New Toy: 1972 Mercedes 0 309 Omnibus

[rbgerrish]

I cleaned most of the interior of the pop-top camper today. It's in good shape, the canvas is good and without tears. I'm really excited to get it set on top of the bus, but it'll be a while. Here are some pics:

Thanks!

 

[rbgerrish]

Nice articulation!

 

[rbgerrish]

Took the Bus to the DMV via Trailer recently and got Plates and a Title!

Just have to fix the clutch (leaking slave) and it'll be good to 'shake down.' Too bad it's so flippin' cold outside. Gotta free up the shop (FJ40 getting a new engine) so I can work on it inside. I measured, and with the VW pop-up top on top of the bus I'll have 5" of space between it and the 10' door!

 

[mhiscox]

Sure is a nice piece of work you're doing. It'll be great to see the bus finished off.

And, FWIW, it's great to have Mog talents like you and Hakan stopping by here. Make yourselves at home.

 

[rbgerrish]

Thanks Mike!

A little update. It's been raining a ton, but I have a title, plates, registration and insurance for it now, and I've pulled the clutch slave cylinder and will be rebuilding it shortly.

The cylinder wall is smooth, so I think a new seal and some cleaning might bring it back to life...

Once the clutch is fixed, we can start shake-down driving it!

 

[Mark Harley]

Check with some sign companies for the interior Plastic for the walls.
Johnson plastics is a large supplier with lots of sheet goods.
Cool project, I will be watching.

 

[rbgerrish]

Ok, I rebuilt the Slave clutch cylinder with OEM mercedes parts, and re-installed it. The clutch now functions fairly well, although I think some bleeding/adjustment wouldn't hurt. I can at least get in to all the gears! I drove it around the block a few times, and I'm going to add some oil smoke-stop treatment to it tomorrow. (It still smokes a lot under acceleration.)

I've primed the rear bumper and will be installing it soon, as I need tail lights to legally drive it. I"m excited to try to make it to work in it! I also need to replace the rear diff oil and tranny fluid.

 

[rbgerrish]

I finished mounting the drivers seat today, and reinstalled the rear bumper after priming and painting it. The turn signals have stopped working, so I need to troubleshoot those. Once I check the diff fluid and tranny fluid, it'll be good to go!

 

[rbgerrish]

We've also started a new website dedicated to the Mercedes Buses and Vans:

www.mb309.com

Feel free to check it out! We'll be adding more content soon. We have lots of material to scan. If you'd like to submit pictures of your MB let me know!

 

[HINO SG]

great page! looking forward to future developments.

 

[rbgerrish]

Thanks!

So I finished mounting the new seat. I found a good one from a Ford Ecoline van at U-pull-it for $30, and I built a hinged base out of some steel I had around. It's really comfortable, and even slides backwards OR forwards!

I also painted the bumper and mounted the lights. Unfortunately the lights no longer work for some reason. Time to troubleshoot.

I've ripped a bit more of the interior floor out too...

 

[rbgerrish]

I got the tail lights + brake lights working, but the turn signals still dont function. I also put my old Unimog 404 Radio Truck desk in it, and it fits nicely. It also is spending some time in my newly cleaned out shop, out of the rain! This is the first time it's been inside a building in about 10 years! It just fits! #occupyshop!

I'll be doing body work to it in February in the shop, and finishing up the new floor and walls. I also changed the Rear diff oil and tranny fluid. It takes ATF in the 4 speed manual gearbox, which I though was weird.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on this cool project. (And good work getting it out of the rain just as we hit the string of "100% chance of precipitation" days.)

 

[rbgerrish]

Thanks Mike, unfortunately I have a project to build in the shop, so it has to go back out in the rain! It'll be sheltered again once my project is done though.

I got the insurance cards printed out today, so I might even drive it to work soon!

 

[rbgerrish]

I drove the bus to work today for the first time! It ran fine, and the smoking has gone way down, especially once it warms up. This makes me very happy. No freeway yet, I want to check a few things before any high-speed action.