TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:00 pm

Now the fun part. Turned out to be much more work cleaning up the og metal and doing so without bending any of it while removing all those spot welds on the front clip. I have figured out how to do this job in three pieces so it should look like it did originally when done. The only exception will be a couiple of welds on the underside but even those will be mostly hid by the splashpan.

Also had to cut out the pasenger side windshield frame on the bottom side as it was bent/rusted out.

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:05 pm

Trimmed up the donor dash and fitted it. Decided to use a deluxe dash clip on this. I want a clock and a cigarette lighter in it.

Sandblasted the afterward but have no pics of that yet.

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:13 pm

The drivers side floor needed replacing. Metwiz provided a nice fitting piece!!!!!

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:16 pm

Well, so much for a quick scuff and paint! lol.

Tim, just keep reminding yourself that YOU own the bus, and it doesn't own you...and you'll do just fine ;)

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:18 pm

Hell this thing keeps me out of the bars thats for sure. lol

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:20 pm

Welded in the replacement window frame. Took me close to three hours to clean this up off of a donor clip without bending it.

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:24 pm

The lower valance was trickier to install than I had anticipated. The whole front clip need to be aligned off of it so it had to be perfect and the truck had been hit which bent the lower portion of the A pillar inward on the passenger side. Took a lot of trial fitting and measuring to figure out where it was bent. Was only off by 1/8" but that prevented it from going back into place. After that was tweeked things went smoother. The frame on the passenger side was also bent so I left a portion of it attatched to the front valance trimmed it, and welded in a support brace that will be hidden by the splashpan.

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:28 pm

My kids have been a world of help on this project helping me hold items while welding, sanding parts etc. My hope is they learn this stuff can be done even if not done perfect and done by anyone. I'm no bodyman and am just winging it. The pics and other threads and most of all parts found on this site have been invaluable to me to get this done to this point!

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:40 pm

Great job tim and family.

Looks great!!

Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:59 pm

vwfreak62 wrote: Great job tim and family.

Looks great!!

Thanks, and thanks again for the drivers side rear clip.

Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:53 pm

HOly crap!@!!!

It's amazing how much Bondo people will use to cover rust and imperfections. Your work is amazing and I hope you continue to share your progress!!!

Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:56 am

Man, I have to say that your project has been really inspiring, as my crew cab is in just as bad a shape. I really appreciate all the detailed pics of all the steps along the way. I know that when I start digging in to mine, I'll check this for reference...
Thanks!
:)

Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:36 pm

Went to do a dry run on installing the dash and nose skin and the dash would not go in without removing the heater/defrost tube lower section. Removed it and found it was rusted solid and the spring was rusted in two so I wont be installing it and found a donor to sandblast in my stash.

Clamped the dash to the winshield frame and lined it up.

Still need to remove a bit of the old welds on either side to get it to fit perfect. Also need to remove some of the primer to weld.

This is going to line up and look nice! Will be extremely hard to spot once its finished.(hopefully) The pic below is before clamping and welding. Will line up better once that is done.

Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:49 pm

Tim its looking good. The original pics didnt look like it was gonna need all that work but man you sure got busy with it. Keep it up.

Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:56 pm

I love trucks. you are doing a awsome job man.

Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:32 pm

Skim wrote: Tim its looking good. The original pics didnt look like it was gonna need all that work but man you sure got busy with it. Keep it up.

Lots of bondo hid a multitude of sins.

Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:39 pm

Lookin good Tim! Gunna run safaris??

Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:41 pm

boxonwheel wrote: Lookin good Tim! Gunna run safaris??

Have a set of Izzys up front and a rear wolfgang for it. Need to repair the rear window frame first though as the lower portion is swiss cheese.

Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:04 am

mustard_madman wrote: HOly crap!@!!!

It's amazing how much Bondo people will use to cover rust and imperfections. Your work is amazing and I hope you continue to share your progress!!!

The funny thing is it takes about the same amount of time to replace the metal correctly as it does to screw on junk sheet metal , form it to shape, cover with a ton of mud and then shape it.

Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:53 pm

Its looking very good Tim.