Absinths XX7 Sandman

[78 sin bin]

They seem to find us and we re home them lol like RSPCA for sandmans

I'm very jealous jennie! especially with your last find!

[Spooky86]

Looking forward to seeing this builds progression

[Absinth]

Well I finally got some time to start work on the van rather than just collecting bits for it.... figured I'd attack the left guard as it seemed the worst repair... I wasn't wrong, almost 10mm of bog and more to grind out...

guard.JPG

Typical 70's and 80's panelshop work, bash it out to close enough and fill with bog.
guard1.JPG

Nothing like bogging up the join between nosecone and guard.
guard2.JPG


Had a big dent in the door
door.JPG

A love tap in the right place and it pretty much popped out. Once I remove the paint I'll tidy the rest up.
door1.JPG

[Absinth]

The lower steering column cover was missing and a while ago I picked up a nos one so decided to paint it and fit it.

It appears the column pot and cover are painted in situ before being installed in the vehicle.
steer.JPG

Paint overspray on column and wiring harness.
steer1.JPG

Nos lower cover
steer2.JPG

Pot, cover and indicator arm repainted in original Tan.
steer3.JPG

Cover was easy to install, pot is a bit of a pain to get the ignition switch back in and working correctly.
steer4.JPG

[Vombil]

yeah my WB is missing the lower shroud... and it's column auto. it will be staying the way it is


looks like a pretty honest van!

[Absinth]

Also cleaned up my early HQ rocker covers. Right side one had a huge dent at the rear so I spent 1/2hr knocking it out.
Still a bit more massaging to do but it looks way better now. These suckers are quite rare so worth repairing.

hqrcover.JPG

[wbute]

Looking good Absinth. Nice to see your getting some time to work on it!

[Absinth]

Yeah, the older I get the harder working on it is so I better get stuck in before I get any older... all I can say is thank god for the beer fridge cause it's thirsty work rubbing back paint..

shed1.JPG

[Robbo]

Good work Absinth, it's alway's a hard task undoing all the second rate work that was done by second rate panel beater's back in the day.

[Absinth]

Spent today grinding out all the bog down my left rear quarter, cannot for the life of me see why they needed so much filler...

A couple of weird rust holes to repair
leftqtr.JPG

that's a lot of bog
leftqtr1.JPG

panel is not that bad
leftqtr2.JPG


My lower tailgate is badly rusted on the inside bottom.... so I thought I would have a closer look at the tailgate off my old HX Sandman.

I was surprised to find very little rust in the front panel
tgate.JPG

Holy crap, there is a ton of bog, spray putty and high fill undercoat over the entire tailgate.
No wonder it seemed heavier than the others.
tgate1.JPG

bugger all rust in the rear panel also. Took me hours to remove all the paint, bog and putty though.
tgate2.JPG

Also took all the paint off the damaged drivers door in preparation for the repair when my stud welder arrives next week.
Only took five minutes to do the door as it was original paint... black etch primer, red oxide primer, Persian sand topcoat.
door4.JPG
Notice my Nos sill panels on the ground, bought them for the HX, looks like I may not need them now.