'58 PGSG project

[williamM]

THAT is a great job looks like it will be a super bus when done. What plans for the interior?
_________________
some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[Peter_N]

It's time for an update
While sandblasting the chassis I discovered just a few pinholes and one bad outrigger. I could have gone with only replacing the underside of the outrigger, but cutting away a bit more facilitated the cleaning of the central chassis section which was packed with sand and rocks.

Cleaned and sprayed with weldable zinc primer

I suspended our oldschool spotwelder on a rope. The thing weighs a ton!

I got enthusiastic with the spotwelder

Another job I was looking forward to was fitting the one piece axle boots, so I looked up Last Triumph's topic to get some tips.
I heated it in nearly boiling water for about 15 minutes to make the rubber more flexible.

Made sure to check the wide end/dish of the axle for sharp edges and put an excess of grease on it.

And used cooking oil on the boot itself.

After some struggle boot #1 was one
#2 was less successful and tore

Some time ago I found an decklid from a PGSG bus. I also purchased the front bumper from that bus, but that one turned out dove blue under the overspray. The decklid is indeed sand green, but I still have to check if it's a match with the sand green on my bus.
Blue overspray. I use steel wool and an organic solvent (I work in a lab) to gently remove the top layer op paint.

White primer under the blue

Sand green! Hooray!

Now I know this decklid with the brake light is not correct for my 1958 bus, but I couldn't resist it.

Thanks for watching
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[zuggbug]

Nice work
_________________
SOUTHERN INTEGRITY AIRCOOLERS
58 15 window
56 westy

[Peter_N]

When I got my bus project a splitcase transmission from '56 was included. I didn't know what state it was in, nor did the previous owner. On the top side of the case 3 bolts were missing (including the bowden tube bracket) and on the bottem the longer bolt was missing. Because of this I was having my doubts whether it was split before.
Although the oil came out clean (no metal shavings) I decided to split it. There's quit some information on here and other places on the internet, so after some studying I was confirmed I should at least be able to open it up, clean it and close it again.

The case just before splitting. Of course I forgot to loosen the bolt inside the bell housing leaving me puzzled for a minute why it wouldn't split

With all internal parts removed and cleaned I concluded it's best to replace some bearings, the reverse gear, fulcrum plates and maybe some other parts I haven't decided yet.
Here is a vid of the reverse gear play .

Link

Parts and bearings for the splitcase are hard to find (=expensive ), but I found a complete set of internals from a beetle splitcase at a transmission rebuilding company. The tranny they came from was rebuild with a lot of new parts, but the housing broke shortly after it.

Here are the two pinion shafts next to each other. The one in the back is my 'original' one, with the old style roller bearing, the 'new' in the front is the beetle one (with a needle bearing).
1st Question: Does anyone know if I can use the newer pinion with a roller bearing on it?
My original pinion isn't badly worn I think, but the new one just looks a bit more fresh. BTW, I am aware that exchanging the ring and pinion is a step deeper into rebuilding, because of the correct setting of backlash and wear pattern on the ringgear.[/b]

The 1st gear on my original pinion and drive shaft are worn more than on the beetle ones.
Original 1st gear

Less worn 1 st gear

I've set the caliper on inches for you guys
I know it's not the best way to check for wear, but the difference is clearly visible to the naked eye. I'll just take the best gear and put it on the final assembly.
The drive shafts are another thing.
My original one has a ridge to press the bearing agianst..while the other has not. The 1st gear tooth are a bit more rounded compared to the beetle ones
Old

New

2nd question: Can I replace the drive shaft with the newer one (with a roller bearing on it)

Final question (for now )
What's the tool# for this tool. Or has someone build a comparable thingy himself. I have a worn 1st gear which I'm able to use to build a tool.
I'm not keen on clamping the pinion shaft in a vice with some rags between it to loosen/fasten the main bolt.

_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[campingbox]

I think that tool is a 314. Maybe a 314a check the tool listing on thesamba. Rags and some soft jaws on your vise will work fine.

There are (atleast) two types of main shafts, the one without the collar takes a bearing with a hole in it which allows it to be centered in the case with a pin. This means that the case will have a hole to accept the pin.

[Peter_N]

Thanks campingbox!
It's tool 314 as you suggested. There are some for sale in the classifieds for around $80.
Yesterday I managed to get both of the pinion shafts disassembled. I slid the worn 1st gear ring on them so I could clamp them in a vice with less worries.
I closely inspected all parts for wear, but everything seems fine

I checked the case for a hole to lock the main shaft bearing, but mine hasn't.
I'll stick to my original main shaft and only replace the front end bearing, the center roller bearing is still fine.
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[Peter_N]

Quick update on my project!

I finished all welding on the frame, and started painting it. Had my doubts before whether to paint it sandgreen completely, but decided to go with RAL7039, which is a close match to the grey primer VW used.
I'll spray the wheelwells and frame horn sandgreen just like they did in the old days

The front section of the clutch cable tube was gone, so I bought some steel tubing to replace it.
From the first picture below I knew through which hole the clutch cable runs, but I couldn't figure out how far the tube should protrude...

For that reason I ran the tube all the way to where the front axle sits.

Can someone guide me how long the tube should be?
Thanks!
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[conrad1468]

Amazing work! Keep it up!
_________________
Fresh Air VW Car Club
New Pittsburgh, PA Car Club. 100% free!!!
club website link
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreshAirVWCarClub/info
thesamba link
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=363031
Official website
http://www.freshaircarclub.com/
Look us up on Facebook, too

[1967250s]

Clutch tube should end just about 4 inches in front of the rear brake equalizer in a Bay.
_________________
'72 Elm Green Deluxe

[Peter_N]

Hi,

Time for some new pictures!
I've purchased a '57 completely original beam some while ago. I had to remove a bucket full of oily mud but a completely solid beam appeared from under the gunk
I felt like a pathologist with the gloves on and removing organs ehh..parts so after some beers we got creative..

Normally I prefer to do everything myself but for now I decided to have it sandblasted and painted by a pro.

Also the spindels were redone by SlammedPanel from Holland.
To keep myself busy I decided to save every original bolt by cleaning, derusting and blackening them (black oxidizing).
I tried a wirebrush first but this takes ages to clean them, so I switched to using phosphoric acid.
Parts ready for their first acid bath after degreasing

Some ask me why I don't just buy some new shiny bolts, but this just makes me 10x more happy

Yay

Also got most of the cables installed as well as new brake lines. Next up is the new loom and spray painting the wheel wells sand green.
After that I'll get the bus out of it's rotisserie. It's been caged for long enough now
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[Peter_N]

I've started to install the new loom from Jon (vwlooms.com).
Very high quality stuff and great service!

I'm still puzzling on where the loom has to enter cab. I see some holes in the front 'beam' behind the nose, but they're rather small (watering holes?)
Does anyone have a clue/picture? Thanks

Peter
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[Peter_N]

Hi all,

Before I take the bus out of the rotisserie I wanted to add some sandgreen overspray to the wheel wells and jack points.
I took my rear hatch to get it color scanned and had some paint made.

I must admit I've overdone it a bit regarding the finish, but from what I remember before sandblasting my wheel wells had a nice layer of SG paint. not just a light overspray. I'm very happy with the results up to now

Front well

_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[Peter_N]

Finished the burlap/jute isolation of the heater tube today.
I had some doubt before on re-using the burlap, because it looked pretty shitty when I removed it, but after some cleaning en cutting away the really worn sides it was okay to my opinion. My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy. I can't blame her, because it did look like a skinned beaver when it was hanging to dry

Two pieces actually had some text on them

Reads something like auss..?
Ordered some new fiberglass/aluminium to replace the old.

It has glue on one side so it secured itself and gave some body to the isolation

It did took some effort to get it all back in position and with a looott of old glass fibres floating around it wasn't the most pleasant job, but I'm stoked with final result!

_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[easy e]

Wiring loom enters the cab a fuzz LEFT of the RIGHT frame rail:

_________________
aka: Evan
Spreadsheet for Bus RPM, based on gearing & tire size (Excel format)
Searchable, click-navigable 1958 Bus Parts List

[Stocknazi]

Nice attention to detail on the heater tube insulation; Looks great.
_________________
WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).

"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."

Thomas Jefferson

[Peter_N]

Thanks!
I removed the front hoop some time ago and put it on jack stands. No more bus rolling for me

And refitted the front axle

Also buttoned up the gearbox. Here it's close to closing it for the second time.
The first time, I forgot to put in the shaft that operates the clutch bearing

Thanks for looking and best wishes to you all!
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[Bendango]

Peter - this project is Awsome!!! I think the most interesting part to these threads is peoples aproach and I could see from the first few posts this was gojng to be a good one! Taking a pretty tatty Bus and saving as much OG as possible - attention to detail AND most importantly doing as much work as possible yourself! Great - please keep posting! WE ARE WATCHING YOU!!!
_________________
I want a real garage.

WANTED - [WTB] 55-62 Bus Thin Lip Package Tray SWR

Getting Used - SWR 60 westy copy built by vw ( apparently )
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=320866

[Peter_N]

Thanks for your kind words Burwin! If you're in Holland again, I'll buy you a beer

I'm still working on the bus of course, although progress has been slow. We've bought a new house so priorities have shifted a bit.
I've decided to first get the bus driving and then focus on blending the paint and stuff. The reason for this is that in Holland I cannot get it registered before it's driving/passes technical qualification.

I still get a grinn on my face every time I see my bus

Today I spends some time (hours..) on refitting the torsion arms in the rear.
I used a triangle ruler and a plummet (?) to set the torsion arm angle at 20'.
It takes some fiddling but it worked out pretty good.

Forgot to take pictures in the meanwhile, but I managed to close up the RGBs and fit the left brake backing plates.

At the time I dismantled the rear axle, it turned out that the drums were too far gone. They were pitted/rusted badly and were past the wear limit.
Thankfully, in Germany I found a set of NOS ones

There's still wax on the brake surface, so almost ready to use!

After this is finished, It's time to get the engine from the attic
_________________
My 1958 PGSG project topic

[badassratbus]

nice work Peter glad to see it went to a good home and is getting the treatment it deserves

[Peter_N]