looks well worth the effort and bruises to me😎 keep it up
62/60 model bug eye baja bug, (Full Build in Progress)
1974 Chevrolet Luv
1970 MK2 Ford Cortina GT
1979 Yamaha RX125 Two Stroke tracker project.
2004 Harley Davidson Sportster XL Custom
Awesome work Rob, as seems to be the norm with you. :thumb
Ps. I've merged all your posts about Leo into one so people can see the whole story without searching for it. I think Ian's posts on the Desert Splitty will be next!
Kruizin Kol
Gee whiz, its just fantastic to see that there are still some real skilled metal workers out there.
I just love reading your posts Rob ! It reminds me of a day a few years (10 or so) ago when I learned to appreciate fine metal work. My dad is also into classic english cars, and we happened to go over to a friend of his from the local vintage club. He was about 60 ish by then, and was restoring a Triumph of some description. I was absolutely startled to hear that he never uses BOG in any of his cars ! I did not believe it until I saw his Triumph in all its glory. This was a man of the old school, who could form a complex curved panel with an English Wheel, when 90% of panelbeaters nowdays wouldnt know what an English Wheel is.
Fantastic Work. Keep it up !!!
what's and english wheel ??
Brad
Why copy when you can own an original ?
Meyers Manx Australiasplitbusaustralia wrote:I will do a tilt and canvas for him if I can find some bows to use (or at least some to copy)..
The bows are dead simple; I haven't seen any genuine ones in the flesh but from photos they're a U-channel, with the open side facing inward. I'm always surprised that they're apparently strong enough to stand up to driving with the canvas up....
There are probably enough photos around, including close ups of the attachment to the bed, to make a very good approximation; then you just nip down to Libby's Canvas and Camping for the rest... (OK, he's my brother-in-law).
hth
Peter Hill
1975 Type 2 Double Cab
modulus.com.auAnything made by Midland Wheel Services?
Here's a link to description and pics of an English wheel.
The thing they don't say is that you can also use them to
'recompress' stretched metal...great for those early Chev fenders!
http://www.irvansmith.com/catalog2/english_wheels.shtml
I think Eastwood Co. in the US also sells English wheel 'kits'.
RobK
I think you need one Rob.
An amazing tribute to a craftsman.
Great work - could not imagine the hours anddedication required to bring Leo back from the dead.
Fantastic
Midland wheels BRMs are very good.
Cheers
Dave
Another new thread for a Leo update. Still, I do think Col needs to be constructively employed tying all my loose and separate threads together........keeps him busy and stops him from stirring up trouble!
Spent most of last Fri/Sat/Sun wopping (Working on Other Peoples Stuff) but did get a bit done on Leo as well.
Tidied up the new driver's side dogleg.
Repaired the driver's side floor.
Repaired the pop-out window sill and fitted another hinge (kindly given to me by 57Kombi).
Spent a few more hours working the passengers compartment outer skin. Eventually got sick of that and bare metalled that side and etch primed. And how straight did I end up getting it? About an 8 out of 10. This is the metal finished skin after etch priming. Will still need some filler.....
If I could get off spending time at Gloria Jeans sucking caramel lattes things would go a bit faster!
Later All
RobK
Yuk Caramel Lattes
dont spill any on my car !!!
Lookin good Rob. Nice work.
It'll be brand new by the end of it... which... I spose... is sorta the idea.... :P
THE LOWEST WITH THE MOSTEST BLING BLING WINS!!
Nice
Did you get your doglegs in country?
How many % do you reckon you are up to?
Beautiful work Rob, as usual. 🙂
I don't mind merging the posts, I think it's better for people to be able to see the whole process in the one thread rather than looking for the old threads that have slipped down the list. I think most of us who look in regularly know to skip straight to the latest page. Besides, I'd rather see you spend your spare time on Leo, I'm enjoying the updates. 🙂
Kruizin Kol
Greetings All,
Another little step forwrd for Leo today. Finished filling
and sanding (and filling and sanding) the driver's side cab
and passengers compartment and got some hi-fill onto it.
Started on the front valance (that's the bit at the bottom
of the nose skin). Chopped the paint and bog off that
and voila! You can of course fix any rust and damage with
enough filler. Think this was a new record for leo with
filler being over 30mm thick here....
Repaired that. Shot from front.
and from the rear. Replaced the bottom of the valance all
the way across..
I'll replace the bottom 50mm of the nose skin while I'm at it.
And that's really the last of the rust repair on the body!
Still have to fit safaris and seat belt mounts but that's not
really rust repair! Leo is very close to having a clean bill
of health !.....
RobK
What can us mere mortals say mate...
THE LOWEST WITH THE MOSTEST BLING BLING WINS!!
Awesome work Rob, you're the master :thumb
Is that the next project I see in the shed with Leo already???
Kruizin Kol
Well,
Spent a little time this weekend working on Leo.
(Spent the rest of the weekend getting Brad's country
buggy spindles apart and getting the inner bearing
races off them - garage looked like something out of a cartoon
- discarded tools, broken and bent pullers. heat wrench
thrown in disgust etc etc. Anyway I digress I'll post in tech
talk what I found out about CB spindles...)
Afetr repairing the front valance I decided to also replace
the botttom of Leo's nose skin. Here's a shot showing the lower
nose - note doesn't look too bad...a few rust show throughs.
Could possibly rotary wire brush and paint?
Here's why you can't do this. This is the bottom 3 inches of the
lower nose skin from the other side. Could have wire brushed
rust treated and painted this only to have rust break through
again in 1-2 years.
removed the lower nose skin and painted the inner structure
with a good suirt of zinc rich primer.
Replaced the outer skin. Still have to finish welding and tidy up.
Later all
RobK
HEy Rob Is a nose job the same as a head job ????
Still looking good ...
So tell us where havent U found rust ??? looks like its bloody every where
They're all the same Dave. Gotta replace the bottom 6 inches
(went higher on Leo in some places) on most of em......
So wot section does not have any rust ???
The roof was OK - few dints but no rust! I'm also thinking
the windshield frames are also OK but I haven't bare metalled
them yet so not 100% sure......
oooh...getting abit scared at what I might find in mine🙁
Well,
had a stinking case of flu and a couple of light weeks
on Leo. ..... but did finish repairing the front valance and
bottom of the nose skin and bare metalled....
Etch primed and got it into hi build primer. This pics a little
close but given the recent spate of melbourne weather
I didn't want to put the barney out in the rain so I could
stand back a bit......
Reconditioned and restored the speedo as 'light' work
while fluey....what's wrong with this speedo Dave B? There's
a crownie for the correct answer about what's incorrect..
Leo's fuel guage was also kaput but Dave Dirk (57Kombi)
was kind enough the send me a working replacement that
was in very nice original condition........onya dave!
Went on to fit a set of Creative Engineering's safaris. Now
you can hold em on with self tappers which is an average
solution given the metal you screw em into is 1mm thick....
basically self tappers pull through fairly quickly (if you
use the safaris at all) and you get no adjustment (and they leak like
buggery because you can't position the frames
against the seals)...
Best fix is to do like factory and drill holes in the box section
overhead and insert bolt retaining plates....get em well
connected and with some adjustment (about 3mm side to side)..
As a first step, offer the safaris up to the frame, centre
them up and mark the hinge holes on the overhead box
section. Drill holes out to 10mm diameter.
Make two bolt retaining plates. 12mm wide by 46mm long
by 3mm thick. Holes are centred 70mm apart and tapped
for M5 (5mm) bolts..
Cut a little slot in the top corner of the 'opposite' windshield frame.
Insert the bolt retaining plate through the slot into the
box section on the other side of the windshield
Weld up slot and clean up. You can also see the bolt retaining
plate sitting in the overhead box section on this side.
Use a couple of screws to attach the safari frames and then
position the inner brackets so that the safaris will close and
open fully.
Weld brackets in and yer done!
later all
RobK
[Edited on 14-6-2004 by splitbusaustralia]
Thats a strong idea with the windows... would hate them to fall out while your driving along relying only on a self tapper or 2.
Excellent work Rob! Looking fantastic and very very thorough!
Very cool Rob. Nice work. Are the latches down the bottom much work, or not really compared to the rest?
THE LOWEST WITH THE MOSTEST BLING BLING WINS!!
great work!!!
is the speedo thingy that the indicator for changing into 4th is blurred.. did splitty's have a "4th" as such?
[Edited on 14-6-2004 by killakornkobb]
you dont shift into first gear at 10MPH???
