Monday 9th January 2006 - Rose progress
Paint is going on, and looks great. Some new pics are on the project page here.
Wednesday 14th December 2005 - Yellow Rose progress
Progress on Yellow Rose, underside painted POR 15 and rustbulleted engine bay treated and sealed as underside, to be painted in body colour and at longlast finished. EVEN I CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL !! Some new pics are on the project page here.
Wednesday 24th August 2005 - Tiger Bus Sold
The old girl has departed leaving me Tigerless, will be looking after her though (services), was gutted but proud following her up the road. She's off on a cornish tour and then back home to Sheffield. At least she did all the shows I wanted her to and the icing on the cake was SPA. Where even if I say so myself got a fantastic reception from our European brothers and sisters. You don't realise what you've got till its gone.
Wednesday 16th August 2005 - more Yellow Rose progress
Some new pics are on the project page here , light at the end of the tunnel, the metal work is nearly there, rear corner and short side panel to do, roof issues then prep and paint, she wont be long now .....
Wednesday 3rd August 2005 - more Yellow Rose progress
Some new pics are on the project page here ,Cab and cargo floors all done, front valance in progress, then just some small tidy up area's to do.
Saturday 9th July 2005 - Volksworld Cover featuring Tiagra Bus
The latest edition of Volksworld Magazine (Summer 2005 edition) features Marks Tiagra bus on the front cover, and in a feature inside!
Wednesday 29th June 2005 - Yellow Rose Page updated - lots more progress
Some new pics are on the project page here.
Wednesday 18th May 2005 - Yellow Rose Page updated - side cut away and cleaned up
Some more pics to update this work, side is completely cut away and flanges cleaned up ready for new metal. Some new pics are on the project page here.
Friday 8th April 2005 - Yellow Rose Page updated - bus in for blasting
The restoration of Keith's Bus is well underway, it was blasted last week, and is now in the workshop. Pics are on the Yellow Rose project page here.
Sunday 3rd April 2005 - Mark wins Best modified Type 2 at Volksworld
Title says it all, full resto pics are here.
Friday 18th March 2005 - Tiagra Bus MOT'd and on the road
Marks bus passed its MOT today, so it is on the road at last ! Finishing details are underway for its appearance at the Volksworld Show on April 2nd/3rd. Pictures will go up on the site after the show on the Tiger project page here.
Monday 7th March 2005 - Morena's Beast Finished
Rich Morena's bus is now finished, and collected, see here for one picture, more to follow ! Mark is going to work on his Bus for a week or so to get it MOT'd then its onto Yellow Rose.
Saturday 12th February 2005 - Morena's Beast updates
Rich Morena's bus is now in paint, see here for latest update and pictures.
Wednesday 9th February 2005 - Morena's Beast updates
A long project is coming to an end, see here for latest update and pictures.
Pictures of Mark's Tiger bus will be up soon here! Watch this space.
Thursday 6th January 2005 - Links page updated
Links page freshened up and logos added.
Thursday 9th December 2004 - Merry Christmas
Sorry for lack of news, Mark has been busy working on his bus, and Morena's 'Nail', which has had a lot of work, and is really coming together. Marks bus wasn't quite ready for Vanfest, so Mark is now planning to finish it for the Volksworld show at Sandown next year. No pictures on here till then though, so no sneak preview!!
Hope everyone has a very Happy Christmas, and a Merry new year!
Friday 6th August 2004 - Yellow Rose Page updated - strip down pic
Keith has started stripping down his bus for resto, pics on Yellow Rose page here, and colour choice looks like it will be old english white over Ruben Red!
Sunday 7th July 2004 - New buses for sale
Two new buses coming in soon, see for sale page here for details and pics.
Tuesday 22nd June 2004 - Betsy project page tidied up
Finally got round to tidying up the Betsy project page and adding some finished pics with deluxe trim all fitted, click here for project page.
Monday 21st June 2004 - New Project Page for Morena's Beast
Mark has started work on Rich Morena's bus which has a fair bit of rot and a monster engine (not the best combination :-), see here for project page - more pics to follow.
Saturday 19st June 2004 - Ten Thousand Hits exceeded !!!
Just noticed that we have had over 10,000 hits on the website now - since it was started in August 2002, so thanks to everyone who has visited the site and hope it has provided some useful information and inspiration to someone.
Friday 21st May 2004 - Tiger coming along well, and new arrival due
Tiger bus is progressing really well, but no sneak preview pics on here I'm afraid. A new project is due in the next few weeks, so Tiger will have to move aside for a while.
Friday 9th April 2004 - Tiger in rollover frame and frame for sale
Tiger bus is in rollover frame, see pics on project page here.
Friday 5th March 2004 - Tiger Progress Update
Updated pics of cargo door progress are on the prject page here.
Saturday 28th February 2004 - Betsy finished
More good progress and Betsy is pretty much finished, everything has been put back in and electrics are all working, all windows but one fixed rear are in, unfortunately windscreens both cracked (first might have been user error, 2nd was definately poor quality glass), so just need to get new windscreens and finish the new bumpers off to complete, latest pics are here.
Also, Keith has found some old pictures of the last time he restored his bus, so some of these are up on the yellow rose project page here.
Tuesday 24th February 2004 - Progress Update
Betsy is coming along well, almost finished with paint, so she should be back together very soon latest pics are here. Green Pea has been renamed Tiagra (Tiger) Bus, and some updated pictures on the prject page here showing bus in primer, with IRS done.
Friday 20th February 2004 - Betsy progress
Paint on main bus is done, cab area and cargo floor have been stonchipped and painted, underside has all been cleaned and protected, latest pics are here. Now just waiting for bumpers (delayed), and window frames (delayed at powder coaters) to finish of painting, but re-assembly can start anyway, so lights and front/rear windows hopefully going in this weekend.
Saturday 17th February 2004 - Betsy progress
Top half and roof is now painted, wheels have been blasted/powder coated and sprayed to match so really starting to come together, and colours look great. Updated pictures are here.
Saturday 14th February 2004 - Betsy progress
Slow progress on Betsy as a lot of the panels needed more work than expected, long panel rear corners, cab steps etc all needed prolonged attention. Updated pictures are here on the Betsy project page, lower paint is on, and masked off for old english white upper. Also a good shot of the repaired drivers side window frame under wet POR15 'paint'.
Sunday 1st February 2004 - Betsy progress
Started on Betsy this week, and some progress pictures are up on the Betsy project page here. Front panel is nearly there, and started on drivers side, got all the windows out and mostly stripped out, there is a nasty rust hole in the drivers side screen corner, but other than that it looks pretty good so far.
Friday 30th January 2004 - Excuses
Just a note to say sorry for lack of updates recently, hope to get back onto the website now and plan some updates on Marks bus (Green Pea) which is in primer, also started work on Betsy for a respray, and clean protect underside, so will update there as well. Also have some buses coming in from the states so will put some info on them as well. Watch this space.
Tuesday 28th October 2003 - Congratulations Mark and Heidi
Congratulations to Mark and Heidi, on the birth of their baby daughter Billie-Jo, 6lb 10oz born late tonight.
Mark with Billie-Jo
Thursday 23rd October 2003 - Update
Just added a new project page for the '61 23 window 'green pea', guestbook is looking good, its really nice to see feedback on the site!
Monday 29th September 2003 - Update
Turkis is pretty much finished, she flew through the MOT with flying colours, so now just need proof of age letter from VW Commercial in Milton Keynes, and she will be off to her new home !
Betsy needs an MOT next, but shouldn't be too much trouble, just some brake adjustment, and maybe some new shoes (women eh!).
Saturday 13th September 2003 - Progress report
Custom interior for Turkis Delight is pretty much finished, engine cover still needs tidying up and painting, then she is ready for MOT. Custom camping interior is being made up as we speak, so won't be long now.
Betsy is due an MOT this month, so need to check her over, and give her a service as well, shouldn't need much doing.
New project is Yellow Rose, which will be a joint effort with Keith (the owner) doing a lot of the work, and Mark helping out with welding, panelwork and paint, so hopefully we will have some progress pics up soon.
Friday 15th August 2003 - 5000 hits exceeded
Just a note to say the site has now passed 5000 hits, which is absolutely fantastic. A big thankyou to everyone who has visited the site, and hope you have enjoyed it, the site was setup a year ago, almost to the day, so to have received this many visitors is a a real honour, and hopefully shows the site is worthwhile. Please sign the guestbook with any comments.
Wednesday 13th August 2003 - Guestbook added
I've added a guestbook, so hope to get some polite comments and feedback from it, also updated the picture on the about me page, to one a little less shocking :-)
Thursday 7th August 2003 - Turkis delight more pics
This bus is looking great, interior trimming is mostly done, and I have added some new pictures to the Turkis Delight picture page.
Saturday 14th June 2003 - Caribbean Queen page added
We've been meaning to put up some better pages on previous projects, so first of these new look is for Caribbean Queen, which was featured in TotalVW magazine, plan is to get more and better pictures of Marks other buses, past and present, to have a series of these pages, and include more information on the work each bus needed, and lessons learned and advice for people planning their own projects. Also, we have tidied up and updated the pictures for Betsy, the 1965 13 Window deluxe 'rat look' bus.
Sunday 8th June 2003 - One down one to go
Sorry for lack of updates, been busy ! Restored bus is now sold, and new owner wants it IRS'd etc, so will be cracking on with that now. Have had lots of interest in the rat look bus, and a couple of people have seen it and seem serious, so expect that will be sold shortly, so if your interested, get in touch pronto - please no time wasters though, as I have had a lot of two word emails, which I just don't have time to reply to, but serious enquiries will get a good response.
Tuesday 27th May 2003 - Two 15 Window buses for sale
Please see updates on the for sale page, I have two 15 Window buses for sale, a 1963 fully restored and in beautiful paint, and a 1962 solid rat look bus.
Saturday 24th May 2003 - Sorry for website problems
It seems there have been some problems with the website recently, due to the ISP hosting it (Totalise/Brightview) who had gone into administration, but seem to have now sorted out these problems, and the site seems to be back up and running OK, hopefully this will now be OK again.
Wednesday 23rd April 2003
There will be two more buses leaving the states in the next couple of months a 13 window deluxe project,needing a fair bit, body wise its pretty good, needs some glass and some mechanical stuff. Howvere its pretty rust free, will probably be sold as a project. Also another 15 window (I do have a fetish for these rare babies) this is complete in primer and running, again can be restored fully or purchased as a project. I will try to keep the site updated and include good detailed pics of ongoing work and work done, as when I was restoring buses found decent detailed pics hard to find, as most of U are aware on Uk buses the bits U need to how they should look, have generally returned back to mother nature. So hopefully it may help some people out.
Wednesday 23rd April 2003
Sorry for the recent lack of updates to the site, as you can see I've been busy. First of the two 15 Window Deluxes is coming together very nicely, see the forsale and gallery pages for info. In the pipeline is the other 15 Window, which needs a full resto, but is a good solid Californian shell to start on. Also, I want to finish of my 23 Window for the summer.
Tuesday 25th February 2003 - working on two 15 window buses
Been busy, but need to keep the website up to date, I have two 15 window buses, US imports currently working on, one is blasted back to bare metal, currently tidying up, and will get some pictures in 2 pack primer up soon, other is pretty straight already, and will be restored to a high standard as to factory specs with no mods. More details soon.
Tuesday 5th November 2002 - grey kombi sold
Had a lot of interest in the grey bus, so thanks to everyone who enquired, and for the good feedback I had from people both on the quality of the bus (several people said it was the best they had seen, and had been looking for some time), and the honest description and good pictures on the website. The bus is now sold, and buyer has asked for it to be repainted, so I'll be doing that over the next couple of weeks. I have one or two 15 window buses waiting at the docks to be shipped over from the US though, so will get some pics up of them as soon as I can.
Thursday 31st October 2002 - grey kombi bodywork completed
Loads of work done on the grey Kombi, new pictures taken of the details, and put up on the for sale pages, just sorting out electrics and then need to get it through MOT which should be no problems.
Tuesday 8th October 2002 - grey kombi coming on nicely
Work on the grey Kombi is going well, new sills and floor sections are welded in and looking fantastic, needs a lick of paint and the underside is all done. Next job on the list is to fit the 1500 single port engine I have ready for this bus.
Monday 7th October 2002 - James picked up the 1965 Deluxe saga
James came over to collect his bus today, he fitted the door locks (matched to the key by Justin at Custom & Commercial), and was ready to go. She started on the button, and he drove off smiling like an idiot. Then I get a call about 20 minutes later saying he's broken down, so I head out to where he is with visions of all sorts of breakdown problems and discover he has just run out of petrol, and run the battery flat trying to start it ! Some petrol and a jump start, and he was back up and running so I followed him home to check all was OK, and had a giggle about the whole thing !
11th September 2002 - 1964 Kombi arrives
The 1964 grey Kombi finally arrived after shipping delays, and looks great, paint is good, and there is a bit of rust on the sill, but nothing that would trouble an MOT, I would like to replace the rusty sections of sill and floor though, just to do the rest of the bus justice, as it is otherwise really solid, so hope to get onto this over the next few weeks.
Wednesday 21st August 2002 - buses arriving
Two buses I am importing from California should be arriving in Felixestowe tonight (1961 23 Window Samba, and 1965 13 window Deluxe), so can't wait to see them early next week.
Wednesday 21st August 2002 - page started
Webpage started.