Mercedes vario 814 self build bus to FLT palace

A friend of mine is a welder that specialises in vehicle restoration . He taught me to mig weld and told me to buy a decent angle grinder and lots of decent grinding discs. You can improve a not so pretty weld whilst practicing .
 
bigwood said:
A friend of mine is a welder that specialises in vehicle restoration . He taught me to mig weld and told me to buy a decent angle grinder and lots of decent grinding discs. You can improve a not so pretty weld whilst practicing .
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Yeah it can be dressed up pretty well ..if unseen i won't grind it too much just smooth over with seam sealer and paint it. ...the bits that are seen is the area's im not so keen on ...but if i can cover it with a thin layer of filler that will be good enough.

Since i started this bus in march ive used over 300 cutting discs and nearly 100 flap discs 😱 but its had well over 1.5 tonne of steel cut out of it .
 
Northernraider said:
That would be handy ...you pass this way? You might need to take this one to copy it
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I'm going by this weekend. If you know what steel you are wanting and how much, I could try get a price tomorrow morning? Might get lucky and get a quick delivery then I could pick up the template on the way back up the road on Sunday/Monday. Or have you got steel for the this already?
 
There appears to be loads of Vario patten part sills for sale is there a reason you can't use them?

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Guy from one of our suppliers was round last week. They'd been bought over by BOC and the warehouse was getting cleared. Skip dropped and quickly filled with boxes of perfectly good grinding discs, welding rods even brand new computers/ monitors. Madness.

I managed to get a few boxes of flappys off him before they warned off the scavengers.
 
monzer said:
I'm going by this weekend. If you know what steel you are wanting and how much, I could try get a price tomorrow morning? Might get lucky and get a quick delivery then I could pick up the template on the way back up the road on Sunday/Monday. Or have you got steel for the this already?
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I dont have steel for those but 1.2 zintec seems to be what this one is made from

Im going to need a few sheets of 1.5mm zintec for the wheel tubs and window panels. A 6 metre length of 25 x 25 3mm angle iron and a 6 metre length of 40 x 40 box section ....but you likely wont get that in a motor 😁
 
Lenny HB said:
There appears to be loads of Vario patten part sills for sale is there a reason you can't use them?
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They are only in poland ....come in sets of 10 pieces but from what ive heard they are very thin and not a great fit . Add to that additional customs charges on them now and it seems a better idea just to have some made
 
Northernraider said:
I dont have steel for those but 1.2 zintec seems to be what this one is made from

Im going to need a few sheets of 1.5mm zintec for the wheel tubs and window panels. A 6 metre length of 25 x 25 3mm angle iron and a 6 metre length of 40 x 40 box section ....but you likely wont get that in a motor 😁
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I'll see what I can do 👍
 
monzer said:
I'll see what I can do 👍
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That said if you happen to have access to a scrap bin or offcuts bin and you have angle or box section going spare in it ....id be happy to relieve you of some of it ....need stuff for supports under cab floor and for brace bars where windows are coming out .

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Northernraider said:
That said if you happen to have access to a scrap bin or offcuts bin and you have angle or box section going spare in it ....id be happy to relieve you of some of it ....need stuff for supports under cab floor and for brace bars where windows are coming out .
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Plenty bigger stuff lying about. Might have a few metres of 30mm-ish angle somewhere. I know we have 40 box.
 
CazPaul said:
Good job Tam, wow what a lot of work so far and you haven’t really started on the conversion yet.
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Yeah ...to be honest buying this blind was probably not the smartest move but at least once all this is done it will be solid and good for a long time. ...i could have just botched the van once it was MOT'd and the interior out etc but not when i want to keep it a few years. Can't see it having an interior this year though ...im looking to head back to Europe start of October.
 
Northernraider said:
Yeah ...to be honest buying this blind was probably not the smartest move but at least once all this is done it will be solid and good for a long time. ...i could have just botched the van once it was MOT'd and the interior out etc but not when i want to keep it a few years. Can't see it having an interior this year though ...im looking to head back to Europe start of October.
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Even if you had seen it you wouldn't have known how bad if was until you gutted it. It looked like it has been well maintained but the conversion hid multiple sins. You could have easily paid twice the price or more and had the same problems.

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Lenny HB said:
Even if you had seen it you wouldn't have known how bad if was until you gutted it. It looked like it has been well maintained but the conversion hid multiple sins. You could have easily paid twice the price or more and had the same problems.
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Yes thats very true ...i follow one on Instagram that bought the 2011 model bus that was on ebay for £8500. ..theyve lifted the floor etc and theirs was worse than mine under there ....theres also others with lots of rot around the windscreen etc where mine is solid ...so its bad but it isn't the worst vario ive seen. My idea always was if i can get a good solid base for around £8k then im happy with that. ...so if i do most of the welding myself now it should come in considerably cheaper than that ...
 
Northernraider said:
Yes thats very true ...i follow one on Instagram that bought the 2011 model bus that was on ebay for £8500. ..theyve lifted the floor etc and theirs was worse than mine under there ....theres also others with lots of rot around the windscreen etc where mine is solid ...so its bad but it isn't the worst vario ive seen. My idea always was if i can get a good solid base for around £8k then im happy with that. ...so if i do most of the welding myself now it should come in considerably cheaper than that ...
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Is that the one in the garden with the irwin tracks and the young hippy couple?!

Cheers James
 
Northernraider said:
Ha ...theres a college nearby for sure but i doubt they would get this in there. If the weather holds up ill get a fair bit done over the next couple of weeks. But i have blooming jury duty from the 26th which im hoping is over quick
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I was fined for an offence that I did not do, so have no reason to like the justice system.
About 3 years later I was asked to do jury service. I wrote back to them to say I did not believe in British justice and they thanked me and told me I wouldn't be called again.
This was 40 years ago and I never did hear from them.
 
appydaze said:
I was fined for an offence that I did not do, so have no reason to like the justice system.
About 3 years later I was asked to do jury service. I wrote back to them to say I did not believe in British justice and they thanked me and told me I wouldn't be called again.
This was 40 years ago and I never did hear from them.
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Twice in the last 2 year's I've been called up, moved job's around to suit, both time cancelled in the last week!

It won't be happening again!

You're doing a great job Tam👍

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Todays efforts ....short day as i start work at 16.30 ...but pleased with the progress.got the big plate done in the inside wheel well ....made up a bit u channel for the floor support and welded that in ...that lets me get the doorstep lined up in position ....few plates to weld in around that before i weld it in but at least it all lines up and i know where im going with that bit .....bit of luck i should have the cab floor in by Sun/Mon quite enjoying it now

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Northernraider said:
Im hoping so ...ive a couple of places to try for the sills to be bent as i have one small section here that ill get them to copy in metre lengths
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look for ductwork companies they can usually fold stuff in reasonable lengths
 
mitzimad said:
look for ductwork companies they can usually fold stuff in reasonable lengths
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monzer is on the case .... he's going to bend some 1.5 metre sections of it for me aswell as the tops for the rear wheel arches so should be good to go with those by the time i get to those bits ... Still a good bit work to do on the front end yet which will keep me occupied for the next week at least
 
Northernraider said:
what id give for a guillotine and bender lol
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Tam, take a look on Youtube at DIY benders.. You can knock one up in about an hour out of a couple of bits of angle iron and a couple of BIG iron hinges... You will not need anything posh or really that beefy either .. Clamp it to a chassis rail and the jobs a good 'un :)
 
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Todays efforts .....its roasting up here this week ...im getting burnt in the sun doing this 25° today

B pillar repaired ..this had to be done before step fitting , new floor support panel made up and welded in , few plates to support the doorstep , then doorstep and arch repair welded in .....not finished yet but ran out of time as im working tonight. It will be strong anyway thats for sure.
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Good that you are n
Northernraider said:
Todays efforts ....short day as i start work at 16.30 ...but pleased with the progress.got the big plate done in the inside wheel well ....made up a bit u channel for the floor support and welded that in ...that lets me get the doorstep lined up in position ....few plates to weld in around that before i weld it in but at least it all lines up and i know where im going with that bit .....bit of luck i should have the cab floor in by Sun/Mon quite enjoying it now

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Northernraider said:
Todays efforts .....its roasting up here this week ...im getting burnt in the sun doing this 25° today

B pillar repaired ..this had to be done before step fitting , new floor support panel made up and welded in , few plates to support the doorstep , then doorstep and arch repair welded in .....not finished yet but ran out of time as im working tonight. It will be strong anyway thats for sure. View attachment 516807View attachment 516808View attachment 516809View attachment 516810View attachment 516811View attachment 516814View attachment 516815View attachment 516816View attachment 516817
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Bloody hell Tam. Nice job. It's a good job you are enjoying it as I wasn't thinking you were expecting a full on restoration.
 

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