Helping Hand

Happiness consists, not in possessing much, but in being content with what we possess. He who wants little always has enough.
Zimmermann

Young colleague Bradley came over for few hours to help out with some of the hard labour. Thanks mate! I have spent so much of the previous month with the same old thing - sanding and filling...it's great to have a helping hand. Wonder if he'll still be smiling at the end of the day?


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CooP

Lovely Bumpers

A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are built for.
John A. Shedd

Still busy busy busy filling and sanding the front. It's actually rather bent out of shape but I'll flat it and smooth it and get it as good as possible. I'm not trying to make a concourse machine - this will be a vehicle for hitting the game reserves and a lot of out of the way places so looks are not as important as comfort and reliability. She's always been a head-turner. I guess she always will be. I would have made a bit more progress but Dad came to visit so I downed tools early.


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CooP

The bumpers were pretty battered and were both a little twisted - the result of a lot of bushwhacking over the years. I have straightened out most of the twisties and re-aligned them. I have removed the worst of the rust. A little more cleaning up and they'll be ready for primer. Oh I do love a nice pair of bumpers!

Frustrating Front-End

Without adventure civilization is in full decay.
Alfred North Whitehead

For perhaps the 12th time I have removed surface rust, sanded down yesterdays filler, cleaned up the filled area and applied another thin coat of body filler. It's finally starting to look a little like a Kombi again, although the filler is so thick in places that I feel more like a sculptor!


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CooP

Front Filling

Every man can transform the world from one of the monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.
Irving Wallace

I have spent the past ten days cleaning and filling the front panel, which was damaged even more badly than I thought. I borrowed a fancy hydraulic ram thingy to push out the worst of the dents from the inside (thanks Rob!), cleaned off the rust and starting filling again. I had hoped that the work would stay dry in our rainless winter but it has been so cold that we have heavy dew and the rust still takes over as soon as I finish. I have to wire-brush the bare metal parts again each time before applying the next layer of filler. Thank goodness for beer to keep me motivated :)


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CooP

Nothing Left On The Left

I think that travel comes from some deep urge to see the world, like the urge that brings up a worm in an Irish bog to see the moon when it is full.
Lord Dunsany

Finally finished layering and sanding the filler and sprayed a layer of red oxide over the lot. The door had warped a lot from the heat of the welding and the filling had to cover a lot more area than I first imagined. The ugly weld on the side pressing still has to be smoothed and filled. The once sliding door is almost a thing of the past - this side is starting to look as if it was originally made this way. I'm worn out and sore, and this is nothing compared to the mess of the front end that I have to do next ...


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CooP

No Love-Handle

The traveller was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing".
Daniel J Boorstin

I have read that lots of thin layers of filler are stronger than one big glob of it. I have been adding a thin layer every day after work and then smoothing it down the following day. I ended up doing it about 8 times but it seems to be solid. I have laid on far more than required and it should all sand back nicely with the feathered edges as recommended.


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CooP

Extra Work

I have wandered all my life, and I have travelled; the difference between the two is this -- we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.
Hilaire Belloc

The existing seam next to the sliding door just didn't look right to my eye. Despite creating a lot of extra work for myself I have filled it in and smoothed it off. Time will tell whether there is enough movement in this seam to disturb the filler, if so I'll have to strip it and weld it properly. But for now I much prefer the smooth look of it. The centre ridge pressing still needs some work, coming soon.

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CooP