"Helga" Matt's 65 bus restoration thread - Austin TX!

[Longboardluv]

with the glass in i put on my first sticker!

took the windows out and painted around where we mounted the tabs along with some of the dash that had missing paint from when the rust was repaired.

[Longboardluv]

safety kit to keep on board

jail bars back in after glass and Grateful Dead sticker on!

[TexasAirCooler]

Nice to see it coming back together so you can start to really enjoy it!
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Terry

Common Sense Is A Flower That Doesn't Grow In Everyone's Garden.

[Longboardluv]

I gave the paint a couple of days to dry. I put a little glue 3M yellow weatherstrip adhesive in the corners and the top for the seals. Then I realized when fitting them the first time I hadn't really got them into the corners all the way thus causing a gap this time when I did...

That's okay because I have a four inch piece that I'll but cutting and putting in. Just a little advice for those that might tackle this sometime, make sure you really get the seal deep and tight into those tight corners.

I'm hoping to weld/patch the square hole in the nose this weekend and then soon after paint it! Really looking forward to this part
going to try it to make look similar to this...

[Longboardluv]

more ugly primer removal..

[dawerks]

Nice bus and nice work!
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"There is only one sin; disconnection from self."

[67Cabrio]

Your bus looks fantastic! Great inspiration for ours. I do have to ask tho; does that insulation you put up help? I used it on a floor once as a experiment and didn't see a change. Granted, it may work great on a roof but I wasn't willing to pull down the headliner of my Studebaker to find out.

[Longboardluv]

[Longboardluv]

always had this nasty seam!

so we cleaned it up

made some metals strips

and welded them on! I'm so happy. This really makes Helga pretty!

also cut a patch for the hole

and welded it in!

It looks fantastic! What a great day! Thanks Moe!

[zozo]

Are you taking it to Boerne tomorrow?

This is my favorite thread.

[silkvw]

your bus is lookin better every day!
Moe is the man on the body work for sure. He does it right.
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'64 single cab Big Bend Bus Bash 2015 '16
'59 camper BBBB 2017 '18 '19 '20 '22 New Mexico
'70 Ghia........Bonneville,........TX Mile,........142 mph......(sold)

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=641871&highlight=

[Longboardluv]

[Longboardluv]

another picture of the metal work! I'm so happy

the first round of bondo is on. Hoping to sand it tomorrow and probably another coat after that I'd imagine

this little area is an example of "picking your battles" for now I'm going to clean it up and just patch it.

So I'm using the bondo with fiberglass in it. This is better than a hole but worse than fixing it the right way. But this is good enough for now! I can't wait to paint the nose!

[Col_Forbin]

Helga is looking good but even better with each day! I'm really likin the stance.. those are general grabbers right?
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Goin' where the climate suits my clothes
Levon the 66 Westy:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=655780
71 Deluxe Bay

[Longboardluv]

[Longboardluv]

I was able to sand the first coat of bondo and apply the second thinner coat. Hopefully It's done after this.

I ended up having to redo the fiberglass bondo as I hadn't mixed in enough hardener the first time. So I'm getting better with practice.

[Longboardluv]

i got some sanding done and a few coats of primer on it. Was hoping the primer was going to fill some of the smaller holes more. I'll have to sand one more time I think and then paint

[Longboardluv]

i got lucky and scored a very nice original step! I wasn't planning on having one but real happy to have it!

after straightening the rear jack point a little to make it fit, i measured and marked for where the holes needed to go

then i drilled them and applied a little antiseize

bam!

it's actually pretty helpful for my kids getting in. And i've found it's nice to sit you feet on when you're sitting on the cargo floor

[Longboardluv]

The air is dry today and there is no wind so I figured, why not?! Let's do this..

stripping down

taped off and ready to go, driveway paint booth action!

it's pretty close, close enough for me. I'm happy. It will loose alot of the shine and get more milky once we wet sand it

[Pinetops]

Wow, you made a lot of progress! Looks good.

Do you think you'll do any white faux-tina on the "V"?
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."