TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun May 30, 2021 1:42 pm

July 2019. Leaving Alexandria VA. Heading home with my latest project.

Mon May 31, 2021 4:13 am

Bus was brush painted . Previous owner tried to sand some of it off but the amount of Bondo and rust in this bus doesn't make it a strong preservation candidate. Motor ran but not very good . I was able to drive it on the trailer but only had emergency brakes. When I got it home I thought I would get it running and stopping and enjoy it the way it is. This will be my story of what path this bus actually takes.

Vehicle I.D.

dogleg damage

rear rust

typical window rust

nose rust

front floor rust

Mon May 31, 2021 7:21 am

great SC !

have fun with it

Mon May 31, 2021 8:31 am

A Dual Chester too !!
Looks like a do-able resto. Did it come w/ seats & Bumpers ??

Mon May 31, 2021 1:17 pm

Crukab Yes seats, and bumpers are in the back . 14" rims were also included. Spent a lot of time cleaning the bus at first. The SC was undercoated a long time ago so most of it came off fairly easy. Plenty of grease at the usual places, front end and transaxle. This is my 1st bus in a long time, have restored 3 beetles ,65 66 and 54. Still have the 66. I also spent a lot of time researching the build threads and purchased the 63-67 Bentley workshop manual. the guy I bought it from said that the motor didn't run very well and as I was driving it onto the trailer it seamed that it was starving fuel. The muffler was toast too. As I Was removing the muffler and the checking the plugs I discovered acorn shells. That usually isn't a good discovery, so I pulled the motor. Cool part about buses is pulling the motor is a hell of a lot easier than beetles. I'm glad I pulled the motor. Can anybody guess the color from the inside of the decklid.

motor is 73 beetle dualport

muffler off

acorns and mouse nest stuff

more acorns and stuff

mouse stuff between cylinders

engine fire a possibility

battery tray area more on that later

more rust

D-pillar rust get the welder warmed up

Tue Jun 01, 2021 3:48 am

Great thread 8)

Wed Jun 02, 2021 10:21 am

Since the mice decided to use this motor as a condo, getting the sheet metal sandblasted and painted was the next step. As I was doing that a fellow VW friend contacted me about some parts that I had left over from my 54 beetle restoration. The good part about that was he also has VW engine rebuilding skills. We worked out a trade for some parts and cash to look at my long block and rebuild if necessary. The exterior of the motor looked like hell and the previous owner didn't know the history of it. Small problem was, I live in NC and he lives in Mich. Only solution to the problem was a road trip . So I packed the long block 3 ribbed doors and a bunch of other parts in my Honda HRV. We both got to save on the shipping cost and gas was cheap at the time. Total fuel cost was 140 $ there and back. My brother lives in Ohio so there wasn't any lodging. Sometimes things just work out. Here are a few pictures of my friends handy work.
I.D.#

Necessary parts

assembly and adjustment

final product

Getting the motor back home some months later was accomplished in the same way. This time some early 50's beetle seats front and back and more misc. parts were part of the payload. Plus I got to visit my brother again. Engine case was good along with the crankshaft the rest of the parts were junk according to the mechanic and probably wouldn't have lasted very much longer. I'm glad I pulled the motor.

Thu Jun 03, 2021 4:53 am

mtnbus
Thanks
CamBiscuit
Thanks

I delivered the motor to Mich. 11/21/19 and picked it up 6/22/20 so I had plenty of time to do other things. Next logical step was the gas tank because of how poorly the engine ran when I was driving onto the trailer. Draining the gas tank took me forever to do , there ended up being 3 gal. in the tank but 2 hrs. to accomplish it seemed excessive. After getting the gas tank out I found the problem , the metal screen inside the tank was corroded and was surrounded by 50+ years of gas tank funk and a little rust. Now I know why the engine ran so poorly it was starving for fuel. Overall the inside was in really great shape considering it's age. I cleaned up the outside of the tank with fiber wheels and sandblasting and painted it with Rust-oleum Farm & Implement rattle can paint ( Massey Ferguson Gray ). Paint is available at Tractor Supply . Found the color selection in the Forums . I thought it was a good shade match and nobody will ever see it except the next person who buys it.
Well the mice were busy around the gas tank area too. The motor was the condo but the gas tank area was 4 story hotel (see pictures ). Yes I did where a respirator while cleaning it up (nasty stuff).

busy little critters

elevator to the 4th floor

notice the creative support for the Bondo (drivers side)

gas tank

gas tank cleaning

painting (Massey Ferguson Gray)

Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:01 am

Congrats! Nice work! 8)

Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:35 am

If the area smells where the mice nest was, go to Petsmart and get Natures Miracle Urine destroyer. It saved my bus. I had a ton of nests and it smelled awful once I put water to the areas to clean them.

Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:45 am

While waiting for the motor rebuild I finished cleaning underneath and was discovering the real extent of the rust. This led me to the realization that driving it the way it was wasn't a good idea. The front frame had multiple repairs that were poorly done. The history of the transaxle and the fluid leaks everywhere wouldn't have made this bus very reliable for trips outside of my neighborhood. Then Covid came. So a running and stopping bus is going to be delayed for a few years. Pictures help explain it much better.

I-Beam separation from rust

Front Frame rust

Poor rust repairs ( just covering up the rust repairs )

No wonder the front beam was so hard to get off . They welded it to the repair

Horn barely hanging on

rear chassis cross brace repair with sheet metal pop rivets and Bondo

outrigger repairs

front floor repair ( bondo and pop rivets )

driver side engine compartment

cab load bed well used

treasure chest frame load bed on top door on the right

driver side rear wheel well

I guess that's enough pictures to give you the sense that I've got some work to do. Covid helped me stay at it and I am still working on this bus. Now I will try to split the bus into sections that I have worked on. Every restoration seems to be thousands of little jobs all tied together.

Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:00 am

Has some rust.

Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:31 pm

Captain Pike wrote:

Has some rust.

I know when I've been bested. You win in the rust department hands down. Maybe I should use "slightly rusted" in the future.

Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:43 pm

scottvw wrote: If the area smells where the mice nest was, go to Petsmart and get Natures Miracle Urine destroyer. It saved my bus. I had a ton of nests and it smelled awful once I put water to the areas to clean them.

Thanks, I doused it with lacquer thinner to start. It hasn't smelled yet but it hasn't gotten wet with water but now I know what to do if it ripens up in the future. Thanks again

Sat Jun 05, 2021 5:04 pm

Kb65single wrote: Captain Pike wrote:

Has some rust.

I know when I've been bested. You win in the rust department hands down. Maybe I should use "slightly rusted" in the future.
We all start somewhere.

Sun Jun 06, 2021 4:42 am

Repairing the front frame had to happen first if I was going to make a rotisserie to do the restoration. Plus I'm 64 years old and while crawling under a car is a good abdominal workout , age "should" bring wisdom.

rust holes in between the front beam bolts

getting to solid metal

cutting it out

making the repair section with proper contours

tacking it in

welding it shut

grind it smooth

Sun Jun 06, 2021 6:32 am

Moving on to the next spot

before

removing the bad. The plate behind the exterior frame metal holds the threaded cylinders that the front beam bolts to. I had to fab both the inside and outside frame plates at the same time . That way you can adjust the thickness of the frame. It also gives you something to clamp to.

fabricating the good (14 gauge metal ) with correct contours

Welded the top picture, to the picture below this at 90 deg. Tacked it in place then finished it on the bench. Welded it on the inside and outside.

welding it in and grinding

on to the inside

Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:09 am

Great work! Keep at it!

Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:27 am

On to the inside of the front frame driver side

Before

As it turned out the damage (rust holes here) allowed the moisture to drain and spare the bottom treaded cylinder that the front beam bolts to. I was not so fortunate on the passenger side.

fabrication: The metal thickness changed from 14 gauge on the outside to 16 gauge on the inside. I also always use cardboard templates to get the approximate size and shape of my pieces. I find 12-pack beer cardboard the best, always good to recycle or repurpose. If you need bigger pieces get the 24 case size.

Its easier to make the inside piece before you weld the outside on. Getting the hole location and the front 90 deg. bends is a lot easier without the front section getting in your way. Of course you will have to finalize the inside fit after the outside is fully welded in.

full weld and grinded smooth

I welded all the way around the bottom threaded cylinder which was not what the factory did. Look at the top one, they only welded about a 3/8 inch section.

On to passenger side

Mon Jun 07, 2021 2:07 pm

On to the passenger side where some of the same areas were rusted through

The bottom threaded cylinder that holds the front beam bolt was rusted through to the threads (see picture) the black lines are the threads

I used 4 nuts welded together as a substitute (Home Depot doesn't stock threaded metric steel cylinders) In order to hold my 4 nuts welded together in the proper alignment I used the plate that the rotisserie was going to be mounted to the bus. See the pictures with the Silver P below the nuts.

Welded the nuts to the bus but didn't get a picture. The plate was bolted to the bus with all 4 bolts before welding.

After the nuts were welded in I could finish the rest

The inside nut was welded 360 deg. but no picture

full weld and grind

Now that the front frame is repaired I can start the rotisserie and hopefully get off my back. I'm not as young as I think I am.