Casso the flipseat (August 1963) - not a restoration

[Enkiel]

[brettsvw]

I installed the wire harness very last to keep it free from paint.

Pull a string or wire thru the frame to make it easier to pull the new wire harness thru. You can ad additional wires if needed also at the same time.
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My 59 kombi build.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=635003&highlight=

My buggy build.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=558601&highlight=

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

[Enkiel]

[Enkiel]

Fixed the hole. For some reason, forgot to take a picture.

My next big challenge that i want to take on is the cargo floor. I decided to brush paint the whole thing in POR-15 gray for now. Money is tight, and i know that if i wait to do it correct (sandblast + paint), it could take a long time.

Tonight or Tomorrow, i plan on starting to drill the many holes. Most people i saw doing it did 2 hole on each dimple (?), for the whole thing. Is that the way to go? I'm scared of miscalculating my holes and considering just doing one in the slightly off-middle instead of one on each side.
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1964 Turkis Flipseat

[Enkiel]

in the end i figured since my welding is not always 100% perfect, may as well do all the holes...

Which is exactly 200 for one half. I completed it, and cut the hole for the table's stand. Now all i need is to take care of that paint underneath and i can start welding!

And here's what i did with the dogleg and pillar. Both need replacement eventually, but for now, i closed holes and made it solid enough to stay there, but easily removed if i want to repair it correctly eventually. Compared to the gigantic hole covered in tar, its an improvement i think.

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1964 Turkis Flipseat

[BarryL]

That floor looks to be a good fit.

[Enkiel]

[Enkiel]

kinda sad that some comment were removed, but its okay.

Just in case someone think this again, let me repeat what i said before ; This is a learning experience. It's not supposed to be pretty, or to be perfect. But its mine.


So, today was a good day ; skipped work, and worked on the bus. There's still alot of thing to do (seems like i find new one everyday), but i started the day thinking i'll focus on one single thing, and work on it all day, and i did.

I picked the "stitched" parts in the back, and decided to remove the black goo and replace it with correct weld. I had alot of fun trying to weld rusted part, and filling big gap. Doesnt sound like fun, but it was!

First what i started with ;

Everything looked closed, since there was alot of black goo on top of the weld, but once removed, it was... well... unsafe? ugly? i dunno.

Anyway. My first goal was to fix the top part. There was a few hole here and there that i wanted to try to close, just to see if i could weld them shut (especially after seeing other people doing magic with welding in here). It worked, when i was very, very careful.

I think it's an improvement. And since its gonna be covered anyway, i don't mind much the ugly weld. I did consider replacing the whole thing, but it seems impossible to find a solid piece under 300$... and with shipping, it's kinda crazy to go with something that isnt new.

Next part was closing the vertical parts, and the wheel arch. Both were once again covered in black goo, but i managed. The largest hole was a good challenge. I though about patching it, but what fun would that be? BTW sorry for the picture, the one without paint was corrupted...

So tomorrow i think i'll start some patchwork on the horizontal part, or maybe try and weld close the wheel arch. The last one scares me, since i'd need to weld above me....
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1964 Turkis Flipseat

[Eric&Barb]

Are you using a piece of copper to help keep the other side of the weld flat? Makes for less grinding in tight and upside down areas.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[Enkiel]

[Eric&Barb]

Definitely helps to have the copper as close to it as possible.

Did you run the welder too long? Needs to be short bursts or you could melt the copper. Aluminum works OK. If you have a thicker piece or even a block of either it should work better. Thicker means more ability to pull the heat away from surface where you are welding.

Hmm... Titanium might be even better due to higher melting point than steel, and any other non-ferrous metal has a melting point lower than the steel that one would be melting into place.
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[Enkiel]

[BarryL]

I like the stitched-back-together look, always have: especially on old og hotrods.

[Enkiel]

[Enkiel]

So i did some work in the past days. One of my main achievement is cleaning and painting the cargo area before installing the new cargo floor.

"New" main goal is to install the new cargo floor as fast as possible, then start on the mechanical part of the bus. I'd really like to get a chance to get either the electrical or the engine underway this summer.

I removed all the loose rust and paint then the top was painted in Zinc Primer. After that i put on some tape on it and spray bombed the undercarriage in Tremclad anti-rust paint. It's not the best option, but i think its a decent solution until i get it properly sandblasted and painted.

Tonight i'll hopefully start welding the cargo floor (one half is already painted on the side that goes under the bus) once i redrill the holes to make sure there's no paint.

Is there any good way to weld it? or can i just weld hole one by one as they come?
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1964 Turkis Flipseat

[Enkiel]

Also posted it in the body/paint forum

So last night i started welding my cargo floor, with some success, and some failure.

So i started with the part above the rocker. It was okay, with one or two weld without enough penetration to stick. Good news; i drilled enough to still weld it correctly.

Next part i did was the front, near the seat stand. Again, it was okay. Maybe 1 out of the 10 didnt penetrate.

When came time to weld the I tho, all hell broke loose.


Here's the information i gathered with my failure ;
- The piece arent sitting perfectly in some place. Those that didnt stick were those that i had to put my weight on it to close them together. Once it started to cool off, i hear a "TIC" and it detach itself..
- I tried different setting, but i'm not sure what to do. I usually use "A" for power, and "2" for wire feed (Lincoln Mig Pak 15). This work for 18 Ga no problem. I figured maybe it was the problem, so i went with "B" and "2"... same issue... so i tried "C" and "2"... and i burnt a hole throught the floor... I guess since the I is pretty thick (1/16 maybe?) it doesnt penetrate enough to weld to it... what's my option then?
- Holes are 3/32. Are they too small?

After about 10 failure with different attempt, i decided to sleep on it and try again once i get some advice on how to do it...
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1964 Turkis Flipseat

[Stocknazi]

What size holes are you drilling for your plug welds? You may not be drilling large enough holes to allow the weld to penetrate into the I-beams.

I like to clean off the area where the plug welds welds are when using weld-through primer. Maybe it's the brand of primer I am using, but it seems to cause alot of splatter and sometimes poor welds.
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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

[Eric&Barb]

Try 1/4" (6mm) to 3/8" (10mm) hole. It would help to scrub off the primer from the part below each hole using a small grinder bit in a Dremil or drill motor. You want to be able to aim at the spot on the part thru the hole and get it to light up on that first and work it out to the floor sheet metal edge. Definitely a balancing act, you want hot enough to melt both layers easily, but not so hot that you just burn thru. Length of time will also make or break burn thru. Also you want that sizzle when welding that kind of sounds like you just dropped bacon in a really hot pan, adjusting your wire feed will get that just right.

Be better to get both layers as close as possible. Use weight like cinder blocks or perhaps Clecos or both together.
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[Enkiel]

[Eric&Barb]