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lowindO
Samba Member
Joined: May 05, 2005
Posts: 323
Location: pensa~cola
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 Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 8:41 am Post subject: |
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Dammm, that DC is sick!!!
I think some industrial big logo caps, early door handles, with black escheons (sp), and a black berg ball shifter, but dang!
Is that a retrosound blue tooth radio? You like it? I wish they made a vw one with black knobs and buttons.
I can't tell in the pics but do you have visors? Black? Repro? Are you happy with them?
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Why don't you have a narrowed beam yet?
My Squareback's Video |
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bullifecal
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2005
Posts: 119
Location: south
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| Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:24 pm Post subject: brakes |
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Put the stock 15" rims and drum brakes back on. Problem solved
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Lardy beaners like lowriders and Cerveza
NOBAMA |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:21 am Post subject: |
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| lowindO wrote: |
Dammm, that DC is sick!!!
I think some industrial big logo caps, early door handles, with black escheons (sp), and a black berg ball shifter, but dang!
Is that a retrosound blue tooth radio? You like it? I wish they made a vw one with black knobs and buttons.
I can't tell in the pics but do you have visors? Black? Repro? Are you happy with them? |
Thanks for the comments - yeah, I've got some dove grey KDF caps I'm going to run on it and see how I like them. And I'm in the process of looking for small bits to help dial in some of the details - like the early door handles etc.
I actually picked up some original paint SWR ambulance fans I'm going to throw in soon as soon as I have them re-wired to a black switch.
The radio is not a retro-sound, It's just an old tombstone I had lying around - I've seen a couple retro-sounds and while they look ok and work very nice, but I prefer an original looking radio. I will be wiring in an amp and a few speakers eventually and just have an ipod hook-up for some tunes, but that may be a ways out once I figure out a good solution for not cutting in speakers into my new panels.
I've got a few new pics I'll update with in the next couple days showing some more of the details, but thanks for the encouragement!
Last edited by vwcollective on Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:27 am; edited 1 time in total |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:25 am Post subject: Re: brakes |
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| bullifecal wrote: |
| Put the stock 15" rims and drum brakes back on. Problem solved |
Yes - this is a solution I'm considering, but the convenience and improvement of front disc brakes are nice. AND - it helps me avoid little weird surprises like this:
The wheels are an easy swap though... still mulling it over. |
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e_bingel
Samba Member
Joined: October 03, 2006
Posts: 428
Location: Ca
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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Nice work..... I hope to have one very soon.
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Ethan
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sled
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2005
Posts: 6179
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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I am wondering why you went after that steering wheel removal like a caveman, destroying an otherwise good original wheel..when you could have built, or bought, the correct tool for removing a steering wheel? Now you're out the value of the wheel, and have no tool for future jobs.
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drive your split. |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| sled wrote: |
| I am wondering why you went after that steering wheel removal like a caveman |
Well, I wasn't all caveman from the start - it went a little something like this:
Step 1: I PB Blasted the wheel 2X a day for about a week in prep to remove the wheel after a first initial effort lead me to believe it would not pop off easily.
Step 2: I tried about 2-3 different tools from various auto parts stores - none that could get the job done even after modification.
Step 3: I consulted several valuable and informative forums here on the samba for just such a problem and gathered many ideas on how to get a difficult wheel off.
Step 4: After all those failed, I actually "made" my own tool out of a scissor jack and straps
Step 5: When the straps weren't working I used a chain.
Step 6: When the chain didn't work I grabbed a mallet.
Step 7: With the scissor jack and chain still on, I went caveman to free the wheel from the column.
Why would I go caveman and ruin a a perfectly good original wheel you ask? The answer is - the wheel was crap to start - it was already falling apart and glued together in several sections and far beyond the worth to have it restored. That's why I wasn't too concerned over taking drastic means to get it off. Broken, cracked and clapped out bus wheels are easy to find and cheap - the only thing I was out was time and gas trying to save an already near worthless wheel.
Although not is all lost - it is now a lovely piece of wall art hanging in my caveman man cave in the garage.
Last edited by vwcollective on Mon Sep 28, 2015 1:30 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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sled
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2005
Posts: 6179
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:13 am Post subject: |
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understood!
when you go to remove that repop wheel some day...
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drive your split. |
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BarryL 
Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004
Posts: 14271
Location: Casa de Oro, California
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:40 am Post subject: |
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| sled wrote: |
| ... remove that repop wheel some day... |
Has that tool ever bent itself or smashed the column's threads on an impossible wheel or is it an impossible possible-er always? |
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velvetgreen
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 2746
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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^^^^^^
i jut used that tool to pop off a steering wheel on a bus that had been sitting in a field since 1971 and which animals had long since moved in toand made themselves very much at home. Came off with no problem at all- not sure if they are still being made or not but I give it two thumbs up |
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vwnut1
Samba Member
Joined: May 16, 2012
Posts: 495
Location: So Cal
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry to hear about that rat bastard seller that you purchased from. Don't worry about it though, Karma will catch up with him when he least expects it. It may not be today, tomorrow, next week, next year, etc, but it WILL happen.
Your story reminds me of the the DC that I looked at in So Cal for a brother in FL. I noticed some non-factory undercoating that looked like it might be hiding something but the rest of the truck was solid. Sure enough, once it arrives at his place he started to pull off the coating and it was hiding some crappy, but luckily minor, rust repairs from a prior owner.
Your DC is looking good, so keep the updates coming.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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| sled wrote: |
understood!
when you go to remove that repop wheel some day...
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^^^^^^^^^^^^
I would have loved to find one of these when I was looking. Are they currently for sale anywhere? I'm always interested in getting VW specific tools to make the work much easier... |
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sled
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2005
Posts: 6179
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| Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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| BarryL wrote: |
| sled wrote: |
| ... remove that repop wheel some day... |
Has that tool ever bent itself or smashed the column's threads on an impossible wheel or is it an impossible possible-er always? |
any time you have a very stubborn fastener, or in this case tapered fit, it always works best to apply quite a bit of pressure (not enough to deform the threads) and then give the offending piece a tap. The pressure plus the shock will pop almost anything loose. If that doesnt work, heat it up and then give it the tap.
I do not know if they are available, but they are easy to just make as well..
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drive your split. |
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M183kombi
Samba Member
Joined: February 01, 2008
Posts: 288
Location: Kearns, UT
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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Me and my buddy Balfe built something like that out of a c-clamp...it worked great on many a bus...
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1960 L31 M183 kombi |
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parkerlewis
Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2005
Posts: 180
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 7:40 am Post subject: |
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Loving this thread.... Thanks! I hope it continues for a while longer.... I am working on a 61 swr DC too...., don't have much spare time so it's taking forever. This is a good motivator for me as I'm a few steps behind you...
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1961 Double Cab (Sealing Wax Red) |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| parkerlewis wrote: |
| Loving this thread.... Thanks! I hope it continues for a while longer.... I am working on a 61 swr DC too...., don't have much spare time so it's taking forever. This is a good motivator for me as I'm a few steps behind you... |
Keep up the work - I'm in the same boat and have to work hard to find time to work on the DC - it's finally to the point where the major parts are done and now it's dialing in the details... in the end it will all be worth it.
Here's a sweet shot of one of my wheels and hub cap from a recent show... hoping one day to find a set of patina'd commercial caps to run instead, but until then, these are pretty cool.
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 6:40 pm Post subject: Re: 1961 SWR Double Cab Field/Barn Find Rescue - Pic Heavy |
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Been a while since updating this post - so I thought I'd bring things back up to speed.
So, the next steps in this DC's journey involve something that will upset some people as it involves drilling holes into metal - something that I typically don't like to do... but first let me clarify - the metal I'm drilling holes into is metal that has already been replaced and worked over - it was not virgin OG metal and paint. And while it will take some work to reverse, it it not un-fixable.
With that out of the way to hopefully curb any critical comments (on top of the decision to keep it a lowered DC) - let me talk about the rear hurst I decided to add to the DC. It was made by JerFab, very thick steel, very solid construction. I had Dave reinforce the rear bumper bar with a square steel bar and weld on a 1 1/4" receiver hitch and safety chain loop. By the time was all said and done, the rear bumper piece alone weighted about 15 - 20lbs. This was done to allow me to tow a Puck...
Just a quick note - the Jer Fab rear hurst was extremely well-made with nice thick metal and solid welds. I had to adjust some of the bends of the bumper to work well on the truck, but I imagine this would be necessary with any rear hurst.
I had a connection to get the rear, and front hurst powder coated for less then the cost of paint - about $80. So I decided to powder coat both the hursts, as well as the wheels the same color to tie them all together. Once this was done though, the look of the freshly coated bumpers didn't match the rest of the vehicle, so I did the only responsible thing - I ruined a perfectly good powder coat job and faux patina'd them both.
I did this through a couple steps - the first was taking an abrasive disc and grinder to planned spots on both bumpers. I ran a less abrasive disc next, then finally, hand sanded a lot with finer grit paper in order to help smooth out some of the rough areas. This process didn't come without some pain when not paying close attention to the grinder
After that, I rusted them out with a 2 parts bleach, 1 part vinegar solution. I used a thicker "SPLASH-LESS" version of bleach that Clorox makes so that to solution would stick on the metal a little better. The bleach actually does the rusting, the vinegar speeds it up. Either way, I would spray on with a spray bottle and let sit and dry, then applied another 4-5 coats. I did this outside on wood so that there was plenty of ventilation and when the rust started to drip, it wouldn't stain my concrete.
I deleted the pics of this process and sadly don't have much to show - but you can see the patina work in the wide images.
So, next came the job of adding the rear hurst:
I did have to modify the bumper brackets to fit inside the stock brackets - which just involved grinding off the old welds and re-welding the new piece in place. I should have test-fit this before the powder coating.
After getting everything on, before drilling the holes, I had to do quite a bit of situating to make everything line up - even then it wasn't exactly perfect...
So, after every thing was lined up came the hole drilling. Since I was going to be towing a Puck, I was really concerned about the side metal buckling as the bumper may move around a bit with acceleration and braking.
So, to account for this, I gave myself some wiggle room by ovaling the hole where the bolt when through the metal. I also added a rubber gasket to make sure the paint and body work previously done wasn't damaged even more with slight movement of metal on metal.
Also used a large fender washer on the inside:
Last edited by vwcollective on Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:56 am; edited 2 times in total |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: 1961 SWR Double Cab Field/Barn Find Rescue - Pic Heavy |
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So, with everything on, came testing it out on a pull and dialing in the rear suspension to account for a little tongue weight... this is why I bought adjustable rear plates - to make adjusting rear height easy to adjust when hauling the Puck and having a full truck bed for camping and when driving without the extra weight.
I raised up the suspension a bit after this pic - but it was sitting pretty level here.
And now that I had it all set - I decided to add some nice jewelry on the rear bumper. A SWR "USA" lighted rear identification light, an original ratty "SLOW" light that stays on full time to hopefully avoid being run-over from behind, and I also added a vintage reverse light that will be handy when backing up to the trailer at night...
Last edited by vwcollective on Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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vwcollective
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2012
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: 1961 SWR Double Cab Field/Barn Find Rescue - Pic Heavy |
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With everything ready to go, I cleaned it up as best as it could and took it to the 2015 Utah Classic.
And much to my surprise, it won Best in Show... here are a few pics from the show...
There are a lot of details to the interior I added in the middle of all of this - Original Hurst bus shifter, SWR Ambulance fans, Tombstone Radio, rear safari... all that helped dial up the bus: I'll show those details in following posts.
Regardless - it's kind of awesome to see this bus go from being under a collapsed barn, to winning Best in Show - I also love that an OG paint DC with an OG paint Puck beat out all the pretty painted VW's...
to this:
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