Optimus Primer....

Well, busy just doesn't really describe it... on top of all the pressures that this 'festive' time brings, we really wanted to get Mike and Glendas bus primed this week, but with some corrosion revealed when we sandblast some areas at the beginning of the week, it was set to be a challenge.....



But with a few late ones - Ant shot the House of Kolor epoxy primer surfacer this weekend. Whilst designed as the base for their range of custom paints, we use this primer as the base for all our paintwork. Its a dream to use, and offers great durability, stability and corrosion resistance to boot.







A few other goings on this week include - Evil Ben gettin some rear quarter repairs on Martin's '55 Cab, and also trial fitting the new slightly narrower engine side trays..





The late night brasilia elves had some fun with the rear end this week - got us some Fuchs up in there - big'uns!



Laters...

d-luxe....

This week, so far we've got the disaster bus finished off, Ant shot the paint this weekend, and its come up great - right colour and everything!! Sometimes he has the odd isocyanate moment and paints everything black, so we were a bit worried....



Ben's been finishing the front valance work to the '55, and then been fitting the bonnet release tube and wiring clips etc inside the front...



meanwhile, we've also had Tim's '71 d-lux in to fit our early bay - late brake upgrade kit... available now!!!





....the late night brasilia elves have been busy too, fitting up the king and link pin beam with dropped spindles to work out just how narrow to go....




We now offer a beetle King and Link pin recon/rebuild service, rebuilding with dropped or stock spindles, all with new bushes and pins throughout. We can supply full bolt on narrowed beams etc. or you can just mail us your carriers and spindles and we'll rebuild them and send them back to you. All beams built to order to your spec. Please contact us with your requirements.....

Laters....

D-livery day....

D-livery day.

After a full autostyl remanufacture - this late bay is off to its new home. We sourced the base vehicle for the customers, a totally solid shell with only 40,000mls on the clock. It has been fully stripped, straightened and repainted, before being rebuilt with new components where required. Now set to take on another 30years....





After Jef finished the metal replacement, and got onto getting the repairs painted on the Disaster bus....


Minimal filler and a good coat of 2k primer, wet flatted ready for colour...





Amongst a few other bits, Ben has been sorting out the headlight tube fixing points on Martin's '55 Cabriolet... thin and rusty, cut out and replaced with some fresh steel..... sweet, job done.

Monday Mayhem!

Lots going down today in the shop, i'll let the pics do the talkin....

Jefs been TIG'n some new steeeel into John and Karen's disaster bus - more on this awesome truck soon...









While Ant got busy chopping out the corrosion in the Disaster bus cab step, and let in some new panels, while getting some panel beating and then filler time on Mike and Glenda's '72 bay....

Engine engine number 9.....11

Bit of a while since the last update, but rather than cram this one full, i'll post some more up tomorrow....

Main success of the week was getting Dexter's engine hung in his '63 Split. The back mounts are in, and just require some refinement to trim the engine level. This week we'll get the front nailed down too. As far as my net trawling has found so far, nobody seems to have gone for this engine and box combo before - 911 3.0 litre SC motor mated to a T25 auto. The auto box is the bigger part of the challenge, quite literally, but with some clearancing and some smart thinking regarding a-arms, mounts, shifter mechanism etc. we should be able to post up pics of the front set up later this week.






Some stud welder and dent pulling action on the front of Mike and Glenda's bay this week, getting pretty close to a filler skim now....




Also managed to get the framehead modification on the Brasilia a step closer, TIG'd up the holes left after cutting off the pressings to allow the link pin beam to fit.

shelling bays......

So far this week, Mike and Glenda's westy is now a bare shell, and the bodywork has commenced! Battery tray and issues on that corner all now repaired. Back to factory and some...









Meanwhile, Evil Ben has been making great progress on MArtin's cab, with a mix of original stuff, grafted into new panels, originality is being retained whilst getting rid of any suspect metal.






Front panels welded together off the car, should have pics of this assembly installed tomorrow.......



Also going down - some good progress on designing the mounting configuration of the 911motor in Dexter's '63, pics to follow!! The link to his ssvc thread, top right...

Fireworks.

Fair bit of welding going on today at Autostyl. Ant got down to welding in the open ends of the chassis rails in Dexter's '63 Split bus. Thus adding more rigidity to help support the porsche engine. It will also give good mounting surfaces to which the engine mounts can be attached.

Meanwhile, Ben's been throwing out some sparks whilst repairing the bottom edge of the inner wing on the cab.

Jay's got the underseal removal technique dialled in, and the results have only revealed good, factory paint arches, with no corrosion at all!!!! Love this bay - its just so damn solid!!!

Then, this evening, i managed to get a bit more strength back into the brasilia. After TIG'in the new longitudinal supports, i popped in the beam to check fit. Some adaptation to the framehead is required - as Brasilia's are balljoint from factory, but we're converting to link pin for a smooooth low ass ride......

TIG Tuesday.....

Had a bit of a move around yesterday so that we can get back onto Dexters '63.

First task is to finalise the location of the Porsche IRS mounts... looks like we need to narrow the arms in order for it all to clear the automatic gearbox. Watch this space, unlike many people, we'll publish exactly how we do it....

Evil Ben Lewis has been rebuilding the front end of Martin's 55 vert. Previous damage meant that it was necessary to disassemble much of the structure in order to get it spot on before rebuilding it with as much original steel as possible.

Jef and Jay are busy working on Mike and Glenda's bay. Jef's fitting a new battery tray- the only panel required! While Jay has been steadily removing the underseal to check the condition of the underside, and to enable it to get a full gloss underside too!

In addition, when everyone's gone home and many are tucked up in bed, the Brasilia elves have been out TIG'in some new steel into the front end - With a good strong structure in the front end now, tonight the front will be reconnected to the body properly, check back for progress...

Last week update...

Ben's been sorting some of the old repairs to some front end damage on Martin's '55... and brought his bus up to snap next to the late bay we've just finished....

Ant's been getting some shape back into the front panel of Mike and Glenda's bay with the faithful Unispotter stud welder and puller.

While Jef has been cleaning up and prepping the inside... as you can see this bus is A1!

Also now in is Tim's Arizona 71 deluxe. With a new gen. VW block awaiting installation, a tasteful lowering and getting this cool cruiser back on the road, Tim'll be cruising down to see his relatives in Portugal before long. Thanks to Tim's sister Judy for all her help in our search for the shop Brasilia! 

And speaking of the infamous autostyl brasilia.... here's a sneaky pic of how it looked end of last week...

Till next update, take it easy....