Mk1 VW LT 35 Tipper Truck 'Lucky Lloyd'

[glenanderson]

Jul 1, 2023 23:11:26 GMT jjeffries said:

I think the blokes in Wolfsburg will want it for their factory collection.

John

They can’t have it, because they didn’t build it in their factory; Dan did in his tent. 

I don’t disagree that it should be somewhere it can be admired, but the credit needs to go where it’s due, not to the people that could have saved so much work by the simple addition of some rust proofing on the production line. 

😀👍

[grizz]

Nothing to add, once again, except admiration.

Well done Dan.

[thomfr]

Great job! Respect!
Btw, I do not know in old LT times but at least for 20 years now the transporter and LT's are built in Hannover (D) and Poznan (PL) not in Wolfsburg.
Thom

[commycouper]

So.....I've just had a busy few weeks and have gotten up to all sorts of stuff....18th birthday parties ( sadly....not my own ), local steam rally's, modifying a 1986 Ford Orion front bumper for a friend.... basically, cutting up and grafting an R.S Turbo lower spoiler on to a standard bumper.....long story! But.....most importantly...for me anyway, is that my incredibly boring daily drive in the shape of a Vauxhall Meriva B 1.4 turbo, is now all back up running again. In fact....it's now running incredibly well. Just goes to show how bad it was. Plus.....to top off the happy vibe.....it only went straight through the MOT this morning!!
So, this evening, I've decided to purchase a pack of Guinness by way of celebration. I won't drink all though......it turns out I'm allergic to the water they put in to the stuff!!


Anyway....back to the truck. The last update saw the lower half of the cab painted. I was trying to get as much paint done as possible at this point as it was heading towards late Autumn early Winter fast. It's just another problem you come up against when you are working under a tent.....you have to work with the weather. I soon realized that time had beaten me and conditions really weren't ideal for painting. But, on one sunny Saturday in late October, I decided to chance it and top coat the roof. The results were mixed if I'm honest.....not the best effort I've made if truth be told. But.....the results were good enough for a truck roof. The paint didn't 'flow out' as it had done on the rear of the cab.....it just kind of sat there looking orange peely in some areas and dry in others. But most importantly....I got a good four coats on...and no runs. So this meant a cut and polish would sort out any problems. Plus, lets not forget that there's a billboard going back on the roof.....so that'll cover a lot of the unsightlys.


Anyway.....here's how it went....

I used epoxy first off, then did any filler work... of which there was a small amount to do on the passenger side and the upper rear cab.
It was then on with some high build primer and apply seam sealer to the gutter seams. 

All of this was done roughly a month before applying the top coat to ensure that the filler and high build had fully cured.....









































.....and then on with the top coat. Like I said, not my finest hour.....but it's certainly a result I can work with....





















It was around this time that I spotted an LT35 tipper truck identical to Lloyd being broken for parts on the Faceache Market Place.....and it was literally just up the road. So I contacted the seller and gave him a list of all that I needed form his truck.

Which was:

Washer bottle,
Front mud flaps,
Drivers door,
Gear stick gaiter ( very hard to find, and he told me this one was in great condition.)
The rubber seal that goes around the engine cover.
The rubber donut thingy that sits between the viscous fan and the radiator,
All of the glass,
....and a few clips and other bits and bobs.

Now...this was on the Tuesday, but I couldn't get there until the Friday. we agreed a price and he told me he would hold everything I wanted till Friday afternoon. Well.....I got there Friday morning, and the sod had sold half of what I wanted to some one else!! Bits like the gear lever gaiter, the glass and the rubber thingy between the fan and the radiator. I wasn't happy....and he could tell! He then told me that the gear lever gaiter was in a terrible state....forgetting that he told told me it was in fantastic condition three days earlier.....and even sent photos to prove it. Then, just to deliver another kick to the balls, he told me that the drivers side door now wasn't for sale, as he wanted to keep it for his LT40. What I wanted to do, was tell him to stick the rest of it where the sun don't shine.....but I need them, so a changed tac-tic. I searched for compensation in the form of rear leaf springs.....I got them for a steel....so I walked away less angry in the end.

Now.......who else has gone to raid a vehicle for parts only to find that the vehicle you are removing the parts from is so much better than the vehicle you started with!! Well....that's exactly what happened here.
The cab floors were solid, the roof was solid, the rear of the cab was solid, the outriggers were solid and the chassis was.....less rusty shall we say. Although, like a little school boy, I couldn't resist poking my finger in somewhere......so I poked it into one of the factory holes in the chassis, to which I could feel rust.....this made me feel a lot better! 

Anyway.....here's some pictures I took that day......










































If I'm honest, I was gutted about how good this truck was compared to how mine originally was. It was in great shape.....and it was being scraped!
Still.....it is what it is.....you can't turn the clock back.

These are the leaf springs I bagged.......














Then of course, I couldn't resist taking them apart once they were home......






....right, that's all for now folks. more soon.

Dan.

[75swb]

Some good bits is better than none, but still a ball ache

[commycouper]

Jul 22, 2023 22:04:29 GMT 75swb said:

Some good bits is better than none, but still a ball ache

Very true.....
One thing I was gutted about was that the doner truck had a really good condition ally tipper bed on it. He wanted £500 for the bed, frame work, tipper ram and the pump. But, without my truck, I had no way of collecting it and nowhere to store it once it was back at mine. So regrettably, I had to pass on it.

[jmsheahan]

Echoing everyone else, absolutely fantastic work! I've been working my way through this thread and have finally caught up.

I'd love to get my van to this level, but I'm somewhat lacking your skills, haha. That Dinitrol 447 looks great - you mentioned it's rubberised - does it dry fairly hard still?

[commycouper]

Jul 25, 2023 10:32:57 GMT jmsheahan said:

Echoing everyone else, absolutely fantastic work! I've been working my way through this thread and have finally caught up.

I'd love to get my van to this level, but I'm somewhat lacking your skills, haha. That Dinitrol 447 looks great - you mentioned it's rubberised - does it dry fairly hard still?

Thankyou, and thanks for taking the time to read through it all 👍🏻.



I started following and reading the updates on your van when you first started the thread. I’m not just saying this….but it’s probably one the smartest T25s I’ve seen. The colour and style are exactly how I would want it to look like should I ever own one. Basically, I’ve fallen behind with so many threads here on Retro Rides that I’ve probably got a whole day’s worth of catching up to do 😁. That said, I started to catch up with your thread last night. Wow…..you’re doing mighty fine job of it. I can speak from experience on how boring life gets when endlessly cleaning, de-rusting and treating the underside of a vehicle. But, as I’m sure you know, the peace of mind you get from doing so makes it all worth it.

Many moons ago, when I worked in a BMW and Porsche approved body shop, we used a stone chip made by Wurth. It was brilliant stuff. It too was rubberised and once it was on…..it was on! But as with anything that was any good, it doesn’t seem to be available anymore. So…. I’ve tried a few different stone chip coatings, and I’ve found the Dinitrol 447 is the closest the Wurth product. It dries fairly hard, but you can still poke your fingernail into it and it has a ‘bounce’ to it rather than a hard resistance. You can topcoat straight over it without having to key it first if you topcoat within 24hrs……or it might be 48hrs??......I can’t remember off the top of head. Obviously, there are other products out there…..but the Dinitrol is my preferred choice.

Dan.

[jmsheahan]

Thanks Dan, really appreciate that!

Think I may have to grab a can to try. Keep the updates coming!

[johnthesparky]

I don’t get the modern way people sell stuff, there seems to be no trust or respect anymore

Well done on the progress though

[sparkyfrance]

Voici une annonce intéressante que je viens de trouver sur Leboncoin : www.leboncoin.fr/equipement_auto/2383376195.htm

[sparkyfrance]

Sorry, should have explained, was looking to buy an lt tipper found your thread
Then found gear gator

[commycouper]

Right.....it's been a while, so I thought I'd do a quick update.

The front bumper needed to be positioned correctly as the bumper being fitted is not the original bumper. The original was a blooming great ugly thing that had to to go. This was one of the things I mentioned right at the beginning of this thread.....there was even pictures of the work I did to the new bumper way before the horrors that lay ahead!

First step....position it...










Now......the big bumper that was originally on it was attached by spacers welded to the main bumper bar that lies under the plastic bumper. I cut theses off a long time ago. In the picture above, you can see the mounting hole to which a large flat head bolt secures the bumper to the bumper bar. Things, under that hole, there's noting there.....so I had to come up with something.....which I did...but yes, you've guessed it....not single a photo to show how I achieved it 😖😖
Anyway.....I did however, get pictures of the front mounting points fabrication. In the next pictures, you'll see that the holes are there....but there's no thread in them....

So....open up the hole just enough to to hammer a nut in there......






Then weld it in.....both sides.....






....and flush it back both sides......






...all done. All that's missing at this point is the large flat head bolts that hold it on. More on those later.

That's all for now, more soon.

Dan

[grizz]

Good to catch up here.

As always.

Progress.

[commycouper]

Right....it's been a while! I'd better pull my finger out and do an update I suppose.

Now.....many years ago when the Mk1 LT was in production, there was a front bumper and spoiler combo available for them. These things are apparently hens teeth to find. Here's an example of what I'm on about that I swiped off the net....








I'm not really a fan of it though, as the bumper sticks out quite a bit. But, I want something like it to grace the front of Lloyd.....I think??
I thought about it for ages, Then one day, I went rogue and searched around in the garage to find an item I had 'in stock' that I thought would do the trick. This was almost exactly the same time as I took this picture, of which I posted in an update a while back.....







The item I had in mind, was this rare Mk1 Scirocco Storm front spoiler.....









It was just sat there doing nothing. Now, the LT is considerably wider that a MK1 Scirocco. So to even know if it was going to look right I would have to cut it up and basically destroy it. In for penny in for a pound....

First, I removed the upright strip across the top....





Then cut it in half.....






But before I cut it in half, I took a copy/mould of the centre of the spoiler so that I could make a piece to fill the gap. unfortunately, I have no pictures of this process.
But once it was done, I crudely joined it all together....and this was the result....










I thought it looked alright, and that was how I left it until it came to the body work prep. if I was going to continue with it, then I would have to do it now because once the truck was painted, it would be too late.
so I decided to to proceed with my plan. Which was to make a buck or model to which I will eventually make a mould from and then produce a fresh one off spoiler.

So....out with the brown tape and cover anywhere that was going to get covered in resin. Then it was just a case of making cutting bits off and add bits in. It didn't matter what those bits were....just as long as they did the job.











Then on with carbon fibre to strengthen it all up......





...and some fiberglass





In with the filler......loads of filler!....and carve some shapes into it....





repeat the process on the other side....








After all that, it was time to remove it from the truck and carefully place it over a wooden 'thing' that I had made earlier.....






















Then fill the voids up with foam......












Remove excess foam and on with more filler to straighten up a few wonky areas....












Then a few coats of hi-build primer ready for flatting out etc...














There's still a bit of refining I'd like to do to it, but that's basically how I've left it for now as I needed to get on with the paint prep. This something I can return to at a later date.

That's all for now folks!

Thanks for looking in...Dan.

[teaboy]

Nice.

So, is Lloyd now an LT35 Storm?

[commycouper]

Sept 30, 2023 20:21:35 GMT teaboy said:

Nice.

So, is Lloyd now an LT35 Storm?

YES !..... what a great idea! I reckon there's enough space on the rear tail bar for a full title badge:

MK1 Volkswagen LT35 2.4 Turbo Diesel Storm....Tipper Edition ........ I like it !

[Norman]

Hi Dan, Is there no end to your talents? Great job, will look factory by the time you are finished or are you finished? Keep at it, this will be great when it's done. All the best, Norman

[austinpowers]

Oct 1, 2023 8:27:29 GMT commycouper said:

Sept 30, 2023 20:21:35 GMT teaboy said:

Nice.

So, is Lloyd now an LT35 Storm?

YES !..... what a great idea! I reckon there's enough space on the rear tail bar for a full title badge:

MK1 Volkswagen LT35 2.4 Turbo Diesel Storm....Tipper Edition ........ I like it !

Well it’s white and black, so it could be a Storm Trooper.

[commycouper]

Oct 1, 2023 16:08:39 GMT austinpowers said:

Oct 1, 2023 8:27:29 GMT commycouper said:

YES !..... what a great idea! I reckon there's enough space on the rear tail bar for a full title badge:

MK1 Volkswagen LT35 2.4 Turbo Diesel Storm....Tipper Edition ........ I like it !

Well it’s white and black, so it could be a Storm Trooper.

Mmmm......that would mean entering the ' dark side' of life mate. I'm not sure I can do that? It would mean I'd have to dress fashionable and listen to pop music on radio one. I'd rather paint the truck gold and get it to drive like it's walking with a toffee stuck up it's rear and call it CP30 LT35 😆😆