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

[Longboardluv]

my right mirror arm wouldn't look right withou a littla

patina!. this was good practice for when I have to do the body.

put on the left side mirror

got the right side upper seal installed in the door. This took some prying to make the channel larger and lots of baby power! I smelt so good after this (quite a change from the norm)

this is what I'm faced with on the lower driver side door hinge. two or three of the bolts are broke off inside and one or two are just wallered out to big holes with no threads. On a positive note however the door doesn't work half bad with all four bolts in the top hinge.

drove her around around some more today. Topped off the brake reservoir because of the leak. Looks like rain the next several days so she might be side lined until then.

[robin.richard]

Longboardluv,

What type of insulation did you use in your beautiful bus? I see Mylar covered bubble wrap, what else are you using? I ask because I just added closed cell foam on top of my Mylar bubble wrap insulation too and was wondering if you have noticed an improvement or any issues.

Thanks

-Rich

[Longboardluv]

[Longboardluv]

was able to learn how to use the hub cap clip tool

and was able to replace two on the right rear

and at the same time replace that pesky leaky cylinder!

so this was my lower left hinge, the broken off bolts and one wollared out hole

decided to start cutting from that inside edge

cutting and spreading!

and then got in there and figured out that there is a Y that holds the plate in place

here's how it came out

was able to use vice grips to get the remnants of the bolts out and then tap the last hole!!! what a relief!!

back in it went and now i've got a good working door!!!
The whole time I've had Helga, this was one of my most concerning tasks. I am so happy that it's taken care of. We'll go back and weld that seam up when it's time to weld other things.

Today was huge, we also got the alignment done and the brakes adjusted again. She drives and stops way better. I'm still on the fence on replacing all the front wheel cylinders because the pedal still is a little squishy and I can see brake fluid inside the drum on the right side.

[vwuberalles]

Nice progress!! If there's any question at all about the brakes I'd err to the side of caution. Parts are cheap and they're relatively easy to do. It's a lot cheaper and easier than losing your legs because you couldn't stop!
_________________
1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[Longboardluv]

[Longboardluv]

this bar that supports the lower seat was starting to rust and wasn't ever secured in place since I had the two support brackets basically pinning it.

so I marked for and drilled two holes that will hold it in place

then cleaned it up on the wheel and with mineral spirits

and hung it from the painting tree. might as well use up all this dover white on stuff that I don't really care if it looks perfect or not...

[Longboardluv]

Prepping for bumpers, wheels, window sills and pop out frames and steering wheel...

[Longboardluv]

Got the support bar back in under the seat. There is a real good chance that I'll have all three rear seat cushions by this weekend!

[69Weekender]

This has been an awesome thread
_________________
Mitchell
ISO any California Road Runner Camper parts or info
1969 California Road Runner Camper: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=646780
2015 Toyota Tacoma V6 4x4
Past:
01 Honda Insight, 06 Beetle TDI, 77 Toyota, 96 Geo Metro, 06 Tacoma, 13 Jetta Wagon, 05 Jetta, 96 Corrado VR6
Other ICE Machinery: Alco 251F 16v & 8v

[Longboardluv]

all that keeps coming to mind is classy!

[zozo]

[Longboardluv]

[quote="zozo"]

[Longboardluv]

made a run to harbor freight to start to get together my emergency roadsidet tool kit

then put in the new horn

it sounds okay, i'll have to compare it to a stock one some time

i think the horn button is messed up, not sure. I only messed with it a little while but i think this little set screw is split in half

spent quite a bit of time cleaning both the plates on the sides of the gearbox in order to tighten the bolts. I'm hoping that this solves the leak that it has. I was able to get about quarter to a half turn on most of the bolts so we'll see. I also topped off the gear oil while down there. No getting around getting messy doing that!

[Longboardluv]

unfortunately I don't think I've solved the gear box leak so I'll have to be thinking about a solution to that.

it was time to dive into the front brakes

sure enough the front right was soaked with brake fluid! So I pulled off the old wheel cylinders and cleaned up everything

all these got a good cleaning!

two dirty and two after hitting them with the wheel.

I really don't like these adjuster that were on there (on the right) they make it really hard to get a screwdriver in there and turn them. I replaced them with these on the left.

Really glad I did this! So much better now! I'm about done with the left side as well and plan on bleeding the system. Can't wait to see what kind of pedal i get.

[Longboardluv]

just a pile of tools

took off the old stricker plates

can cleaned them up on the wheel and installed new rubber stricker pads!

Then it was time for a special tool

yes this is designed to pop the hinges out of doors! how badass?!

got my faux patina-ed arm on

and bam we have a mirror!

[Longboardluv]

After spending quite a bit of time cleaning and trying to tighten both the plates on the gear box to stop the leak yesterday it was still leaking. But since it was clean I could see pretty clearly that it was coming from the very bottom. So I grabbed the 13mm box end and tightened both these and it seems to have fixed the leak!!! I hate counting my chickens before they've hatched but it's going on six hours without a drop and by now i'd have a 3 inch puddle!

[Longboardluv]

had okay brake pedal after replacing everything yesterday. I figured it was worth adjusting them again after driving it around and now the pedal is great! I figure the pads have to kind of settle in because some of them were out quite a bit and I know I had them really tight after installing them.

taped the horn button for paint

paint it black and put it back, my mantra

took the old for handle that was on there

and made a template

cut it out

primed

painted

then HotAirBoy brought over the back cushion!

I'm just ready for a cool fall day and a pillow now!

[Longboardluv]

got the church key cover in the little plate

good enough and better than a big hole

making one thing kind of shiny

horn button looks better. Hope to install it today

With the brakes completely dialed in I'm rocking hubcaps on the right side now! need to replace some hubcap clips on the left though.

[terry]

Hi Matt. Bus is looking good. Im in the same boat as you. I just got a 65 single cab in rough shape. Gary gave me your info for the bonded title process. Im just starting the rust repair. Im in south austin maybe ill see you at a shop night. Peace Terry