San Diego 1963 Double Cab "Gustav"

[Lee Hedges]

VIN verification & registration is also on the list. But I think I'm in pretty good shape. I need to stamp the numbers into the blank plate & rivet it into the rear engine compartment. Then dirty it up to look old/original. Then I discovered that CalAuto (representative of DMV) has a mobile VIN verification process where they'll come to the truck, inspect it, and issue the registration docs. I'm hoping they'll be able to register the old CA commercial license plates as well.

Fingers crossed it'll all go smoothly. CalAuto is much easier to deal with than some DMV workers. The M-Code plate matches the title, which should make it easy as well.

[cru62]

I thought you also had an issue with the stamped VIN @ the battery?

And while it is good news that the private verifiers are more intelligent than the run-of-the-mill DMV clock watcher, the bad news is that they are smarter. The ones up here in my area do not put up with any shenanigans. A buddy of mine needed a verification for a car (non-VW) that he was building. The guy came out the first time and told him to call him back when it had upholstered seats and a speedometer in it and left. It was done and when he came out the 2nd time everything was cool. But, really, the car had no engine and the body was just a shell so what difference do seats and a speedo make .
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"My biggest worry is that when I die, my wife will sell all my parts for what I told her I paid for them"-Jon

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Lee Hedges]

Sunday (after the Chargers beat the Raiders) I stripped the rear bumper to bare metal and primed it with etching primer. No major rust, no major dents, just a nicely used bumper.

After researching a suitable Krylon spray paint color to Silver-White, everyone recommended Dover White. But WalMart didn;t have it in-stock and neither did the Sherwin-Williams store. So I ordered 12 cans for four bumpers, rims, front emblems, etc and the guy at Sherwin-Williams said it'd be ready in a week.

[srfndoc]

I just recently bought some Krylon Dover White from Walmart as well. I had to have them call a few stores to see who had it in stock as it's hit or miss.
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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[rastaguam]

Coming along nicely Lee!! A Charger fan and a DC owner! Same here!
Best game of the year, against the Raiders!!! 5-1 Baby!!! Here's my DC

[Lee Hedges]

Another Friday ... so more paint stripping today. Got all of the cab section (except the center of the roof) stripped & primed today. Painted the windshield frame section, right side, and some of the left side (until I ran out of L345 Light Gray spray paint). Looking good so far, nice clean metal underneath the nasty exterior when it arrived.

[Lee Hedges]

My kids gave me an original but well-used front emblem for the truck for my birthday this weekend. It had been painted several times and had some dents but was complete & functional. I stripped the paint off, applied primer, and painted it Krylon Dover White (a close match to L82 Silver-White). The truck definitely looks better with the badge installed!

[Lee Hedges]

I've always installed seat belts into my vintage VWs, so this Double Cab was always planned to have a full set. I'd ordered a set of the nice black-buckle stock lap belts from Wolfsburg West for $21 each and they're just perfect. After reading the threads about seat belts, I knew I didn't have the tools (welding plates) so I opted to install the front seat belts into the same places as VW did for the later-model years. 1964 seems to be the first year for seat belt mounting holes and since my truck is an October 1962 production, it had none. And since it was a Missouri farm truck, the previous owners never installed any seat belts.

I removed the two front seats and took a good look at where the seat belts might go in the easiest & have the strength to hold a body into the seat. I decided to drill a hole in the center seat stand, inbetween the two seats. I mounted both seat belts into this one hole and braced it with the large metal washers included with the seat belt set.

For the outer edges, I looked underneath the front wheel well and saw a flat area that would be great for the large washer installation. I drilled holes for the outer seat belt anchors. Then I installed the seats and climbed in each to test the seat belts. Even for a big guy, they both fit fine. Nice thing is the inner seat belt straps store nicely inbetween the seats next to the heater control knob.

The whole job took about an hour and it turned out clean & beautiful. Just researched and learned that my Oct62 did not have the gray rubber seat stand mats (introduced at chassis #1 045 237), too bad because I really like the finished look of them. Adding them won't be tough with the seat belts, as they are in easily-accessible areas.

[Lee Hedges]

I wanted to put the front lights back on for a more complete look while I continue working on stripping the paint off the rear of the truck. So I bought headlight seals from WW and 6V Halogen sealed-beam bulbs from Napa ($35). I installed the new front signals (WW) & headlights which made a big difference visually. The Krylon Dover White spray paint came in at Sherwin-Williams, at $6/can (half the price of the WW Silver-White paint). So I sanded down the front bumper and applied one thin coat of the Dover White. After a couple hours drying time I sanded it down and applied a finishing coat. I'm happy with the results. Not sure if the bumper should have a clear coat or not, but I'll decide once I see how the Dover White stands up over time.

Next will be the rear bumper and a repaint of the front emblem. I'd sprayed it Silver-Beige (T34 interior color) and it's much different than Silver-White.

I discovered that Bill & Steve's (Bellflower CA) will have new front windshield glass available in a week, so that should really make the front look good.

[Lee Hedges]

delete this entry

[hoagy86]

Looking good lee, nice double cab

[Lee Hedges]

After I mounted the front bumper I noticed the guards were looking really beat-up. So I ordered a new pair of them from WW ($45 each) and they arrived today. Painted them with the matching Krylon Dover White and they mounted up just fine. Interesting that there are no rubber seals joining the guards to the blade (like T34s have), just metal to metal. Definitely looks better!

[Lee Hedges]

The original door seals were of course petrified & hard. When I closed the doors it clanged shut with a loud noise. So I bought new door seals (WW) and spent this Friday getting them replaced.

First step was to use a long wide-blade screwdriver to remove the old seals. This was not a fun nor clean job, with pieces of crusty seals flying into my eyes & hair. Once the seals were removed I used a wire brush on the drill to clean off all the residue for a clean surface. Primed & painted with L345 Light Gray, then cut the seals to fit the door frame edges. Looks a whole lot better and the door shuts more quietly as well.

[Lee Hedges]

Saturday after the kids soccer games I got to work stripping the left-rear panel. Within an hour it was down to bare metal & prepped with rust-conversion gel. Primed with etching-primer & painted with L345 Light Gray. Except for the obvious cancer at the bottom, the panel looks great! The neighbors are starting to say "It's beginning to look good!"

[Lee Hedges]

Sunday (no Charger game today) was spent stripping the right-rear panel under the drop gate. It was by far the most rusty but came out fine. Jeffrey (12) lent a hand learning how to use the DA orbital sander with 80/240 grit sandpaper disks. He did a great job but didn't like the paint dust flying around. I ran out of L345 paint before finishing the panel.

[Lee Hedges]

Another Friday here (Halloween) and the last day of October too. Got the last nasty paint removed from the roof and primed & painted it gray. That's a tough place to reach!

[BulliBill]

Wow! What a transformation a little spray paint will do! Looking good Lee, obviously more to do, but I bet your neighbors are a lot happier now!

Bill Bowman
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I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[Pinetops]

Looking good!
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[Lee Hedges]

Since the Chargers stunk it up in Miami, I started on the rear corner before halftime. Stripped the left-rear corner with no surprises and began working on the rear gate (since I'm planning to keep it). The rear gate has so many little curves & lines it made stripping the paint time-consuming. The left-rear corner metal only had a couple of dents & a tiny bit of rust along the lowest edge. I primed & painted the left-rear corner to have some satisfaction of work completed.

[Braukuche]