6. Two months in, two new repairs (new panel and marker lights).

 It has been two months tomorrow since I bought Lorca, and around 6 weeks since she was delivered. It feels like so much longer. Some great progress has been made (not all of it documented here yet, as those jobs are waiting on something else to be completed before they can be.) This period can be characterised by all the unexciting work that has to be done before the fun things like putting in shiny floorboards or a ceiling can happen.

Today has been much anticipated, and I was excited that all 3 things that were holding up these repairs all arrived this morning. So let's look at what needs to be done.

1. Replace the front left wheel arch panel.

This was before I had a sliding door window (and a 2 metre tear in my roof!)

The previous owner reported a truck had backed into this panel, and he tried to bang it out again with no success.

So I was delighted to find this in the mail today:

Before taking it out and getting it dirty, I had to remove the dented panel. This was like a very infuriating jigsaw puzzle, as the method for mounting the panel was convoluted and involved removing other things to get at the thing that needed unbolting. But I got there.

I took this opportunity to check everything that was previously under the panel to ensure nothing was missing and no repairs needed.

I have no idea what to do with this.

Once the replacement panel was unwrapped I was dismayed to see it was the wrong colour. This is how they always come when they're brand new, with a black primer coating only, and no colour or clear coat. This is one of those things you learn as you go along, although with some research it could have been avoided by buying a used panel in good condition (and cheaper too). So another job presents itself- at some point I'm going to have to paint and clear coat this panel. I decided I would do all of that with it mounted, so...

...mounted! I will post an update in this post when the paint goes on.

On to repair numéro deux- Marker lights replacement.

This is a bit less major, but still important. The marker lights along the side trims were missing bulbs, bulb holders, and the trim was missing trim clips. The previous owner had been driving without them, and had obviously taken the missing parts out (probably to put in their other van) without replacing them.

The marker light bulb holders plugs into a socket that looks like this:

I tried and tried to find bulb holders that would plug into these, with zero success. Eventually I found some cheap replacements that included 2 bulbs, 2 holders, and 2 marker light enclosures for around $25. 

So I bought those, and they arrived today. I needed 4 replacements in total. They didn't fit the socket (I guessed they wouldn't), so...

I snipped the sockets off. The wires had a greasy insulating coating under the plastic insulation. This was really hard to solder to within the tight confines of the replacement bulb holder, so I twisted on some clean extension wires, soldered them, and added heat shrink to insulate them.

This meant the bare wire ends were easier to work with, as they accepted solder more easily. I flattened the pins on the bulb holder against the bottom of the socket, to act as a spring to hold the wires in, and slid the wires between them and the plastic of the socket... 

...then soldered them solid.

A quick test later, and they were added to their enclosures.

The trim that the marker lights sit inside have little white clips in them that hold them to the metal panels. Whenever the trim is removed these clips (especially older ones) just break.

But today was an excellent day for mail, and some spares turned up ready to install this morning. The trim panels were all pushed back into place.

Let there be light!

Kinda crazy how many things were needed to replace some light bulbs!

So while the big sexy changes still have to wait until all of these preliminary jobs get done, it's so satisfying to cross these repairs off the list. Unfortunately the previous owner didn't look after Lorca well, so there is so much damage and neglect that need to be addressed before the proper build can commence. It's felt like a very long 6 weeks, and I'm sure the next 6 will also. I have definitely been developing a lot more patience through this process, and money is always a factor too. Luckily the window where everything needs to be completed remains open, so there is time to pay the necessary attention to everything one step at a time.

See you next time!