Boris

What a terrifying image I have of you wandering around the barn, drunk on Chimay and solvent fumes, stinking of Swarfega, wearing rubber gloves, knee high stockings, waving your air gun and shouting at passers-by ‘look at my shiny head’!



Eeeeek.



Great pics though, and fantastic progress!

Save that image...it will probably be useful to you one day. Got to love those knee high tights!

Hello page 5

I've been assembling the cab doors recently. Not a pleasant job as you have to ensure you put the right bits on in the right order. If you put something in in the wrong order or leave it out at the start like I did with the winder mech you tend to swear a lot
I eventually got there with the passenger side...





In between the doors I've also been continuing with painting the underside
Love this pic with the overspray cobwebs...








After the Holton Classic the cow shed had a few visitors! Pretty sad to say but it was probably the most ever.



Fitted the rubbers and glass on the drives side cab door but the winding was really stiff in the channels. I then got frustrated again as the winder mech appeared to be broken

Decided to come back to the door later on. I dug the wiring loom out this week and took a look at it...

It looks like this out of the bin liner it was stored in.


I opted to begin with the big bit first.


My attempt at labelling the connections was pointless. Masking tape is good at picking up grease and dirt and the labels are now mostly illegible. I now feel like this

This is barely any help either.


This is better.


With a bit of perseverance, use of the logical end of the cranium it started to make a little sense. I realised that the colours didn't match up on as lot of the leads but looking at the gauges and the locations where they end it starts to click.




The loom hardboard backing is a great way to arrange the loom and label the connectors. Can see what is there, not required or surplus to what is required. Might have a look on vehicle wiring products and see if I can make some parts closer to the diagram.

It's getting colder now. I'm wearing a crusty fleece

Cool your cracking on there Rob . . . hoping to do a bit more on mine this weekend, think it's gonna be cold . . .

Cheers Daz,
It's getting there steadily. Setting the window channels in the right place and getting the winders to work properly has been a bit challenging.
It is definitely feeling autumnal in the workshop.

Arrrhhhh Rob, I feel you need a big hug!
Good job on sticking with it, well done

Bloody brilliant Rob - Well Done!

I had the same fun and games when sorting out the cabrio wiring - the wiring diagrams make you go mad until it all suddenly fits into place and you get your bearings of what's right and what isn't.

Luckily the masking tape lasted on mine while it was in my binbag storage plus I took pics of all the connections before being stripped out of the vehicle.

It looks as though your working from a nice large print out - I just saved the diagram to a laptop so I could zoom into certain parts of the diagram to make it clearer when working in the garage.

If you need any pics of the cabling on our bay (or anything else) then let me know I'll gladly help.



Tone

Thanks Tone,
It really does make sense when you stare at a large diagram for long enough and the multimeter beeps showing continuity to different connectors.
I've removed all the test connector parts now so it is a much lighter loom at the back. Still got the front under dash bits to sort out which looks like a pig. I may need to ask a few questions when I get to that!

Lisa wrote:Arrrhhhh Rob, I feel you need a big hug!
Good job on sticking with it, well done

Not a great deal more to report this week. Have mostly been playing with wires (still). Here's a few pics of what's going on:
Got a neat main loom sorted and threaded through a plastic tube. My last tube was all corroded so I cut it out of the bottom of the van.


Didn't spare any on the labelling:


silicon insulation on most of the connectors:




I took out the test connector which has simplified things a lot and made the loom a lot lighter


And made a start with the big bits in the engine bay too








And generally made a mess...everywhere!


Dug out the fusebox. Will be looking at the front end next, gulp

Brrrr it's a frigid single figure temperature in the cow shed now...wearing thick socks in those steely toe caps and taking more tea breaks to keep the fingers warm.
It's been a while since I've updated but in between changing jobs and getting used to a new routine involving a longer commute I've been keeping traction on the project

I've had the gear linkage out, changing bushes and sorting out surface rust...


New seals, bushes and coupling




With the linkage back in I concentrated on the box, first inserting a new starter bush (so easy to do on a workbench) then bolting on the new starter. The starter was a £5 purchase from vw action...worth a gamble I thought.



Anyone interested in a red ice bucket? Would look great at a Halloween party

At the weekend I started sticking rubbers on!

Had to work pretty quickly to apply the contact adhesive and press the rubber in place before it dried.

Sticking the gearbox back in was remarkably easy!



Now that I've put the main loom section in from the cab to the engine bay I started concentrating on the under dash section. Again I wished I had labelled it up more but some standing around with the multimeter and diagram nearby things start to make sense

So that's where I am. It's cold and dark with the clocks gone back, will be nov soon!

Hey Rob,

What’s the latest? You still been able to get to the workshop with new job, getting dark early and must be bloody cold too. You’re a legend, can’t wait to see the next update in progress sometime…



Get that kettle on!

So whats been going on recently? I have mostly been sorting out the loom...its a slightly complicated part of the resto and I have nothing to show cosmetically for it, maybe just gaining the knowledge that my lights should be brighter with uprated wires. I'm thinking of fitting new bits to it like courtesy lights and headlight buzzer, additional fusebox for the leisure batt. I've also been fitting speaker wire to the back so it can be hidden away nicely

This was one of those moments when I wished I hadn't disconnected so much!

They are the connections for the stalks and ignition on the steering console.

I do now have the dash, steering column and clocks in. I have exchanged my old dash pod for a newish one that is in mph rather than km/h. Fingers are crossed that all this will work properly and not melt when I connect the battery up to it! I have been following the logic of the diagram and doing my research where unsure.




I had some visitors in the form of Andrew and Christine last week which is very motivating. Keeps me sane though should have got them wearing overalls haha


Headlights and tail lights are in with new connectors for the bulbs. Unfortunately I cracked the plastichrome ring so had to order new ones.




I made a list tonight of things I still need to do. Eeeeek!

Hoping to make use of the xmas break and get down the workshop if I manage stay away from the mulled wine a bit!

So it's been a while I thought I would get an update up. I haven't achieved as much as I hoped recently. Christmas then loads on at work and now I'm buying a flat so pretty busy and watching the bank balance.
What I have got done has been with varying success. Got the brakes on the rear tidied up with new shoes and a general clean...


Sprayed the plates with some rattlecan stonechip too. The white stuff is a bit of tiger seal - the resto book said to put some on to keep the dirt out.
Those star adjusters are moving so smoothly after spinning on a die and a bit of copper grease.

I've started thinking about engine. There has to be something that will get Boris out the cowshed. Mostly have been degreasing parts and checking and measuring. I have two cases and internals to play about with so hopefully it shouldn't cost a great deal.



Also looking into tapping and full flowing the case but unfortunately I don't have the right size NPT taps. Since Im getting it line bored Ive decided to wait til I take it along to a machine shop.

Tub of diesel plus wire brush...


Some new discs from GSF making use of my discount card


Unfortunately I was trying to repair a snapped bleed nipple on one of the calipers and broke this even more and ended up with a leaky chamber. I have a new pair that should be arriving soon so the brake renewal is nearly there.

Today I fixed the catches on the tailgate and aligned it. Sticks slightly proud but then I suppose new rubbers will get seated a bit better with time.


Also got a rubber around the window for the rear. That was difficult! The C&C rubbers are very well fitting but hard to work in the cold even after soaking in warm water.


Pretty much finished connecting up the loom. Even added an additional fuse box for the items which will be running off the leisure batt. Still havent tested it yet. Gulp.


Not sure Im going to be finishing before Liam. Though I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel

I have a continuous shopping list and I think the suppliers are loving my custom!

Well done Rob youve done really well looking great mate

Cheers daz! Looking forward to the summer

I'm sure you'll be finshed before Liam's!!!

Well done...what a fab job you're doing.

At least the days are getting longer now - more working time and hopefully some warmth too:)

Hey Rob, that’s looking like great progress, even compared to when we came to see you a few weeks ago. Well done



All looking really smart and can’t wait to see it in the metal sometime soon



How’s your back doing? Hope it’s not still aching – go easy on the engine block when rebuilding! Don’t want you injured before snowboarding…

Dude boris is coming on well! What a pain siezed bleed nipples are!

Yes, nipple pain is no good. I have now sorted it out. All go now
Going to Portsmouth over the weekend to get that last bit of glass then I'll be getting some rubbers in!

Hey Orb,


I’ve just bought you a campervan ticket for Truck festival
on Friday 19th July – Sunday 21st July!





So, the clock is ticking for Boris to be completed…





Good luck with the glass/ rubbers. See you Saturday!

Okay, should have it finished definitely by then!

Headliner, windows, motor, steering then I should have it MOT ready.

Just comes down to money really. Buying a property during a resto is not recommended. Pleased to say that I'm not inclined to sell as a lot of people end up having to do when moving house.

Exciting times ahead

Fuses in...


Lights on...



To be honest it wasn't that simple. I had some issues with the wiring into the dash but that's sorted now. I still don't seem to be able to switch on full beam and my headlight switch is a little temperamental...bad connection somewhere but I think it's inside the switch.

It's been a while since my last update...progress on the van has been steady but also a bit intermittent due to holidays and I'm now in the process of buying a flat too. It was great catching up with some AK members including some new faces on Friday, helps confirm that I'm not alone in this money pit hobby haha.

So some stuff I have done recently...


Purchased some ridiculously expensive interior courtesy lights and wired them in. I have the one at the back on the switch to the sliding door and the cab light connected to the cab door switched so they turn on when doors are opened.

I've been sticking some sound deadening insulation on the roof. Found this stuff on eBay and its 7mm closed cell foam that has an adhesive layer, easy to apply after a once over with some panel degreaser.


Should keep the van warm, quiet and the stereo sounding good.

I've now put the steering wheel in which was surprisingly tricky. Took a lot of tweaking to get the wheel down on the console and the contact ring making a good connection. Now I have steering and a horn beep beep.

Also been doing a load of engine work. As I'm replacing the bearings, I needed to remove the captive no 3 bearing. This involved some help from a workmate, rob who is a jeep man and has a very big hydraulic puller.



Clasping the underside of the old bearing and applying a bit of heat, the cam gear was soon removed.



And this is me checking the journal diameters...

The crank now has a new no 3 bearing slid on and is in the freezer at home.
Now that the suns been coming out I've found some additional enthusiasm. Cannot wait to get that mot certificate! Feels like its not long now!