Long Awaited Return, The motorhome That Is !!!

Well on my last write up I'm sure I wrote I'd be letting you know very shortly of how the progress was going, But I had to drop tools on the bus and finish another project that I was slowly doing on the side. This is a Toyota Hilux, 2000 model that I had picked up off the boss, it had been in a slight front end accident and was in need of some repair. Any how my dear grand dad thought it would be a great little car for him, instead of his F250 that he has owned for the last 32 years.
So with a bit of persists from the old boy, I was straight into the final repairs I had left on the Toyota, slight painting repairs on the bonnet and roof. Obviously I had already done the main repairs and now was just finishing up the final details before the vehicle inspection and like I had thought, she went straight over with out any issues. So with grand dad happy with his transaction, I was quite happy as well, knowing I was now project free. Well of course, except for my motor home.

Welder all set up ready to go

Rear top half 

Metalfix primer

I have purchased a nice gas/gasless mig for the welding of the bus, she works a bloody treat and don't forget I also have my arc welder on hand for any jobs that I know needs that little extra. Any how I have resumed back onto the rear end of the rig, started by framing the rear top section in and fully welding this section as well as the left hand rear section that was only tacked together. Once this was welded I then started preping the steel works for a primer product called Metalfix. I have heard a lot about this product and thought I'd try it out, wow, what a great product it has turned out to be too. From here I had to refit the rear apron and secure it down again, I used Sikaflex and rivets for the very top of the apron and the rest of the apron I used Sikaflex again but just clamped it firmly to the frame work, as I dont want to many rivets in this motorhome. I'm looking for that flat smooth look on the outside so we have that more modern look, rather than a motorhome with six thousand  

Just about there

L/h rear all done

rivets holding it together and then letting water in just to corrode all that hard work I did in replacing the frame work. My tip : Try not to use rivets, there are so many great products out there now for securing things together with adhesive. I am a service manager for a earth moving company and all our glass in the machines are only held in with adhesive products, even double sided tape has come a long way, air planes these days are held together with 3M tape. Do your home work though, because there are a lot of brands, products, and some are just crap. Once the rear apron was secured I had some minor cuts to do in the apron and then went about measuring the recess, so I could transfer this onto   

Great fit !!!!

Alloy Composite Panel

the aluminium composite panel that I had purchased. I used my five inch grinder with a thin cutting disc to cut out the panel section that I required to fit into the old window recess, what a great cut, it fitted straight into the recess with no dramas at all. Well it is test fitted not once but twice, once happy I had to weld in just a couple more bits of angle just to have a bit more support for the bottom corners. I then did some prep work as like a quick sanding of the primer, a clean up with some mineral turps making sure every thing is very clean before applying Sikaflex to all contactable surfaces, Once ready I had placed the panel section straight into place, trying not to smear the adhesive and to achieve the best result I had secured some clamps to the bottom of the panel. This also helps reduce the gravity fall and locks it into place, With the bottom attended to I then wanted the same affect to the top half 

With the protective coat off

From the inside

in which I just placed some large items against the panel to apply some even weight over the top half. I had already had these items picked out as you don't want to be searching around looking for suitable items to be able to use for this procedure, as by the time you find some thing the adhesive might of already started to set and that's to late. While I was waiting for the adhesive to set I got started on the rear engine door, cut and fabricated the pieces, welded the 

Just need to seal 

frame and by that time I thought I'd remove all the clamps and items that was applying pressure to the panel. Well the procedure worked out well, just need to go around the edge and seal it which will also give the finished finish look. I also removed the protective cover from the outer side of the panel, which I had left on during the cutting and securing stages to avoid any scratches and alike. I will have the rear door on this week end, but will have to order a custom made louvre vent for between the top panel and the engine door. Once the rear is just about done I will go through and finish off any imperfections that need attention or that I have missed, A splash of primer through the spray gun will then be on the cards once we have temporarily fitted all our rear lights. Well until next time, stay safe. Please feel free to check out our photo's page above as we have done plenty more but I will write about these subjects once I've fitted the items/products.
Take care.