Nice bus, even nicer sister

[bcs]

O.k., coming back again to the unattractive cargo-floor

The most annoying points were ...

- wavy floor

- waves at the driver-site-wall

- because the coachbuilder fixed the 2 floor halves in the wrong order, the middle seam was not smooth and the welding points were done from underneath

- the locking-rod of the left double-door scratched over the floor and ‘plops’ into the hole of the reinforcement plate

- the floor-panels rises up towards the engine-compartment-wall

- the Z-jump at the bottom of the engine-compartment-wall was not rectangular

For the last 2 point seems to be the too short cargo-floor-panels responsible.

These issues caused me a headache and bad mood each time I saw it
(unfortunately about 10 months because of a longer pause without any progress)

So after that pause I tried first to improve the height of the reinforcement plate to avoid shortening the double door lock-rod.

The reinforcement plate could be lowered by approx. 1 to 2 mm through countless hammer blows.
But this was not enough.
It seemed that the outer-rocker was about 5mm too high (even if the measurements of the original and the WW-part are identical).

Unfortunately the coachbuilder removed the original outer-rocker without having marked its original position.
During installation of the new part, we concentrated exclusively on the correct position and accuracy of fit to the outer shell …

Some sleepless nights followed …


_____________
benjamin

[mdege]

Man what a terrible job of installing that floor

I am sorry that you had such a bad experience with your body-shop.

I hate it when you pay someone to do it right and the you get a result which is worse than what a good hobbyist could have done.
_________________
- Michael

1965 21F: Restoration of a former '65 firetruck
1963 Typ3 Notchback project
1988 Multivan Magnum 112i
1984 Standard: My son wanted a bug for his first car

[bcs]

Hello Michael,

it seems, that you have made the same experiences?!

Yes, it is really annoying and maybe I will write a book about this issue after this project is finished

Many thanks.

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

... some sleepless nights and days of deliberation about all the points of the unattractive cargo-floor passed by

My first approach of trying to gloss over the different points didn't help.
Even if a large part of the areas will be covered up later (with rubber mats, interior panels, etc.) I know that the mess is still there.
And the voice inside my head wouldn't stop reminding me

So it was not the right basis for further work.

I have to confess, that this was one of the hardest decisions during this project: Removing the new cargo-floor.

It took a little bit time to do the first cut, but afterwards I felt relived and on the right way

… unfortunately, I had grinded the welding-points so smooth, that it was a challenge to find each center to mark it up correctly for the welding-point-driller…

… expensive scrap metal …

… it was very time-consuming to remove the remaining sheet metal underneath the partition wall to the engine compartment …

Finally, the remaining body adhesive was removed …

Now it was time to order new floors-halves


_____________
benjamin

[swharris]

[swharris]

I think one of the things you should do is stop calling the guy who put the floor in a "coach builder". Nothing he did even remotely comes close to the work of a true coach builder. Haha.

Secondly, sir, get yourself a grinder with a thin cutoff wheel! My God, using tin snips to cut the floor out is truly the hard way around the Horn. Wow. I suggest checking out D-mop Garage(building a barndoor SC almost from scratch out of Australia) on YouTube or any of the hundreds of other metal workers littered about the interwebs for tips and tricks. I assume you inherited that mess from someone in America? I've not read the entire thread.

Cool bus and best of luck!

[BarryL]

I feel sore just looking at your photos.

How many bodily cuts did you get?

[bcs]

Hello swharris,

I’m a little bit disappointed that you haven’t followed this thread since the beginning

You have missed some contexts

Many thanks.

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

Hello Barry,

even if in sum 420 welding-points were drilled out and some meters were cut, fortunately no injuries occurred


Many thanks.


_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

… until the new floor-halves arrived, the time was used to prepare the new angles for the interior-panels and record all measurements in my project-diary …

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

... the new cargo-floor-halves arrived

Fortunately, this version was painted completely with primer
(… don’t know why my first version was not primed …)

The first fitting to check which areas have to be adjusted.

… it seems, that the sheets are not long enough, because in the end a few millimeters are missing …

… the cut-out at the heating pipe had to be enlarged a little bit …

What a beautifully smooth surface

_____________
benjamin

[peecee69]

[Abscate]

A 20 year, four country restoration


_________________
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[Eric&Barb]

[bcs]

Hello peecee69,

I’m very happy that the new floor has already primer around, so I don’t feel stressed to finish quickly

Many thanks.

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

Hello Abscate,

believe me, I’m a little bit embarrassed that this project is taking so long

( … one of my workmates asked me a few years ago, if it won’t be better to sell this project and enjoy the free-time )


_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

Hello Eric&Barb,

thank you very much for your tip, which gave me a headache for a moment
The reason: The green primer was not removed before the subsequent painting work (as you will see in the posts later on).

But until now the paint has not come off

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

Now it’s time to drill all the holes for the welding-points.

The removed first floor-halves got very wavy during the welding.
Maybe one reason for this could be the large number of spot welds, which have now been reduced for this floor:
Only one welding point for each cross-brace mounting-point.

As a precaution I bought 2 different seatbench-mount-brackets.

Both versions were weighed …

… and the preference was given to the ‘heavier’ version

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

After the 2 floor-halves had been prepared, it was time to adjust the top of the outer cargo-door-rocker.

The upper edge was approx. 4 ... 5 mm too high.

So first of all the top strip was cut off …

Because of my first adjustment-tries, both holes for the door-locking-rod were no longer useable.

To have a new part including top-strip, the needed section was cut off from a new disassembled cargo-door-rocker ...

The last Millimeters of the vertical section were cut off to have the correct height ...

After that there is now enough space and the door-locking-rod does not scratch over the floor anymore ...

_____________
benjamin

[bcs]

After the time-consuming ‘cargo-floor and outer-rocker’-topic, it’s time for a little change:

The aircleaner was outside in a dentfree-condition but inside rusty.

To have a good starting basis for the paintjob later on, it should also be sandblasted.

But having afterwards all the sand and dust inside the fiber-filter-material?

Better not. So, the fiber was completely removed through the numerous holes …

But which new material is suitable as a matching replacement?

Having a closer look inside our cleaning-agent-cabinet, my attention was driven to sponges which are normally used in the kitchen.

They are made from endless stainless-steel-spirals. It seems to be the perfect solution (but please don’t tell my wife )

After the aircleaner was restored, the 3 sponges were threaded through one of the holes by using a wooden stick, tweezers and a dentist instrument.

I hope that this solution will also prove its worth in later operation ...

_____________
benjamin