Everyone please say hello to Iris’ little sister and next resto project, Myrtle!
A ‘73 beetle, so a year younger than Iris. She’s destined to be our off-road Baja Bug rig.
I won’t be starting on this for a little while yet as I need to finish up Iris’ interior first, but watch this space.
We’ve been busy making a start on the cabinets for Iris.
First up the rear head locker. I thought it’d be an easy one to start with but it ended up being a bit of pig, needing lots of trial fitting and templating to fit nicely.
I’m working out of the garage to save me the trip to the workshop:
With lots of help from Max:
The skeleton put together:
Door on:
All installed now and looking pretty good:
This weekend’s job. Start the curtains. I’ve already made some tie backs out of the leftover vinyl I had. Should inject some 70s colour into the van!
Continuing with the van upholstery I got the roof bed cushions all made up and installed over the weekend. The rear one is gigantic and interesting to try and man handle around the sewing machine.
B sat and watched the kids on our street for 10 minutes or so. He loves it up there.
I’ve stripped down both front seats now to start making new covers for them.
The frames overall are in pretty good condition, however the drivers back had cracked:
Quick tickle with the welder and good as new:
Rusty Lee Rock n’ Roll bed upholstered over the last few days ready for summer passengers.
After fitting the wrong hubcaps to the van I’ve now replaced them with a nice set of stainless steel caps that fit properly:
I got sent an extra one by mistake (ssh!) so fitted it to the front spare:
I’ve been continuing with the van interior over the last month or so. Fitted the rear 3 point belt:
And then started learning how to do upholstery. Lots of practice on cheap vinyl, trying all the seams and techniques I’ll need for the van:
And as a small project, which would provide good practice for the rear bed cushions, I made the dog a cushion for his box:
I made a few mistakes on this first cover so made another which came out much neater:
Good enough for the dog at least!
And then onto the door cards. I made a test piece for the rear hatch to get a better feel for running lots of pleats:
Then moved onto the real thing.
Cutting out the fabric (Schnauzer to hold the fabric still):
Marking out the pleats:
And following a few evenings of sewing and glueing, a complete set of door cards:
I fitted them today. Lovely Jubbly!
Not quite appreciating how dark it was getting we put the glue down for the floor about 7:15 and ended up putting the first batch of tiles on by iPhone and candle light (I couldn’t find any of my torches, suspect I left them down the workshop!). Not ideal but looked great:
Finished up the tiles Monday morning when the light was better, complete with 3 coats of polish by Max:
And then fitted the Rusty Lee Rock ‘n Roll ¾ width bed:
A productive weekend!
Since getting the van back on the road last month I’ve slowed down a huge amount with getting bits done on it. I’ve just been enjoying driving it again and having my evenings back. I definitely needed it, but at the same time it’s been a bit of a shock to the system to be honest; feeling a bit lost most evenings. I found this picture from this time last year which just shows how much I got done over 12 months, from a welded up rolling shell to road worthy:
I have however started making some progress on the interior.
Realised I’d forgotten to connect the cold air drain hose. A washing machine pipe from Wickes was the perfect fit:
Got the bed boards and foam in so we can at least sleep in the van:
Made up some membranes for the cab doors to keep the water out:
Fitted the madmatz carpet set to the cab area. I’ve left the cab carpet and kick panels for now as I’m waiting for it to rain again to see if I’ve fixed the leaky windscreen before putting them in:
And I think we’re decided on the fabrics we’ll be using on the upholstry:
Im hoping to start the upholstery next month.
7 years ago we bought an old VW camper. Don’t think I’d done so much as change a car tire.
3.5 years ago we decided to take it off road to complete a much needed full restoration.
I can’t begin to describe the amount of time, effort, patience and money it’s taken to get to this point. My van related posts from the last few years give a bit of an indication of what it’s taken.
Today that 47 year old little camper passed its MOT! I’m super proud of what we’ve achieved.
Thank you Max, for putting up with an eternity of me coming home late at night covered in rust, grease and paint. For keeping me sane, not many others would. For keeping the lights on and our lives moving while I put everything else on hold.
Adventure awaits.
Rear bumper mounted with stainless fittings:
Front panel cut and polished:
Spent a few hours wiring up the hella spotlamps. The relay plugged nicely into the bottom of the fuse board, I fitted super seal connections to the lamps to make them easier to take on and off. They’re wired to come on when the main full beam headlights come on:
Front bumper and wheel mount bolted onto the front panel:
I tarted up the rear of the indicators as someone in the past had painted the van with them in and filled them with overspray. A few coats of silver made them look much nicer:
And front panel all built up. I absolutely love the way this has turned out!
Hopefully driving through the new forest at night won’t be quite so terrifying now!
