Most of my recent work on the Bus has been on the interior. The engine, transmision, & brakes are good for now, & I've been driving her to work every day since mid-April. I'll want a new engine & clutch, & maybe a transmission, as well as proper load range D tires before I take her on extended road trips, but she's been on a 30 and a 50 mile cruise without any trouble, except popping out of 4th occasionally.
So, for all of you who've been waiting,here's some pics of the new door gaskets.
Driver's side:
Passenger's side:
Cargo hatch:
More of the gasket can be seen in this shot:
You'll also notice here the card catalog unit from work (discarded) that I've put in the rear for tools & spares, and of course, my helper, Titan the Wonder Cat.
In this picture from the muffler series,
you can see the new engine hatch seal:
Each seal was about $20 from Bus Depot.
Not bad, & a decent, if not perfect, fit.
Much better than the old, crusty ones:
The rust visible here is the worst on the vehicle,
likely because this door is not original.
It's underlying paint is red, while the rest
of the Bus was originally blue.
I ground down the rust and put on a layer
of tractor & implement primer, followed by
International Harvester White. It'll do.
someday, I'll get a better door, but it's not a top priority.
All these seals are dull, but important.
The front door seals keep out drafts,& keeps me from freezing!
The cargo hatch seal keeps out exhaust, & keeps me from axphyxiating!
The engine hatch seal helps keep the engine cool, by preventing it from sucking up it's own hot
air.
The seal I didn't replace is visible here:
This seal's actually in pretty good shape,
and a new one's over $100 from Bus Boys!
That's for a German seal, & therefore not
outrageous, but the price tag puts it seriously
into "thinking about" territory.
Now that I'm safe from drafts & fumes, on to the interior!
I was lucky enough to get a rare middle seat with this Bus, but, sadly, it had spent too long in a barn, & I just couldn't remove the aura of mouse pee. When my wife commented upon the "unique" atmosphere, I knew the seat had to come out. The corrosive effect of mouse urine had reduced the coils mostly to rust, anyway, & upholstery was beat, not to mention the (disintegrating) padding.
Some pics of the seat, soon to go into storage:
That afghan was covering a LOT!
I was tired of bits of spring falling on the floor,
anyway.
This was a good opportunity to clean out the
interior:
In the wide shot, you can see my '85 Dodge Ramcharger (winter ride) & my '85 Chrysler 5th Ave keeping the Bus company while I sweep out bits of disintegrated seat.
Here's the cargo bay, i
n it's new configuration:I'm still looking for another middle seat, but for now, I have easy access to my tools, & with a bit of rearranging, I can put a Troy-Bilt Horse rototiller in this space.
The rugs , like the afghans, were my grandmother's.
The VT license plates are from the 70's.
The HU-110 plate is from my first car, a '70 Beetle.
The T-822 plate is from a family car, a '69 Beetle.
Next: Passenger cabin , headliner, rear cargo shelf!
