Itinerant Air-Cooled

Hello all. You may be slightly familiar with my bus from the reports of my two visits from Colin; the most recent visit was written up here --> viewtopic.php?f=68&t=12285

My bus, Winona, has just had her body straighten and a new covering of Sage Green paint applied. She was beautiful to me even before the surgery, but now she is beautiful to all who see her. The following is the series of posts I made on our club website. Many of the comments/references I make may sound familiar, but not to you. (if that makes sense)

I have been posting about my bus in our 'buses' thread and now it is time to give her a thread of her own to chronicle her transition.

Her name is Winona and she is named after my Grandmother and my Mother as they nurtured my love for the outdoors and seeing new things.

As you probably know, I have had this bus for a couple of years,(bought her in 2011) but I have primarily just driven her and have not tried to do much body/interior work on her.

The body work was done by Joe Murphy and the primer/paint was done by Johnny Owen. (after some begging and pleading)

Here she is before heading into surgery




Here are a series of pictures of the areas in need of attention.

Body work begins:







She is looking good with the facelift!

I removed the sink/stove cabinet in favor of a Helsinki cabinet I found at a swap meet. (Purists may gasp now!) The holes in the side of the bus are no longer necessary nor wanted. Good-bye holes.



The driver's side rear corner of the bus was the worst spot. Joe grafted in a replacement panel from my parts bus.





Nice fit.

The passenger side had a couple of issues too. For this repair Joe had to fabricate the repair panels. He did a great job. Follow along as Joe does his thing.

So, you get the idea. If something didn't look right, Joe fixed it.

Now it was time for Johnny to lay down some primer.




Yup! That is Johnny doing his thing. (note the custom wheel covers protecting the tires from overspray!)

Still doing his thing!

Now lets add a little color to Winona!

Have a dose of Sage Green. (Thanks Marty)


Putting it on.



Must be good stuff, Johnny has on his respirator.



Still digging the profession masking supplies!




Some of the pictures Joe texted me as the paint was drying had me worrying that the color was off, but as it dried I relaxed. It is darn close to a perfect match.

Stay tuned for more.

Alright, here's some more.....

Even my windows got shined up. (OK just the frames not the windows themselves)



Meanwhile, back at my garage I was sprucing up the luggage carrier section of the top. Primer, paint, and some bedliner to coat the cleats that serve as tie-downs.

Alrighty then, let's go back to the shop and start putting things back together. Joe and Johnny had already started putting Winona back together, but as I had the seals for windows and doors they had to wait for me to arrive on the scene. I brought Little Jon and Steve with me. Greg eventually made his way down to help too. (Thanks for lunch Greg!)
Windows went in first. For some reason we started with the easiest window and progressed to the hardest. That being the vent window and its stationary partner. When the block of wood and the rubber mallet appeared for not one, but two of my windows I knew it was time to hit the cooler for a beer and meander out of the shop.
Never fear; they seated all the windows perfectly with no breakage!
I think they just like to see me almost poo myself when they go to beatin on the windows.



Notice the original holes for the sink assembly no longer exist.




Hey! Where did that crunched corner go?!



Not here anymore.




The corner looks even better with the lights in place.



The window no one wanted to mess with. Heck the new rubber for the vent window took some real effort to get installed correctly. (Yes Joe, I know it was the first time you had done it)



Showing off after the first phase.

Second part of the two parter going in.



Little Jon works the door seals while the windows go in.



Break-time......hey, look! Now we see Greg.

Only kidding Greg. Your hard work is much appreciated. We know you are just camera shy; you know witness relocation program and all.



Nap time!!!

No not really. Greg and Little were putting in the new engine seal. The seal had to be replaced because Joe didn't believe the seal would burn if you left it in place while welding. We learn something new every day!



With the exterior pretty much buttoned up it was time to bring her home to take care of the details and the interior renovations.

Whoa, looking great!

Great!

Awesome! Looks great. I will be taking on the same adventure in a couple of months, in my garage. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks for the positive responses! I'll keep updating as I work thru the interior. You can't believe how excited I am to have the body work and paint done.

Hobug wrote:Thanks for the positive responses! I'll keep updating as I work thru the interior. You can't believe how excited I am to have the body work and paint done.

I look forward to seeing it all freshened up. Man, the bar just keeps getting raised around here . . .
Colin
(those window installation pictures brought back some rough moments over the past winter)