browndog

I checked up on the Mk1 yesterday. Panelbeater is doing a great job, and it is getting very close to final paint!

yep mine was the same colour, same engine etc as that one. But none of the sound equipment! I did the YB conversion on that wagon too, I had forgotten about it to be honest!

I removed the Cossie engine and sold it separately, put the awful twin cam back in, then sold the car! I think it is still around?

I had one of these (actually I have had several!) but the last one I had was the most memorable. Magenta in colour, I removed the horrible 8V twin cam and repowered it with a YB Cosworth, put the Cossie suspension in, with Escort Cosworth wheels. Boost turned up a bit, it was pretty badass.

After delivering it to the shop for panel and paint, we decided that to do the job properly the van should be media blasted. There was still layers of paint and filler which had accumulated over the years (which would take days to strip off anyway) and blasting gets in all of those cracks and crevices where mechanical stripping does not. SO, another week or so later, another invoice paid, and the van was media blasted! I immediately took it back to the paint shop, hoping it would not rain on the bare metal, and a coat of etch primer was applied over all of the blasted areas. Fortunately the blasting did not reveal too many hidden nastiness. Mainly just one area around the fuel filler/left rear wheelarch where there was a hole and a lot of filler, so that will need a repair, as well as various small dents which will requite tapping out and some filler before paint is applied.

Sounds like you have a plan there Gordon! FWIW, I measured the current draw on the Merc PS pump, and it was 30 amps. This does not mean you need an additional 30 amps in your alternator output, as it is very intermittent use. As long as you aren't marginal, then whatever you have should be okay. For high output alternators to run your A/C, search late-ish model cars, say post 2000, especially SUV's. Many have 150-200 amp alternators fitted as standard. But they will be a bit larger than what you have fitted already.

Hey Gord, just a thought, and I know you are heading towards a mechanical PS setup, but did you know that you can mount an electro hydraulic pump pretty much anywhere in the vehicle? On a lot of race cars they mount them in the boot! Because hydraulic fluid does not compress (much!) the response is pretty much instant. Just thought I would throw that out in case you thought it had to be front mounted. Conrad

yep same, it was quite a mission, and a bit of expense, but glad I got that done. Got it booked in for paint in a couple of weeks.

Picked up the Mk1 from body shop yesterday, super happy with the result! Need to strip it down, and deliver to the paint shop next. Some old switch holes in the dash welded up, I will repaint the whole dash. Did a quick test fit of the NOS tail lights in the new rear D pillars. Couldn't resist the last pic, 8th gen Transit towing 1st gen, that must make the Mk1 its great great great great great grandad!

as long as you don't have to rebuild the RV8, 'cos they are bloody expensive to rebuild too! Or I guess, in keeping it "Oz" spec. you could jam a P76 V8 in there?!

RHS all welded up now. Just a little sanding off welds to finish. Check out the detail on the horizontal bracing inside, those are new fabricated parts!

wow long time, good to see it is still progressing! I think the 4 cylinder could be trouble, just jam an RV8 in there!

RH side getting there, panels tacked in and looking good!

Some more progress pics. RR panel all welded up now. The mid panel, behind the drivers door had up t0 20mm of filler in places, and was quite stretched. So it was decided to cut this out and make a new panel.

RHS rear panel held in place with toggles and screws, and about to be welded in. Pic of the new filler panel for the window behind the drivers door.

More progress pics

little update, RR wheelarch was quite a mess, needs a lot of love!.............

LHS all done, so on to the RHS. It is much worse, but we were kind of expecting that! Some bodgy repairs done it it, probably in the 1970's. Looks like it had taken a hit in the RHS just behind the door, and extending rearwards. Bash the dents out a bit and fill it full of filler seems to have been the order of the day! We will replace the wheel arch with a repair panel that Ralph supplied, which will deal with a lot of the ugly. A new panel is being folded up to replace the whole panel behind the door, to delete the window

some good progress today

Good progress already! I am getting the rear pillars replaced so I can refit original tail lights. Also replacing side panels to delete the windows. Some tidying up of old repairs needed to LF fender and RR quarter panel.

Yes the badge came with it. You can buy the caps separately though. I bought the steering wheel from this crowd in the UK. Shipping cost more than the bloody wheel! https://www.retro-uk.com/

Off to get some new panels fitted today