Big Blue Van - Full Restoration

[BigBlueVan]

Painting the bodyshell (August 2023)

Thought I would provide another chunk of updates.

The van was painting last August, the UPOL raptor was used all over.

Rolled the shell out onto the driveway to bask in the sunshine a few days afterwards to allow the doors to be painted and then hung.



 

[BigBlueVan]

Zinc Plating, Door Gear Refurbishment and Windscreen

Purchased a zinc plating kit, a bit of a learning curve, but once dialled in the results are very pleasing.
Mixture of the Clear Passivate and Yellow Passivate.

Rebuilt the sliding door hinge and cleaned up or painted/ plated all other door gear parts.
Replaced the front door handles for new and retumbled them to use the original keys.

All door seals installed, no photos of this though.

Windscreen went in with a bit of a fight, but considering the whole upper surround was fabricated from scratch i am very pleased with the fitment.

[BigBlueVan]

Painting the Suspension components

All the main suspension components and some other parts like engine mount bar, fuel tank straps, steering tube etc.. all received the same prep treatment.

Degrease,
Wirewheel,
Acid cleaning if needed, 
Zinc Primer Applied
Topcoat of Epoxy mastic in Black

[BigBlueVan]

Pedal Assembly Refurb

Stripped the pedal assembly down, cleaned everything up.
repainted where needed and reassembled.

[BigBlueVan]

Fitting Suspension and Steering Components

Did not get too many pictures of this stage, but here is what i have.
The rear drums have been converted to disc brakes so larger steel wheels are required to allow clearance.

[BigBlueVan]

Brake and Clutch Lines

now this was an experience,,,
Took a while to even get hold of a decent tool, 2 failed attempts before I got a good one which was up to the task. (1 snapped, 1 produced poor seats)

Eventually got it sorted out and ran new Kunifer lines, all the standard 4.75mm (Brake) and 6mm (Clutch) lines with DIN standard fittings.
they are not perfect, but im happy enough with them.

Not all the pipework clips are secured in the photos, but these have since been revisited and tidied up.

The system has been bleed and no leaks are present.

I had customer rear hoses for connection the rear disc conversion (no photo)

the clutch line currently ends near the rear of the vehicle, this will be finalised when the gearbox is installed.


 

[BigBlueVan]

Current Progress

The van is back on its own wheels with steering all installed, the gearbox rebuild is underway and i am also getting the pieces together for the engine installation. Watch this space.

[RogerT]

[PeteandNikki]

Loving that attention to detail.