Like Buses

So, no updates for months, then 2 in a day! I wanted to break the blog down into subject areas to make it easier to read, rather than 1 enormous post. Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! Once I had made the front brake hose brackets, I then turned my attention to the raft of the small jobs that needed fixing. I started at the front and worked backwards attaching various brackets, the catches for the fuel tank cover and the tubes for the brake cables where they travel through the rear bulkhead. I then stripped the chassis entirely and raised it to a good working height in the garage.

With a fresh gas cylinder from Easi Weld, I then moved from front to back completing any tacked joints and grinding out and re-welding some that I wasn't happy with. There are still a few that could be better, but it is impossible to remove the old welds so I shall have to leave these in as a demonstration of how my welding has improved..... At this point, seasonal festivities took over and there was a break of a few weeks. Once I got back though, it was down to the onerous task of removing the inevitable surface rust and preparing for paint. I had some 'Baufix' paint from Aldi that I planned to use - it advertised itself as straight to metal. When I bought it I thought it was silver, but in fact it was silver-grey, so I planned to use it for the floor and bulkheads only. The floor had previously been primed and painted and the Baufix paint went on well, leaving a nice finish.

However, on the unpainted bulkhead, it was a pig! Too little and it didn't cover properly, a little heavier and it ran!! The end result probably won't be too visible but I may yet sand it back and start again!

This caused me to rethink my plan to brush paint the entire chassis - my feeling had been that spray cans would be too wasteful. However, a trip to Wickes led me to the purchase of some cans of their smooth rite equivalent at a bargain £8 a can! First efforts with it are encouraging - photos to follow!