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  #1  
Old 17th January 2014, 23:56
bingo66 bingo66 is offline  
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1947 Flxible Clipper restoration

As well as putting some images of my restoration project on here, I have a Flickr account for those who might be interested in seeing a few more pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9513755...7635089781485/

The bus is a 1947 Flxible Clipper and was due to be crushed the week I found it on a local classified ads site called Tin can tourist. The Clipper had sat in 29Palms, a small town in the high desert hills of California for over 30 years.

It was converted to a motorhome probably 40 years ago but due to the fact that none of the appliances appear to have been used (they still had the plastic packaging on them) the bus is more likely to have stood for the same amount of time.

As of today, the bus is running perfectly and every part of the brakes, engine, suspension, fuel system, wiring etc. has either been rebuilt or replaced. The bodywork has been sandblasted back to bare metal (inside and out) and primed, ready for a full respray.

The interior is being completely stripped and rebuilt. When completed, the Clipper will be a 4 berth RV with LPG and 12v house battery set up as well as 240v mains hook up.

By that time I'll be bankrupt, homeless and divorced

I've also got a video of the bus with it's bodywork stripped and the engine running properly for the first time. As you can see, there was almost no rust on this old girl at all (thanks to it being stood in nearly 0% humidity for so long).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtS0-NwWwS4

Last edited by bingo66; 17th January 2014 at 23:58.
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  #2  
Old 18th January 2014, 00:06
bingo66 bingo66 is offline  
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Originally Posted by bingo66 View Post
As well as putting some images of my restoration project on here, I have a Flickr account for those who might be interested in seeing a few more pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9513755...7635089781485/

The bus is a 1947 Flxible Clipper and was due to be crushed the week I found it on a local classified ads site called Tin can tourist. The Clipper had sat in 29Palms, a small town in the high desert hills of California for over 30 years.

It was converted to a motorhome probably 40 years ago but due to the fact that none of the appliances appear to have been used (they still had the plastic packaging on them) the bus is more likely to have stood for the same amount of time.

As of today, the bus is running perfectly and every part of the brakes, engine, suspension, fuel system, wiring etc. has either been rebuilt or replaced. The bodywork has been sandblasted back to bare metal (inside and out) and primed, ready for a full respray.

The interior is being completely stripped and rebuilt. When completed, the Clipper will be a 4 berth RV with LPG and 12v house battery set up as well as 240v mains hook up.

By that time I'll be bankrupt, homeless and divorced

I've also got a video of the bus with it's bodywork stripped and the engine running properly for the first time. As you can see, there was almost no rust on this old girl at all (thanks to it being stood in nearly 0% humidity for so long).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtS0-NwWwS4
Just realised that this post might be in the wrong part of the forum. If someone can let me know how to get it moved (if it needs to) I'll be very grateful.
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  #3  
Old 18th January 2014, 00:10
Andy Andy is offline  
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No problem, now moved.
cheers,
Andy
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  #4  
Old 18th January 2014, 00:16
bingo66 bingo66 is offline  
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Cheers Andy
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  #5  
Old 18th January 2014, 06:57
G-CPTN G-CPTN is offline  
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What engine?
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  #6  
Old 18th January 2014, 08:27
bingo66 bingo66 is offline  
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What engine?
It's a Detroit Diesel 6V-53 Series. Not the original though. These Flxibles originally had V8 petrol engines but almost all were converted to diesel in the late '50's, early '60's.
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  #7  
Old 18th January 2014, 09:03
G-CPTN G-CPTN is offline  
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It's a Detroit Diesel 6V-53 Series. Not the original though. These Flxibles originally had V8 petrol engines but almost all were converted to diesel in the late '50's, early '60's.
DD 6V-53 would be appropriate considering GM's association with Flxible, though I wonder if the original was a Buick straight eight?.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flxible...General_Motors
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Old 18th January 2014, 10:27
bingo66 bingo66 is offline  
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Originally Posted by G-CPTN View Post
DD 6V-53 would be appropriate considering GM's association with Flxible, though I wonder if the original was a Buick straight eight?.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flxible...General_Motors
I meant straight eight, sorry.
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  #9  
Old 22nd January 2014, 02:43
Digger Digger is offline  
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Where is the bus located now?
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  #10  
Old 22nd January 2014, 02:46
coastie coastie is offline  
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I believe she's still Staeside at the refurbishers, not sure.
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