CF2 camper, full metal repair and respray with some other things too.

[restoreid]

Word off warning Suterman get onto that surface rust pronto youll finde it's under the bog as well bog it as pouras as and you wont know it's under there you will paint over it & you will have trouble down the track Cheers Reid

[Marishka]

wow, awsome job suterman,
that looks exellent.

[suterman]

Cheers, dont worry about the rust. all the removable parts will be gritblasted, the arches will be finished back by hand and treated. The whole van will be in for a low baker to dry the filler out before any proper filling and shaping starts.

Meanwhile.....

I have finished the fabrication of the arches today with just some finishing off here and there, I wont put up any more pics of that because they all look the same in the photos from before really.

I started on the body repair, I removed the rear doors, to look at the rusty bits of panel behind the hinges. I had done some filling during last summer over some old fillerdone by the previous owner, my bodywork skills leave a lot to be desired.


The worst was the offside with bad rust underneath and below the hinges.

(last summer, the rear ns lower hinge situation before I stuffed it with filler)
\/


It seems that water under the hinge, gets in around the screws and between the outer skin and bracing and the inevitable happens.






Perhaps I went over the top but I didnt want any rust left so I cut out the outer skin on all the rear hinges and cleaned up the bracing to clean metal, I have sprayed them with zinc primer and covered the rear over with polythene until monday night.









On a lighter note, I discovered this charger near to the mains hookup socket. I am gussing its to run the 12v circuit, there is also a 240 domestic double socket under the bed (that needs replacing)   I will have a look at the wiring later to find out what is going on whith it all

[suterman]

Heya, bit of a while since I updated, I've been busy building this new engine for my suzuki SJ. things are not going too well, I've been delayed by a bent rod that only showed up when I put it all back together after machining and it would not turn over when I torqued the big end cap up, Also the (low cost) pistons I got are poorly made, there is a variation in the pin/crown height on each piston, the worst one being + 1.2mm over what it should be which pretty much means they are well below acceptable tolerance (as far as I'm concerned). (sigh) I can mill them on my little lathe, I'm determined to get it right.

Anyway.......

Onto the van,

I've spent the last two evenings working on the rear door I dented last summer parallel parking into a space that had a bollard in the middle of it for some reason.

You can see it here.



It was quite awkward as the point of impact was right over the bit where the inner panel met with the outer but with some hammering using a drft and a dolly it straightened up ok







Then started putting some filler in and shaping with an 80 grit on a block, ran out of time tonight, it needs one more skim and some careful shaping but its coming on now.






Have a bonus pic or two,

[Dano]

nice work boss!!! keep up the good work!!! stay on here for motivation , every now and then someone does something to kick you off again......well done all

[suterman]

It should really start moving any day now, just have to wait for this other car that is nearly done to move out so make room in the bodyshop, it should be about 3 weeks for the paintwork from then before its MOT time and then we'll (my father in law is a carpenter/joiner)  fit out the inside just in time for the summer break and nice road trip!

[suterman]

More slow progress,

Things have been slow recently.

Its been hot so I have enjoyed the weather, trying not to mind that both of my toys are out of action at the time I should be using them most.

On a positive vehicular note, the Corsa passed its MOT with only a small patch needing welding in the sill (which I carried out hastily on the drive in time for a free retest)

Unnecessary  summer garden pic with retro pillar drill content.




Regarding the CF,

I have had the front bumper shot blasted to remove all the rust and paint. Also the removable front corner parts and valance were given the same treatment.

Bumper before...




And after....







I also got all the paint off the plastic bits.




Another job was to fix the BEDFORD badge from the rear door to the grill, the grill was damaged after scrotes nicked the MURVI badge when the van lived with its previous owner.






Then I put all the cleaned parts back in place on the van so I could clamp up the valance to the bumper so it and the corner pieces all lined up with the van. Then I took them all off again so the valance could be welded to the bumper. (no pic of that)

Lastly so far, I got the awning off, it was a bit of a bitch as the steel locking screws had seized solid in the aluminum brackets holding the awning to the van.



I had to cut the screws and their surrounding brackets away to get anywhere. nevermind though there is still plenty of bracket material left to drill for more screws.

I gave the awning case a bit of a scrub and decided to get the clamps off as they are rusty, the clamps hold the awning shut when driving and they would stick out like a sore thumb looking like they do when the van is done so I'm going to clean them up and paint them.

[suterman]

in paint!!!!

still got the roof and doors to do but it's looking sweet!!!

[atk1]

Nice work, good to see

[MaTTe]

hey mate, you've done well!
i really like the shape of those flares
also those tail lights look surprisingly good. are they standard cf2 or aftermarket?