73 Bus battery tray replace and dent help

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Hey there, so long story short, I’m finishing a top end engine rebuild on this 73 bus:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6...highlight=

…and I’m doing some of the metal work while the engine bay is open.

I’m looking for some helpful advice as I go through this. The work will look pretty shoddy to some, but if I can do a better job with some insight from the board, it’s worth posting my attempts.

History:

This bus had a rear-ender at some point and there is a LOT of filler on the rear left corner covering warped dent-pulled metal, some which is rusting. Rust is pretty bad around engine bay hatch and under the rear-door seal. I imagine rust creeps down under the filler but its not coming off in chunks yet… I want this to be a camping bus for the next couple of years so I’m not into going all out and replacing many rear panels. Nor do I have the skills to do that yet, so I’m replacing the worst rot with small patches and putting in a new passenger side battery tray. Rust is minimal on the rest of the bus and the bottom side is almost rust free.

Here is some shots of progress so far:

Managed to ding out the minor side dent OK (lower right).

But Im having lots of trouble with this vertical dent parallel with the tailight. Its deepest at the bottom and has flexed the light inward.

Pulling the studs is just flexing the flat areas of the panel above. I've been trying to hammer it from the inside, starting at the top down with a dolly pressed against the vertical ridge on the outside where the metal bent in against the interior support. No luck at all, its mostly flexing above. What can I do different here???


Battery tray replace used a technique from a post on here, started with angle grinder with cutoff wheel, then dremel, then chiseled out areas without spot welds. Then ground the remainder. Took a long time.

Anything white is epoxy mastic that has gone over wire wheeled surface rust thats been sprayed with Picklex 20 and finally dried with a heat gun. Its thick stuff so It doesnt look pretty, but its very tough where I've tested it before. Only using it on inside of engine bay.

You can see the amount of filler thats on here. Probably would like the whole corner and inner/outer valence replaced, but thats not in the cards right now.

That's where I stand right now, will keep updating as I get this done over the next little while.

Cheers
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[VintageVulture]

Nice start! Can you get inside the right corner to bump out the rest of that dent where you had the nails? Get that area even and straight before you put in a pan. You're pretty much going about this correctly... Do you have the new tray and a welder? Good post.
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The best things in life aren't Things
(they're Buses)

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Thanks, I ended up getting it dinged out ok at the bottom, but the dent had traveled up following the inside pillar. After trying a few things i ended up deciding to cut the area out and fab a patch.

will need some filler as I couldn't get the patch in perfectly.

I did put in a new battery tray in there and sealed with epoxy mastic. Was not a great fit, used a Klokkerhom.

More photos at the end of page 5 in this thread...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7717151#7717151
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Well, I wasn't going to do this side yet, but sometimes I can't help digging. And there was a lot of bondo to dig through.

Filler was covering up an area that was bashed out and dent pulled, and covered with a half inch. Wasn't rusting in too many places but I could peel the bondo off with my hands in some areas.

This is where I am at now...

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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Cut away the rear outer valance last night, took 1.5 hours to get it out but the professionals had been at it before me.

Exploratory surgery revealed deep layer of rust flakes and dust.

It also revealed that sheet metal had been welded/brazed? over the original rear valance (well, the rusty top inch or so that was left of it). They had not coated the inner valance with anything before doing this.

No rust through on the inner valance but needs some work. There are a few large hammer blows from the inside that need straightening.

Checked fit of new outer skin, its too big by a little bit on the drivers side.

Its possible that the whole rear moved around a bit when bus was rear ended. Getting to figure out its history as I go, I know second to last PO got this bus in '97 or '99, and there was a now non-existent used car dealer sticker on the back over the bondo. So the past bodywork could have been done in mid 90's for the dealer. I don't know how it had so little rust as its port of entry was Newfoundland and it was likely always a Canadian bus.

Back to the valance its less likely but possible that the part is off by a bit.

Anyone had a fit issue with the JustKampers part?
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Got the area around the taillight dinged out OK.

Cut a window through the worst damage so I could see the structural pillar behind.

Big dent and a hole that they used to pull the pillar back to shape.

You can see the contour of the inside of the pillar is way out of shape, should be the same as the bottom.

Cut everything out and dinged the inside panel of the pillar back to a better shape. This pillar is made of two pieces spot welded along vertical seams. The rear-most part of the pillar has the formed flange for the engine hatch seal. This was pretty rusted out and was part of the decision for removing it, as well as making better access to hammer at the forward panel (had tried dent pulling from inside but less effective, dont have the technique down yet probably).

Epoxy mastic and weld through primer where I am going to plug weld.

Now have to fab the rear part of the pillar, then new outer panel and fit the rear valance. Glad I dug a bit as I now know everything that's going on back there, it should be mostly rust free and now I know how the panels fit together for next time.

Took the grease off the rear beam and its in awesome shape!

Removed the asbestos cuffs from heater tubes (wetted first, then double bagged) and then rust treated any spot rust in spaces where the undercoating had come off. Process I used was wire wheel on drill or needle scaler, then Picklex 20, then epoxy mastic. Don't think I can win against the rust without sandblasting but this will slow it down for a while yet.
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Continuing to fix up the rear end. The area above the engine lid I am not getting into at this point and it doesn't look like it will be doable for my ability and time. I see more filler, but as long as its not rusting I'm going to stop digging as Ive dealt with the worst of it. Here is a bunch of pictures from the last few weeks: It has been a steep learning curve but better with the right tools. I picked up an air angle die grinder which is heaps easier than the angle grinder/flapdisc.


Remaking the pillar skin, the curves for the engine seal were interesting to do.

I kept the piece with the indent and rewelded it. Not the prettiest final job but I dont need the welds flush.

Epoxy primer, and ground to metal and weld through primer where the spot welds go.

Got the outer skin made up as best I could and starting to weld it in.

Also made the small piece above the deck lid.

Made the small flaps for the outer valence to wrap around.

And finally got the outer valence back on. The inner valence was hard to straighten out as it is much thicker metal. I will need some filler to get the outer straight unfortunately.

Wrapping edges of valence. Then they were welded.

How she sits now. I have to do a bit of hammer/dolly and grinding, then will be on to filler to get it straighter.

Hope to finish soon
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[richparker]

Nice work! Thanks for posting the link on your other thread. I worked on mine for a year or so before I got it on the road. Glad the engine finally started for you.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[scrivyscriv]

Man talk about a rabbit hole. Feels so bad but so good to pull off old bondo inch after inch
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Yah, its pretty satisfying when it peels off in big sheets, I have a video somewhere so I can re-enjoy that. My girlfriend thinks I'm weird

Hoping to finish body work this weekend (and maybe get the engine in?). It's hard to find time but luckily the weather has been relatively dry for months here.
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[Markymarc]

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Hey Markymarc, I ended up getting the replacement tray and cutting it to fit. Klokkerhom (sp) part didn't fit all that well. I punched around the edges and plug welded from the bottom. Definately made sure to seal to and bottom with Epoxy mastic, then used seam sealer and finally paint.

Continuing, I made some patches for the bumper mounts on the frame which had ripped out or rusted out:

after welding and grinding. Still learning to weld upside down. Its tricky as the weld pool likes to start to drip. In between the buttons of my welding jacket.

coat of epoxy primer.

Outer skin was ground with 80 grit, then used fiberglass filler over welds.

Then coat of epoxy primer. Time is not my friend, put 18 hours in over the weekend and just didnt have enough time to do filler, so I opted to at least get it waterproof. Ill revisit finishing filler and paint later. Anyways, got the newly rebuild engine to the bus so I painted the engine bay ready for install.

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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).