Ta da! back again.
We had a quick holiday planned before christmas, my first "big overseas" trip, if you dont count NZ a few years ago.
 
Anyhow, we got slightly caught up in an earthquake in Vanuatu, and could not get back to Aus.
10 days turned to 16 until Qantas came to our rescue and put on flights.
 
Back now, so normal stuff soon.
PS: to Virgin Airways, may you choke on stale reindeer dropping.
 
Hope you are ok in SA fires Marty.
 

Hey I was thinking of you when I heard the earthquake on your holiday, how you was just shaken not stirred .!!

Yeah couldn't be better.. Fires, what fires ? I don't watch or listen to news shows but the misso does, that's how I knew of your problem. I'll look it up

We got shaken and stirred, but fared obviously much better than many so we are eternally greatful.
Some very bad stories that don't make it to the media too.
 
It was just a reminder how fickle things are, and not to take anything for granted.
 
Anyhoo, my Nostradamusus might have got mixed up, but I thought we saw coveage of SA fires on the telly.
I think we are in for a hot summer.
 
 

The van has had some boring jobs done, nothing photoworthy anyhow.
Fuel lines are rerouted on the correct side of the chassis (thanks MArty for the pickup), I redid some new front brake copper lines as some clod routed them to the wrong spot on the chassis, tweeked the passenger seat mounts so we have 2 std Escort buckets in for now, and fitted a 2L air filter and a few bits. Unfortunately its not a blue Escort one, maybe Cortina or transit?  

 
The front struts are in and suspension connected, but I didn't take many photos sorry. So as requested above, in the end the supplied strut spacers were drilled out to suit the strut shaft diameter, and the longer spacer in the kit trimmed down at the parting line. It was relatively straight forward, just fiddly. 
 

Its been too hot to weld, but all of the bits are in for finishing the exhaust.
 
I've been thinking about what to use to line the inside of the van walls. I have the carpet lining material, but need something as the backing. Usually masonite or ply I guess is the normal route.
Bunnings have sheets of Coreflute, which you can get up to 5mm thick.
This seems lighter than timber, which appeals plus water resistent and at least stiff in 1 direction.
I reckon it would work ok being carpeted and then with the press clipped to the van sides, and use thin ply for the floor.
Any thoughts?
 
I found some 2 part stop putty that should be ok with the epoxy topcoats, and am hoping I can use that for the final touch ups around the crease lines and minor blemishes. The drivers side, bonnett and front, are pretty much rubbed back again, and is suprisingly close to needing either another high build or  the first topcoat.
 
Im not going to make the March deadline, totally dreaming!

Hi Deano,
I have been offline for a bit, just busy.
Got your message from Vanuatu, timing is everything. A mate landed in Morocco on the morning of the 2023 earthquake. At least you both made it out unscathed.
 
On the strut tops I think it must be a compatibility thing. Each build where I have gotten components from the UK, I have had to bush or whatever the strut tops and then figure out associated height issues.
 
I reckon the coreflute sounds good and you can contact cement to it. Similar with the boats nowadays, can't remember the name, but used instead of the old marine type ply's. Its stronger, lighter, won't rot and is very expensive but its essentially a do it once job.
 
Yes I got the exhaust done. When I didn't hear from you (excuse accepted) I went off and chatted with my exhaust guy again and went for one of the mesh bellows. They are a flunkies delight
 
Having a few teething issues before I try and fire it up. I might get my build post active again

Zorst looks good, was it just MIG'd up with regular wire ? I only done mine with Tig cause I need to learn it more, I don't like having tools I can't drive. I'll have another go at making an alloy cheese wedge water bottle again .

hey, a side exhaust is cheating!.
No diff hump to worry about, plus you ran it down the rhs and not worry about the tailshaft crossover either!!
 
Alloy cheese wedge: Marty have you seen our YT upholstry mate recently?
I was refreshing how to redo the front seats, and found him replacing seat bolster foam.
He just used blocks of high density foam, trimmed roughly with the std elect carving knife as normal, but then shaped down into the right contours using the old style chrome  wedge cheese grater.
Watching it, the foam comes off more in chunks, and gives you way less mess and dust than sanding with a DA orbital.
 
I bought a can of ths Car builders Spray Adhesive to try on the headliner. 
It seems to have had good reviews.
 

Yeah I seen that neat trick, don't think the misso world appreciate sponge in the grated cheese! Might buy a specific one for foam adjustments.

Spray adhesive for hood lining on those side plates your planning on.
Roof lining should be brushed on where it meets the window and door returns etc, just less mess, spray for bigger areas that overspray won't be a problem, you know what I mean .
I've usually used the selleys Kwik grip to brush on, lasts for donkeys..

Yep Deano. With the Cossie its all fuel and electrical up the passengers side and exhaust under the driver.
Well one look at the diff hump and I knew I would have been in for a world of pain. The RS is pretty quiet, so fingers crossed I won't need to get out the steel wool!
 
My upholstery guy has a mini spray can he attaches to his airline and does all the tight areas. Obviously he's doing it all the time so he doesn't even clean out the gun.
Anything Car Builders is good so I reckon you'll be right. The underbody pics of my exhaust, you can see their stick on heat shield, joins are done with their aluminium tape. Time will tell once it gets some heat onto it etc.
 
Marty just tell her its a new style of aerated cheese. Better for your waste line

still here laboring away. 
This years goal might be to finish something before moving onto the next job.
So with that in mind, here's the exhaust, well the diff hump bit, the rest is fitted on the car..
I'm 2 welds away from completing my first ever exhaust, tonight fingers crossed (MArried is back on too).
 
I was suprised how carried away you can get making it fit every which way, rather than just be a functional pipe to vent gases out. See how many bends and welds in this bit alone. It gets close to the van petrol tank at the bellow.
 

The temptation was to linish the welds back too far, in the sake of appearance maybe over strength, who knows.
One trick I did learn though, was using a hose clamp to work out the cut angles when you dont have a cutting gauge:

I'd seen 'Hand made by Jeff" YT use cable ties to do the same thing, which I tried but they were still flexible enough to give you an 'out of perpendicular" cut guide. This was an issue when you're cutting the 90's down to whatever angle needed, and go to butt it to the next round tube, a bit like buggering a cornice.
Using the hoseclamp solved this and was easier to cut if using the angle grinder over the drop saw.
 
It was also  good suggestions of Marty's to just buy  a stack of 90 degree bends initially, which you can obviously cut down to whatever required.I used 51/2 out of  the 6 bends. It probably would make fitting easier with an extra vclamp in there too, should have bought an extra.
I was happy with the diff hump work of art, I think it will make the hotdog come out in the right spot, and at the right angle but we'll see.