Ok just to get you up to speed....

The story begins with me and my g/f have always wanted to travel australia by road. talked about doing it in a tin top kombi.... but voted against it for not enough room for what could potentially be 1 year+ long trip. Off and on our excitement would grow but i had to finish my apprenticeship and finish my oval resto befor i wanted to go anywhere.... 5 years later and i now work for myself and am enjoying crusing the oval and we have commited to "making it happen"

so a mate down south found this bus in a paddock..... once in its lifetime it has had a big whack in both sides but otherwise solid as....







my brother bought it a whileback with intentions of doing a quick job on it and flipping it.... but time and interest werent on his side so we bought it off him with the plan of turning it into our "home" for a while….

with not being to keen on a tintop idea i bought a heap of camper stuff including a pop top... but then it happend...... i made the mistake of showing my partner how cool the autovilla's were (south african kombi motorhomes) and stupidly saying "that wouldnt be to hard to make" with her reply of "we should make ours into one".... we could travel so much more comfortably. This was around the same time the Rubber tramp had just be revealed.... and we were blown away with that thing. and from that day.... we have had a plan set in concrete....

next year "Valla" is our deadline to leave.... as of christmas I'm not taking on anymore work and ill be going full time on building this snail. we plan on attending the show and then kicking off our travells from there, lets hope it comes together aswelll as i hope

the following week i had the engineer around and he gave me the ok to start cutting away what wasnt needed....










got started on the opposite side befor i packed up and after i cut the corner off i noticed a little black box tucked up in the battery tray area....







Spare keys 8) 8)

50mm back from the strengthener on the front cab....





a bit of string to hold it in place while i cut so i doesn't jamb up on the 9" and to lower it down on my own.... might put the tool boxes on the back and drive it to work on monday











off to the drawing board!

it is a hell of alot harder to create a better shape then the autovilla's and the cool flo





ive had enough measurements to make a shopping list of alloy... its just the design im had trouble altering now....

while brainstorming the frame i had a few little spots to clean up

Got the floor ready to be extended.... placed an order for my first lot of steel and alloy and bought some repro belly pans to keep the engineer happy.. Also got a teflon lined mig handle/torch for alloy wire and have a bottle of argon on the way. 8)



Floor sections/returns welded together and beaten over to be extended...















Wheel arches cut.... stretched open more and ready to be extended out to the snail walls....

My steel and alloy order arrived, mind you, alot of how im approaching it is making it up on the spot..... i had a brief idea of where i wanted to attach the floor structure to the car and although my first idea didnt work exactly how i thought it would.... it has all panned out beautiful with a few adjustments in the mock up 8)



my datum point is my existing floor, i have set the heights of my front 2 sprockets 50mm below floor height to allow a full length of 50x25 to run ontop of them and create a bearer for my walls. The third sprocket at the back is set to floor height to allow the bearer to butt into it and be welded, Im using a string line to determin heights and width and so far its looking ace!!

The front sprocket i had to pie cut and bend about 2 degrees upwards to be 50mm below floor height. I also checked it out over the solid chassis rail and notched it in so i sits hard againt my jacking point which is tied in from one side to the other giving me plenty of surface to weld to and support my outer alloy frame.... in the pictures below the redline is where i plan to weld allong the jacking point...











3mm wall steel is strong as shit!







the straight edge in the below picture is my floor height and with the sprockets 50mm below it, it allows to me run a bearer ontop like im showing with an off cut...



The bus is currently 1640mm wide measured at the floor... im pushing it out to 2100mm to allow for 50mm of walls (2x20mm studs + 2x5mm inside wall cladding = 50mm) giving 2050mm for me to lay across ways above the cabin

It's really not as easy as you think welding upside down... The first sprocket didn't look to pretty but nothing a grinder won't clean up.... The welds turn to shit once it get close to that lap of the sheet metal in the jacking points... They must have sandwiches some sort of sealer in there cus when it gets hot it pours out and ruins that section of weld....

finished off the first stage of the floor structure....









in the pics it looks like i could of done that in 5 minutes but checking heights and widths and notching steel over chassis etc really burns up time

the rear most mount would easily hold my weight but was the weakest of the lot so i thought this would help strengthen it up while making it easier to frame over/on

Spent 4 hours just sitting there looking at how I was gonna attack the next stage after some violent kicking, throwing tools and calling it multiple obscene words I went to bed fuming... Got to work the next morning and my day just dragged on because of how keen I was to get back in the shed....

The plan was to cut down the roof to make some room for mattresses and keep the overall height Down with as much room over our bed as possible as shana (g/f) is claustrophobic... We are trying to work with about 700mm over the mattress.... The thing that was picking my brain was how to mark a level line on a curved surface..... Quick trip to the hardware made life so much easier....

Leveled the floor of the bus up on stands to make sure it level both ways and then started following the red lines with a pen.





ordered a sheet of 1.6mm steel to weld back into the roof and make the base for our bed (in theory) as mentioned earlier... Making it up as I go...

And then we had a sun roof... 8)







Less to body work now….

After cutting the roof, i got a better look inside and I decided to lay the beam against the old roofing bow which lines up with the body line behind the front doors which is where I have stopped the floor! Perfect! Befor welding the beam tho I welded up all the seams I cut through as I imagen it would tie it all together and make stronger..









The bed base/floor will lay straight on this and be welded around the roof line... Seems like a lot of work to only gain 100mm but it all counts if we can keep the overal height down

I'm getting better at this welded gig... Not all of them look like this but it's getting more consistent




Tacked on a quick brace to stop the sheet from sagging and sat it ontop to get abit it of a visual and to mark where I had to clean up to weld..









The overhang over the front will be trimmed abit... How much isn't known just yet cus I have to account for a tight roll and still fit in a double matress... But I would like it to line up with the base of the windscreen.

We are hoping the tension of the sheet once fully welded to the existing roof and attached to the wall framing will not require anymore framing to hold a matress and the weight of 2 bodies and not "drum" while driving... If this is not the case and needs more structure I will frame it with alloy box and ply over the top to support us and stop it from drumming etc...

The roof done.... Warped like fuck but should be pretty well hidden anyways








With the offcut of the roof sheet I thought I would extend the passenger floor with it. As the passenger side is gonna cop the most traffic (door) It seemed like a good idea to use the thicker sheet (1.6mm) here and then extend the rest out of 1mm or thinner...

Added a few flooring supports at either end on both sides but put an extra one in where the traffic of the door should be.





Bent the tubs up by hand and formed a few bends with the hammer.... so much room for big tread back there now







left abit of over hang to allow for me to beat a right angle lip to pop rivet through to the outter wall/skin. This laser level has really come in handy... mad an easy job of getting the line i have to beat along 8)



a heap of room on this side now for 2 house batteries i would think and the starter battery on the other side

a thousand spot welds later and i started bending up a lip to attach to the outside skin....





go to pack up and old mate has laid a log on my car.....



finished the other side.... ground back all the welds and gave it a coat of rustkill top and bottom....



cut the engine lid panel out of one of the type3 wrecks.... a perfect replacement for the shitty hatch some hillbilly cut into it years ago....

Pics of the hatch....

Think the old man is pretty excited about this build (oldschool timber boat builder).... couldnt get him out of the shed today.... he helped me build the loft and draw up the shape of the snail. With abit of trial and era started bending up the shape of the frame. if i wasnt in a good mood today this could of really gone pear shaped...

if you look really closely you might be able to see the rest of the outline in pencil :wink:









im excited!!

Had a few practice runs welding alloy (never done it before).... playing with the settings to try get it to lay abit flatter.... its a little different to normal steel but not hard to weld...yet...





ive been grinding all my butt joins into a "v" to lay the weld into and it seems strong as shit but not always that pretty to look at... thank god for grinders!
the more i play with settings and weld, the more im getting a feel for it... 8)

after abit of playing with more window positions and brainstorming i started framing up the window for over the cab 8)

Well I got plenty of welding to practice on....



Decided on the smaller long window for the drivers side, bigger long window for the back and the smallest double hopper for the passenger rear 8)



This should get the ball rolling

Trial fitted it to see where I'm at...





Have learnt a lot working with alloy... Few things I will do abit different for the next side but over the moon with how it is...

its fucken MAssive!

Ground all the welds down last night then Flipped over the frame and welded the side that was facing the timber... Much happier with how they are looking/penetrating now....









I got a handy hint to put 2 decent tacks on it first and let the alloy heat up then lay a weld.... And I have also found a pretty steep angle on the torch helps push the weld... To far upright and it wants to clump and play up

Ready for the other side now....

After a few rough sketches of layouts and cabinetry we decided on what we wanted.... Started cutting it all out tonight... Got a door to make first and then ill start welding it all together 8)










i ended up building a door in the few spare hours i had on sunday after giving the a 36er i built its first 1000km service. Making the door was abit of a bitch with how much alloy moves under heat....

but I'm happy enough with the outcome





then i finished welding in the frame and test fitted... ground it all back... welded the opposite side and clamped it inplace...









then hung the door.... roughly... the screws they supply with the stainless hidings are wood screws and run out of thread so the hindges arent really "tight like a tiger" but you get the idea and im happy with how its looking.... i left the jamb stud (the stud the door closes to) out so i could get my frame in, door hung and then weld it in parallel to the door + door gaps etc....





a friend of mine that purchased a snail a while ago said he had trouble with his door opening towards the way the wind blew while driving as it was very flexable and would flap at higher speeds....i took on board what he said but with the position of the door, swinging it the opposite way would then hinder the passenger door and block light from coming in the window above the bed.... plus i built this door and doubt she will flap around after im finished with it





once i get the right screws and it all swinging tightly i will set up my jamb stud and the head piece (above the door) and i should be right to start bolting the frames down 8)

my friends snail i mentioned about the door is this one below....

was in the shed by quarter past 6 this morning to put in a few hours before the christmas party at the carlton brewery

started by propping the front cab area as it is all under tension and wanting to "sag" I did this because one i want the cab to be parrel with with the floor and 2 so i could setup my door post to the right gaps etc.



finished weding in the door frames 8)



and also bolted down the passenger side am using a M8 bolt at 500mm centres which i am gonna put a tack weld on the thread and nut to stop from rattling loose



also screwed all my extended wheel arches to my frame work



and have used 40mm steel screws to strengthen the "upright" posts at 200mm centres



it now officially can't leave the shed until it is lined externally

I fastened down the other side the other night and buggered around with a few minor things

Organised myself 2 days off this week as i was feeling like it was dragging on abit

first thing first was to sort out the rear window. flat window on a curved surface. CHECK!







the idea was to set the window in but continue the curves either side? time to bend up the shape











then i continued to frame the ceiling in? framed in to suit 1200 sheets







you will notice a gapping hole just above where the over cab bed starts? going to make a 1100mm hatch which will hinge off the front of the roof and allow easier access getting into bed and hopefully help with Shanas claustrophobia



watch this space!

Funny what a rough week at work will do "i wanna help in the shed on saturday if it helps us leave earlier"

was busy building my brothers birthday present but shana went through and stripped all the surface rust again as the nose was a little out in the weather while in storage



now the frame is done (only the hatch to finish) I'm thinking i will paint the cab before i start lining it so save time taping and help with overspray? I'm not going to do an amazing job on this just a nice neat blow over? as it will cop abit of abuse on the road? what colour? we donno yet

once i finished on the present i jumped on the orbital and we both gave it a quick sand? little more to do before we lay down some primer on but this should be ready for paint pretty quick 8)

The smell of high build is bringing back Christmas memories from last year (spraying oval)





The smell of paint fumes is the only thing keeping the sand flys away,.. Coils and areoguard ain't doing shit!!!

tomoro this is getting worked!!!



we are finding it really hard to choose a colour? I lean towards badass colours like pastel green, bordeau red, coral red and brown!!!! and the misses likes all those airy fairy light and bright colours ](*,) the only one that we seem to both fancy is Velvet green

i sure do like green cars!

Have had the last two days of so i went to town on body work?







that nose is stupidly straight (from what I'm used to) 8) the drivers door had obviously seen a fair bit of traffic tho.

think I will go over it one more time with some 240 before giving it another coat of high build then good for a 600 wet sand and paint? the 240 is just to knock out the 80 grit scratches?? thoughts?





also forgot to mention we found a caravan park rules and regs pamphlet wedged under the dash from Rockhampton, Qld. Must of done some k's since it was found in Geelong, Vic

will get back onto finishing the hatch and extending the metal to the walls over the engine once the body is ready for paint, in my mind i wanna paint it then sheet it so there is no overspray issues etc remembering I'm on a time frame of august, i set myself a goal to have the frame up by christmas which i have achieved? got abit of a holiday over the christmas break then its hard out on this thing? and although it seems achievable in my head I'm sure there will be things that take twice as long as you expect?.

I'm just hanging to make some memories in this thing and see some of what this beautiful country has to offer.

you guys are now fully up to date with where i am at for our kombi motorhome build "the snail"

Top work as usual. Do you sleep? Have a look at polyurethane adhesives for your cladding. It will save weight and stop rivet rattling. Sikaflex has a good site with recommended bonding strengths (they hold ALL our modern aircrafts together). Looking forwarding to following your progress. Cheers marcus

That's a cool project you've got going on there.
I've got one question for you though, how are you going to get it out of the shed?
Doesn't look like it's going to clear the roller door..
Cheers
D

You work is to be admired....................... Unbelievable..........................................

Absolutely brilliant.

and all because someone invented oxy acetylene

Awesome work as usual Nug.
But the sooner you finish this and bugger off the better! that way I can get away from the computer watching your updates and get back in the shed myself

You are one crazy SOB !!!
Love your spirit mate

Quote:

Originally posted by LUFTMEISTER Top work as usual. Do you sleep? Have a look at polyurethane adhesives for your cladding. It will save weight and stop rivet rattling. Sikaflex has a good site with recommended bonding strengths (they hold ALL our modern aircrafts together). Looking forwarding to following your progress. Cheers marcus

thanks for the kind words guys…. always something going on in the arbers workshop

bob, i can't agree more…. i can't wait for it to be done either i love building things but i love enjoying the fruits of my labour more…. the first night camping in this thing is gonna be bitten! now stfu and get chopping :wink:

thanks marcus willing to have a go at anything…. doesnt mean I'm any good at it tho

Dude!
Amazing work as usual!!

If you are ever back up Rockhampton way on your trip, drop me a line! I would be happy to show you around, especially if you're in this cool rig!


Smiley