Micheal's Bent Bus

[Wags]

1 hour ago, gav240z said:

So are you going to find a donor rear half?

Haha great minds…I was thinking exactly that but just didn’t want to say it. 

[Agno]

after all that work to get the car straight that has to be seriously disheartening

[Wags]

This is why I would personally never buy a classic without the view of restoring it. At least he has C.A.R on the job. A lot of other shops would just end up putting makeup on a pig, whereas Locky does it to last.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Wags
Rephrase

[C.A.R.]

7 hours ago, gav240z said:

So are you going to find a donor rear half?

[Oliphips]

On 5/23/2022 at 2:14 PM, C.A.R. said:

Dodgy sods...




 

geez some people are rough

 

 

[C.A.R.]

The RH side seemed like a reasonable place to start, so we repaired the top of the sill first:



The top was cut out, and piece was folded up and welded into place:

[C.A.R.]

RH dogleg was next. The back of the sill was repaired, then a new dogleg was folded up, welded into place and linished smooth:





(I've since pulled the slightly sunken weld out & re-linished it.)

[gav240z]

Superb.

[hmd]

@C.A.R. when are you going to get your PhD in rust? We can call you Dr Rust?

[C.A.R.]

The RH rear lower quarter was a mess, and the inner panel was rusted though as well.
No choice but to replace both, so Graeme (my employee) tackled this while I repaired the panels...











 

Edited June 21, 2022 by C.A.R.

[C.A.R.]

Repeat on the LH side with some shrinking required for good measure:

[C.A.R.]

The area around fuel door was rusted through, so I fabricated a new section to replace it:





Yuck...:

[C.A.R.]

Onto the LH floor - I worked out the cost for new KFVintageJDM floor pans + freight + installation,
and the figures said it was going to be cheaper to fabricate & install patch repair panels:











I'm not taking credit for this - it's Graeme's handywork.

Edited June 29, 2022 by C.A.R.

[C.A.R.]

RH footwell:



Then the rails were removed:



Also the RS30 LH sill (which we'll be modifying), floor rails and bonnet hinge gussets arrived from @kfvintagejdm:

Edited July 1, 2022 by C.A.R.

[C.A.R.]

The back of the RH floorpan - under the rear seats - was rusted out, so the section was cut, rust treated, then new sections were fabricated and welded into place.
Then the RH rail assembly could be installed.













The RH door hinges also came back from Leon - they've been been re-pinned and re-bushed, along with a new roller and leaver:

Edited July 11, 2022 by C.A.R.

[C.A.R.]

A section of quarter panel below the LH quarter glass had rusted out, so I fabricated a replacement section, cut the old section out & welded in the new patch:







It just needs a little tapping about to smooth it up, so I'll come back to it in due course.

The LH sill was rusted out at the front and back, along with accident damage.
We decided to remove it & replace it with a new one, but as it was a Bus, it's not that simple...

Cut off, de-rusted and KBS'd:



I bought a 260Z/280Z LH sill from @kfvintagejdm, then cut the end off and fabricated an extension.
This was then KBS'd inside and welded into position:

[C.A.R.]

Due to me taking a little holiday & the workshop being busy, I haven't had time to update this thread.
Suffice to say we are done &  Michael is collecting the bodyshell shortly. Here comes the photo dump:

































Yes, I made a new rear valance:





Hot Tip: RS30 and GRS30 rear tail light panels ARE NOT the same. They are deeper (not wider as generally thought).

[C.A.R.]

Finally the 'piste de resistance'.
The RH door skin was stuffed - dented to the moon & rust holes everywhere.
I couldn't get a decent rust / damage free Bus door locally, so I repaired frame which only needed a small section at the top & bottom...

...then made a new door skin from scratch. I'm not taking full credit - my employee Paul did 75% of the fabrication.

Taking a paper pattern off the old skin:



Cut out some 1mm cold rolled steel:



Wheeling & folding up the new skin:



'Blocking' in the handle recess:



Ti

And fitting the skin to the frame:

[240ZBUILTBYME]

Amazing work @C.A.R. !!! What was the coating for inside the cowl? Kbs? 

[C.A.R.]

20 hours ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

Amazing work @C.A.R. !!! What was the coating for inside the cowl? Kbs? 

Yes. KBS Rust Seal.

[C.A.R.]

And done.





I forgot to mention, the hatch was stuffed but I obtained an 'ok' replacement that needed some minor rust repairs in the screen lip
and lots of panel beating across the deck...



 

[gav240z]

Certainly left better than it arrived.

[Agno]

Thats some high quality work, love that door fabrication!