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Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:20 am

Hi everyone, thought some of you might like to take a look at 59 11 window microbus we have been restoring over the last couple of years for a customer. I run DAS Resto Haus here in Australia (VW restoration shop).....purists may not like the 'modernisation' of this bus, but we have attempted to retain an element of style consistent with the original design. So even if its not your 'thing', hopefully you can appreciate the work involved.

Cheers
Al

Well before I take a retrospective look and upload some of the 1200 odd pics we've taken throughout the resto, thought it might be good to preview how the bus looks in a 'close to completed form'

Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:22 am

It started out life as a semi solid 1959 Microbus.

Before I dive into a heap of restoration progress pics, I'll fast forward a little to give you an idea of the direction we took ..

Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:23 am

Like a lot of 50 plus year old buses, there are always lots of stubborn screws - rather than drilling and retapping all threads, where we can we use heat and then water/air to expand/contract the screw/screw plate to help uncrack them

So often people will assume "the rust is not too bad" when they can only see a small pin hole or two, but this is more often than not what is hiding underneath...

After blasting

The start of one of the major custom mods of this resto....a walk through conversion

A lot of Klassic Fab repair panels went into this bus (we are now the Australian distributors of these great panels)

Shaping walk through backs/sides

Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:25 am

A hell of a lot of time was spent gapping the doors and apertures throughout the welding stage

None of the buses were perfect out of the factory so often a bit of tweaking is required for the repair panels

Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:26 am

There are a lot of subtle (as well as some not so subtle) details on this bus including modified jacking points to keep the lines clean on the side of the bus as these are not very attractive in stock form. A bottle style jack will be used (if necessary) on the chassis rail (strengthened) but the jacking point has been 'cut and shut' so it can still be used a hoist lifting point

Lower windscreen sections had to be replaced as well

A donor door provided a replacement lower section (inner)

And a KF section plus a hand formed piece completed the rust repair on the outer skin

Lots of plug welds required for the cargo floor section

RHD locking ball handle Berg shifter is the ducks nuts

The start of the custom air conditioning installation

Another custom touch was the dash treatment including a glove box

I'll get some more pics up soon.
Cheers for taking a look
Al

Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:39 am

What a beautiful job! Your "customer" should be very pleased.

Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:42 am

None of the repair panels were perfect out of the factory so often a bit of tweaking is required for the buses

fixed it!!

edit forgot to say you make them work!! :oops:

Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:47 am

Showin' off the biz, eh, Al?
This is a killer build. :wink:

Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:36 am

8) 8)

Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:08 pm

jacco verveer wrote: None of the repair panels were perfect out of the factory so often a bit of tweaking is required [b]for the busesfixed it!!

Thanks Jacco, you are right....a lot of the repair panels need tweaking....but likewise when you check door aperture and other internal measurements of these old buses and cross check them with factory specs, very few are exactly to spec after 50+ years. One repair panel will fit one bus perfectly, but will be not even close on another bus :)

For anyone interested, here are some of our other resto's:
http://dasrestohaus.com.au/gallery2/main.php

Cheers
Al

Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:19 am

The start of the air con evaporator (blower unit) cover

Lots of little details like filling in the original brake fluid reservoir access hole

And fabricating a new heater duct

Hydraulic clutch

One amplifier is mounted behind each front seat and is covered (more details later)

As the owner is a cyclist, he requested we integrate bike mounts (x2) in the rear cargo area that fold away under the floor so remain hidden when not in use

Deluxe bumper trim has been installed on both bumpers

More dash work

Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:23 am

After quite a few hours the glove box door was close to completion

Coolers underneath the bus include the AC condensor, engine oil cooler and intercooler radiator (all with thermo fans mounted above coolers) plus small supercharger oil cooler - cable conduits/tubes etc have been relocated to allow fans to be mounted on top

Speaking of the engine, it will be a 2275cc type I based motor with AC compressor, single throttly body (coupled to Link G4 ECU), custom water to air intercooler, and a Rotrex supercharger which will produce around 7 pounds of boost. This was fairly early on in the mockup stage

Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:25 am

The start of the custom roof lining (fibreglass/mdf) with the rear sub box (sealed enclosure) housing the 2 10in subs.

Itchy stuff....

Front sections

A T3 engine access hatch was donated to the cause to make engine access easier (funny that)

Lots of time metal working the panels before filler work ensued

More pics to come
Cheers
Al

Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:48 am

Awesome build, all that work already makes me feel tired and not go to work!

Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:43 am

Wery nice custom stuff there.

Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:33 am

Thanks guys, I know custom stuff is not for everyone...especially the purists, but hopefully people can at least appreciate the work involved even if it isn't their cup of tea.

....some more pics....

Plenums for fuel injection runners ended up rectangular as height was an issue under the supercharger

Top of runners were bellmouthed into plenums

Wedgeports were selected by the longblock builders

Another engine mockup with cardboard intercooler for dimensions

Intercooler water pump

Intercooler water reservoir

Supercharger oil reservoir

More bare metal work before filler is applied

Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:35 am

under the passenger seat we integrated a fire extinguisher mount which is on a hinged door

The first to be installed in Australia - a Red 9 Design double wishbone front end which incorporates rack and pinion steering

The shifter was relocated backwards for both better comfort and also to give more room when in first and third (for clearance to the air con vents)

A mid mount was fabricated and chassis horns and gearbox cradle have been boxed for extra strength

A custom spacer was machined to fit an aero-style filler cap and neck

Obviously in mockup stage at this point but the new filler/tank setup has a block back vent (to relieve pressure whilst filling) as well as a rollover vent which allows the tank to breathe but blocks if there was ever an accident and the bus ended up on its side/roof

Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:11 am

Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:07 am

delete

Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:14 am