenoid operated full extension draw into the rear seat/bed for storage

Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:46 am

Few more pics....front speaker pod coonstruction:

Fibreglass was laid down first to obtain a base to which the MDF speaker mounting rings could be fixed to

Cloth was then stretched over the rings, trimmed and then fibreglassed over

Its always a nice milestone to get a bus into one colour albeit just primer

Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:52 am

Fitting the creative engineering deluxe belt line trim was a bit of a nightmare to get right

Although the trim fits roughly without modification, it does not follow the lines of the body swage so Rob and Steve spent considerable time reshaping each piece to parallel the two tone paint cut line so nothing looked out of alignment

The doors were one of the worst areas to get right

The roof lining was taking shape and the trimmer was happy with its curves

Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:19 am

Fabrication of front speaker pods and cover kick panel:

Custom tank with drop in EFI pump/reg

Fabrication of rear speaker housings and lower trim panels (moulds at this stage)

Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:21 am

Custom made Iozzio 17 x 6in front Fuchs

And 17 x 8in rears

Some interior colour...

and Dynamat

Custom third brake light

Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:10 am

Looks like money :) Should be a nice ride. Wheels are great.

Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:20 am

You guys should make these panels in ABS:

Dasdubber wrote:

Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:51 am

Too many mods to the dash (tray and heater duct etc) for the front kick panel to be of any use to anyone :) We did take a mould of the roof lining panels though

More resto pics:
PPG Deltron direct gloss first (later wet block sanded flat then clear coated)

Pre-fit of deluxe trim so two tone cut line could perfectly parallel the trim....this was then removed and the red section masked up before the white was applied to the top half.....then both top and bottom sanded (hence guide coat on red) before clear went on

Cleared

During colour sanding

2 weeks of buffing can send you a little crazy

Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:43 am

wooooooooow! :twisted: like that very much.

jyri / http://volkswanker.blogspot.com/

Wed Apr 04, 2012 7:05 am

WOW!! :shock: :shock:

Beautiful work...BEAUTIFUL bus!! =D>

Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:24 pm

Dasdubber wrote:
Speaking of the engine

Is that alternator strap beefier than stock?
If so, do you have details or a place to purchase? I have an alternator and would like a strap like that if it is beefy.

I love the bus. The videos of it driving are nice. I love the hidden cycling feature.

Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:37 am

bcampagnolo wrote:
Is that alternator strap beefier than stock?
If so, do you have details or a place to purchase? I have an alternator and would like a strap like that if it is beefy.

I love the bus. The videos of it driving are nice. I love the hidden cycling feature.

Actually a stock alt strap pictured above - just has been powdercoated. We ended up using one of the stainless aftermarket style straps.

Cheers
Al

Thought I better update some more pics

Red9Design front end

Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:40 am

Fantastic ideas, perfect execution, awesome result. I'm a stock bus guy but this bus is amazing! The paint job is just killer.

Installing a basic headliner is a back breaking job, but to make that custom full headliner, props! All the subtle little touches must've taken forever and $$$.

One of the top buses in the world!

Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:44 am

dawerks wrote: Fantastic ideas, perfect execution, awesome result. ...
One of the top buses in the world!

I agree!! One of the top buses in the world FOR SUUUUUUURE!

Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:34 am

Thanks guys.

More pics and progress....

Exhaust was ceramic coated but in black instead of the usual silver for a more 'factory' look

Modified A1 header from Tiger at A1 Exhausts in the US (not the cheap copy)....we custom made the muffler setup

Bumper and engine lid/valance back on finally

Now its getting a little better dialled in we can start to push it a little harder to more effectively evaluate the Red9 Design double wishbone front end

Shut down time for the day....

Another youtube clip of another test run out the front of our workshop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GoXcHJ67_A

Cheers
Al