Canadian Rainbirds wrote:
Kev, I have spent several weeks following your project since I discovered this thread. Internet is slow here so it takes a long time to load your great photos. (Here" is Zihuatanejo, where we winter, in south west Mexico--4 hours drive north of Acapulco)
Now I find it's going to take me another 2 1/2 years so see the finished product! Sigh! Looking forward to it.
Just wondering if this is your baby picture?
Art
Heh, thats a good one, i think i may need to take the same when i starting having little sprogs of my own.
February 2013
I got the Lexus sorted. Decided it would be better to get an original Lexus timing belt. It made it a lot easier actually as the belt also had the timing marks on it. Ive had no problems so far so its good to know the engine has a new timing belt on it for when i go to put it in the van. It also passed its mot so its good for another year. If it makes it that far, hopefully I'll be needing the engine sooner than that.
I took a little break from the van the past month. I chose to more than anything. I just fancied doing nothing for a bit. Sometimes when i wake up on a Saturday i feel almost obliged to go and do the van rather than actually look forward to it which is something i must break out of so that's why i was taking it easy, allowing myself to not over do it and destroy the enjoyment i get from it.
Anyway, last week i was finishing work at 2:30pm so i thought seeing as I'm already in my overalls id go to the garage and do something. Now that the front was nearly complete i wanted to set myself a goal of getting that piece in primer by the end of the week. I had a little snagging list of things yet to do , first thing was the drivers seat area, a couple of patches needed welded in.
tacked in place
Then welded and cleaned
I also had to make the little bracing panel that goes underneath.
Sorted!
Next up was the A-post. If you remember the passengers side was really badly rotten on the inside and i didn't want to take any chances as it wasn't looking too good from the outside of the drivers side.
Once it was off it wasn't really that bad, but I'm glad i did as it let me take care of the surface rust on the inside.
The panel i cut off will also be treated for surface rust.
The lower lip panel was pretty bad though so i thought id replace that little section.
Cut it out
Forgot to take another photo before tacking the a-post panel back in but you can kinda see it. Very similar to what i done for the whole waistline on the drivers side i done months ago.
Cleaned up again, you could never tell Ive been behind there
๐There was a little piece i had to replace on the drivers seat pan area just behind the door opening.
Loadsa rust/primer converter in there so it doesn't repeat its self.
Quick template done.
Cut it out in metal, one fold and tack in place.
When i first go the van it had been fitted with a light bar which i wasn't too keen on so I'm not going to be putting it back on. That meant having to sort out the holes that had been put there for it. It looks like the light bar mounts were domed as the holes had been 'pushed' through so the metal was kinda like a slight cone shape.
Here's the passengers side as i had already cut the old one out and never took a photo.
Easiest way to cut it out was using a hole saw in the drill.
Then using the same hole saw i cut another disc out from some good steel.
Tip : if you can make a repair a circle then you will get a lot less distortion when welding.
Dressed.
The paltry seatbelts that were fitted previously were pretty poor. Whoever had fitted them just drilled a hole from the outside so i needed to fill that hole too.
Magnets are your friend. They can hold tiny pieces in place and at the right level.
Finished.
Bit of a rusty patch on the floor that i never noticed until now, silly me.
Welded in, forgot to take an after photo (i was on a roll so that's why i forgot to take a lot of pictures)
Also a bit of the windscreen surround that i of course forgot to take a photo of when it was done. I did fix it, honest.
With all those out the way i prepared to prime. Lots of sanding, buffing, grinding, wire-brushing etc..
Then acid was, degrease and tack cloth
Then i mixed up some primer, I applied it today so i managed to succeed in my goal, woohoo.
I only applied it to the areas that i was defiantly finished with metal work wise, so that's pretty much just half the front and drivers side interior.
Now all i have to do to the main body is the passengers side. Then, then i can start on the mechanical, slowly but surely i will get there.
Something i have been thinking about. As a lot of you will know that once you are married money gets a lot tighter, especially if your planning to have a family in the future. Ive been thinking of somehow making money from what I'm doing to the van to help pay for bits for it. I really enjoy writing this blog and letting other people see the progress as I'm going. I have had a few people in the past complain about how long the photos take to load or if i can send them higher res pictures so i thought about making a book CD. I hate seeing people that are doing something ask for money and give nothing in return to the person that donates (except a real charity of course). If i made a book CD then i could sell them and post them out world wide. That way anyone can look at the project any time and see higher res photos.
I actually started to make a book a few months ago as i planned to make it a 'photo album' for myself to print out.
Here is a little sample. Click to make them bigger.
http://oi45.tinypic.com/zjhxyq.jpg http://oi49.tinypic.com/2vd61pg.jpghttp://oi45.tinypic.com/w1oph.jpgThe final book would be in a .pdf file format and the pages would be much larger than these, i think these images are around 50% of the size you will see in the .pdf
It would certainly help me buy stuff for the van. I was thinking of a cost of about minimum ยฃ5 including P&P for the UK and about $8 including P&P for the USA, then you could add a little extra if you were feeling generous
๐ . I would also post it anywhere else in the world. I also thought i could add my folder of over 1000 original photos at 3648 x 2736 for a little bit extra.
Of course, it all depends on demand, is this something anyone would buy? I imagine the final book would be about 500 pages worth with all my photos up to this point.
To put it into perspective, when i get paid i have about ยฃ30 to myself a week and i still need to buy a rear axle, door rubbers, window rubbers, paint, wheel banding, disc brakes, callipers, interior, lots and lots of various consumables etc.... I mean, i know i will get there but if i could make some cash from it then it would be a lot quicker.
Don't worry if no one does want to buy it, i will always keep showing my updates.