Pickle Bus resurection

[lockdoc]

In the last few weeks my vans have become unroadworthy. My red 93 was the latest. It needs a lot of stuff. The Pickle bus was taken off the road about three months ago. In the last year I have had to replace the calipers, brake lines, 2 alternators and some other things I can't remember. When I parked it, it was draining gear oil from the axles, a front ujoint was falling off, the exhaust had rusted through and the WHOLE thing fell of in the road, a leaking gas tank and the drivers side rockers were completely rotted out. Only thing keeping it together was the rino liner. Oh yeah, it needed tires BADLY. I have had no money to repair either one properly. At least one had to get back on the road though. After some crunching I found it would be cheaper to get the Pickle bus on the road again. Through trades, return credits and grunt work she is basically on the road again. Among fixing the things above including a new stock exhaust (weird how quiet she is) I tackled the rust. What a work out. The next project is a new gas tank to replace my leaky one. Bodywork should be done this weekend. Here is the rust repair so far.

[snapple]

Wow,you've been busy! Nice to see the SPB will be back in action!

[LiftedAWDAstro]

=D> =D> =D>

I am SOOOOO happy to see her again! She is looking great. I guess you will be going over the Rhino on the patch panels? You are doing the work I wanted to, but didn't have the cash. Of course with having a new(er) truck, it was easy to let the SPB sit untouched.

Couple questions...
1. When does the V8 go in?
2. What size tires did you go with?
3. Who's PUPPY is that?

[lockdoc]

Luckily it has cost very little so far or it would still be sitting.

1. When does the V8 go in?

I don't see a V8 in the foreseeable future. The main reason is I'm scared as hell to try and take this van apart. You have soooo many custom pieces.

2. What size tires did you go with?

They are just used BF Goodrich AT's from a neighbors place. 265\70\17. I think that equates to around 32-33".

3. Who's PUPPY is that?

The puppy (Angel) is my son Bill's dog.

And yes, after I do some bondo it will be lined again.

[Smiliesafari]

Good to it lives.

[SoCalli V8]

Awesome pic`s and fabrication Bill, I love to see these before and after kind of shots.....

[crash]

Nice work. as I mentioned in Lon's thread, with the fabbing.. I wish I had the tools/skills to do bodywork.

[lockdoc]

Trust me, I have no bodywork skills. I have a welder, a grinder with a cutoff wheel and determination directly related to how much money I don't have at the time.

[kings-x59]

yes well, you inspire all of us nonetheless (did I spell that right?)

[e7ats]

Nice work Bill. Good to see the SPB is getting some TLC from someone. Sorry to hear the red93 isn't doing so well.

How's the other 2 "horses" doing?

[SafariRob]

Aw, fess up, Bill. The work you posted about has nothing to do with getting a van running. Clearly, the photo of the blue van, which is sitting completely on the ground, is where you live. The cutting you did was just to gain access back inside since you locked yourself out. See that pipe driven into the ground next to the blue van's driver door? That's where you chain up the goat that mows the grass. Don't see any grass? That's why the goat has been moved elsewhere!

Bill, Bill...honesty is the best policy...

Rob, who's trying to fill in for Peter while he's on sabbatical.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Bill, it was great seeing you and Billy on Sunday. The SPB is still fun as hell! Where are the pics? We even got to play with the winch.

[Cobra]

damn bill good to see that TLC I'm inspired again!!

[lockdoc]

Finished her up today. I was unexpectedly interupted yesterday as the Harper's made an unexpected trip to my place Sunday. It was great to see them. Just sat around, ate and relaxed. Took the SPB for a little ride in the woods for the fun of it only to find one of the front axles wouldn't lock in. Luckily Dean was there to show me how to pull it apart real quick and get her going again. We then found out how bad these AT tires are in the woods. Sure fell nice on the street though. So here are the pics from today. After everything is real dry I will shoot the new liner with some flat black paint so it matches better.

A little tip. USE GLOVES WHEN APPLYING BEDLINER! I can not get this stuff off my hands. I tried mineral spirits, laquer thinner, acetone and WD40 to no avail.

[Logan]

I love those rock rails! I think the SPB looks better with them than without.