surfcanada Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2007 Photos: 20 Location: SoCal
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SurfCanada |
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:38 pm Views: 309
Rating: Not rated
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I had always hoped to stumble on a solid “barn find” that was logo’d - patina'd on the outside, a time capsule on the inside. I've always liked the look of rust, but not the disintegration of real rust. A bus with a surf vibe, tiki touches and a little hot rod, too. Oh yeah, the bus had to be a 1962 - the same year I was born. Good luck finding that in one bus, so I decided to create it myself!
The first step was rust repair, so I called a friend of mine, Mike Stafford of MGS Custom Bikes. He specialized in metal fabrication and building custom $100,000 Harleys. The next year was spent stripping, cutting, welding metal throughout the bus. We installed 3” front tubs for good suspension travel, repaired the cut wheel wells, welded in one window, changed the turn signals, custom made a new spare tire well in the rear package area, fabricated fender skirts, added a 1958 engine lid with 3rd brake light. This was followed by a six month trip to Pacific Powder Coating, where a number of parts were powder coated. The bus was also mounted on a rotisserie, where they media blasted underneath and inside the bus. Pacific Powder Coating primed all the areas and shot the bus with bed liner material to seal it from any future rust. When the powder coating was done, the bus was returned to my house for assembly. From there the bus was painted and then sanded to give it a patina’d look, faux rust was added and a flat clear coat.
Here’s a list of some of the improvements...
Yes, every bolt on this bus has been touched - Kaddie Shack 1600cc engine, Rancho freeway flyer trans, Creative Engineering rack-n-pinion steering (raises steering box 2.5" without cutting frame), Wagenswest 4” narrowed 4” dropped spindle front end with Mustang II Disc Brakes, Wagenswest adjustable swing axle plates, 3” tubbed front wheel wells, Type 3 rear brakes, mid-frame mounted electric oil cooler, Wolfgang stainless front & rear safari windows, Vintage Speed muffler and shifter. HID headlights, new wiring harness throughout, plexi-glass vin |
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