AndyK
3rd April 2008, 08:11 AM
Hi everyone,
thought I'd let you know how the rebuild is going. I took the opportunity of Easter to take a few days off work to progress the rebuild after a distinct lack of it. This was caused mainly by me falling out of the Land Rover head first and landing on the compressor which cracked a few ribs so any physical work was out!
Anyway the seatbox was finally finished, primed and painted and installed. This was quickly followed by the transmission tunnel and floor plates. The cab soundproofing was then installed(Wright Off Road), this is a heavy duty piece of kit made from the same stuff used in JCB's etc. Its very well designed requiring no gluing or screwing down, the weight of the panels themselves holds it all in place. A bit of cutting was required to fit the seatbox part around the transmission tunnel but that was it.
Around this time the side lockers were fitted. It was quite a scary job cutting large holes in the side of my motor! Luckily I measured loads of times and cut only the once. I cut the hole too small for safety but this meant lots of filing and angle grinding to get the lockers to fit. Unfortunately I managed to kill my angle grinder getting the second locker to fit. The drivers side locker is going to get a jack and tool box built into it and the other is going to carry a jerry can of diesel and one of petrol(for our petrol burning stove).
Next up was installing the twin Optima batteries and the Dualmate battery monitoring system. The batteries fit easily in the rebuilt battery box due to the flat floor. I was amazed when my wiring worked perfectly, to say I was very pleased was an understatment.
Next on the list was a bit of painting - the front panel, wings, bonnet and roof sides got a coat of primer and topcoat. The front panel and wings were then fitted. A small sentence which conceals alot of fiddling about!
The roof panel was then primed and Rosy then lined the inside with some carpet for sound and heat insulation. Once that was done a top coat was applied and thats pretty much where we're at now.
If I could have another week off to work on Bluey I reckon I could finish the rebuild. At the moment its really hard to resist the temptation to rush the rest of the build to get it finished - I can see light at the end of the tunnel!
Anyway its my bedtime now, work in the morning and I need all the beauty sleep I can get!
Bye
Andy, Rosy and Abby
thought I'd let you know how the rebuild is going. I took the opportunity of Easter to take a few days off work to progress the rebuild after a distinct lack of it. This was caused mainly by me falling out of the Land Rover head first and landing on the compressor which cracked a few ribs so any physical work was out!
Anyway the seatbox was finally finished, primed and painted and installed. This was quickly followed by the transmission tunnel and floor plates. The cab soundproofing was then installed(Wright Off Road), this is a heavy duty piece of kit made from the same stuff used in JCB's etc. Its very well designed requiring no gluing or screwing down, the weight of the panels themselves holds it all in place. A bit of cutting was required to fit the seatbox part around the transmission tunnel but that was it.
Around this time the side lockers were fitted. It was quite a scary job cutting large holes in the side of my motor! Luckily I measured loads of times and cut only the once. I cut the hole too small for safety but this meant lots of filing and angle grinding to get the lockers to fit. Unfortunately I managed to kill my angle grinder getting the second locker to fit. The drivers side locker is going to get a jack and tool box built into it and the other is going to carry a jerry can of diesel and one of petrol(for our petrol burning stove).
Next up was installing the twin Optima batteries and the Dualmate battery monitoring system. The batteries fit easily in the rebuilt battery box due to the flat floor. I was amazed when my wiring worked perfectly, to say I was very pleased was an understatment.
Next on the list was a bit of painting - the front panel, wings, bonnet and roof sides got a coat of primer and topcoat. The front panel and wings were then fitted. A small sentence which conceals alot of fiddling about!
The roof panel was then primed and Rosy then lined the inside with some carpet for sound and heat insulation. Once that was done a top coat was applied and thats pretty much where we're at now.
If I could have another week off to work on Bluey I reckon I could finish the rebuild. At the moment its really hard to resist the temptation to rush the rest of the build to get it finished - I can see light at the end of the tunnel!
Anyway its my bedtime now, work in the morning and I need all the beauty sleep I can get!
Bye
Andy, Rosy and Abby