Date:         Sat, 29 Jun 1996 21:56:55 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Thom Fitzpatrick <thom@calweb.com>
Subject:      more '54 RHD deluxe bus progress

Since I'm still pathetic and have no life, I spent the entire day working on
the '54.  Today I got the chassis center sections, which are the pieces that
go crossways between the longitudinals and the heater tube and cables go
thru them, cut off and started prepping for the new ones.  I also drilled
the holes and welded in the nuts for the front beam supports.  On barndoor
busses, there are 2 U channel supports that are welded onto the front beam,
and bolt onto the bottom of the longitudinals, providing extra support for
the beam.  Suggestion for anyone else who is going to replace the
longitudinals on a barndoor: drill the holes and weld the nuts _before_
installing the section.  That would have made it a lot easier!

Before I can weld in the center chassis sections, I have to box the the
longitudinals in that area, first, just like the factory did.  Otherwise
there is not much to weld them to!  The front one fits perfectly, the rear
will have to be narrowed, not because of any flaw in the piece, but because
of the way I lined up the new longitudinal just inside the seam where I cut
the old one off.  I'm about 1/16" off on either side, plus a bit more so I
can box them.  I also had to modify the holes for the cables, once again not
due to a flaw in the repro piece, but because of the bus being a barndoor
and RHD, the routing is a little different.  I had to widen one of the cable
holes in the center section about 1/2"

Now on to the part that wasn't so fun.  I had the entire front end off the
ground, and I was checking out the front beam area and sizing up all of the
fabrication I will have to do there, when I noticed something quite peculiar
that made my heart sink.  My front beam has been WELDED to the frame by some
PO during previous repair work on the bus!  This is going to make it VERY
interesting to re-do the front end!

On a more positive note, I jacked up the passenger side of the bus, and the
whole passenger side raised up, like it should.  The last time I tried to
raise the passenger side, the entire REAR of the car came up!

Thom Fitzpatrick
thom@calweb.com - http://www.calweb.com/~thom
Keeper of the Barndoor Bus Web Page: http://www.calweb.com/~thom/barndoor.html