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Mon Aug 27, 2012 9:09 pm

Hi, everyone. I recently joined the army of Sambians and jumped in the cold waters of owning a bus. I purchased a '78 bay window 2.0 with FI. I started taking it apart to start the process and realized that the engine was overheating so bad, that the engine compartment was rusted badly because of the heat. I also found rusty holes in unusual places behind the last bench in the cabin ( in front of the gas tank compartment) and the bottom of the tank compartment. My question is what should be replaced and what coating to use on the rusted and painted parts in the engine compartment. Can i treat the rust or it HAS to be removed ? Thanks in advance.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 9:42 pm

how much work are you willing to do?

Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:35 am

SGKent wrote: how much work are you willing to do?
Hi! I have time and i am willing to try. Let's say I want to do it right.

Tue Aug 28, 2012 4:52 am

Do it right: Sandblast, cut out all rust, weld in new metal.

Do it wrong: wire wheel rust, paint with rustoleum.

In between - a lot.

Tue Aug 28, 2012 4:55 am

To be done correctly, you have to replace any and ALL rusty metal. You can treat it, but every speck has to be treated, or the rust will prevail. Your project looks like a real job and will require a lot of time and energy. Are you ready? Estimate your time and double it, plus 50%. Good Luck!

Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:58 am

That's a parts bus where I come from. Expect a lot of time and money to fix it properly

Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:46 pm

What do you want to do with the bus - restore it or just stop it from rusting any further? By the way, the heat from the engine didn't cause the rust. I don't see anything structurally that's too rusty. How's the front beam and how's the rear part of the frame where the rear torsion tube goes through the main frame rails?

There's plenty of options...

Scrape the loose rust away and paint with any good rust paint or POR-15. Or you can just apply some undercoating like Rust Check or Fluid Film - that will stop or at least significantly slow down the rusting. The two holes in the bulk head will have to fixed by cutting the holes back to good solid clean metal and either welding them up, pop rivet some metal over the holes or even fiber glass. I've seen worse where I live...

Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:10 pm

My bus is/was in worse condition. Its not practical for most people to replace ALL the rusted metal.

You're going to have to weld in new metal anywhere there is a hole, or where the metal isn't solid anymore. To see if its solid, hit it with a wire wheel, or my preferred choice, try and stab it with a screw driver :lol:

If the metal is still good and not too pitted, clean it up with a wire wheel and treat it with a quality rust product such as POR 15 (or whatever Eastwood's product is called). Alternatively treat it with a product like OSHPO and paint with an epoxy sealing primer.

Personally, I'm using a combination of all 3.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:09 pm

Joey wrote: What do you want to do with the bus - restore it or just stop it from rusting any further? By the way, the heat from the engine didn't cause the rust. I don't see anything structurally that's too rusty. How's the front beam and how's the rear part of the frame where the rear torsion tube goes through the main frame rails?

There's plenty of options...

Scrape the loose rust away and paint with any good rust paint or POR-15. Or you can just apply some undercoating like Rust Check or Fluid Film - that will stop or at least significantly slow down the rusting. The two holes in the bulk head will have to fixed by cutting the holes back to good solid clean metal and either welding them up, pop rivet some metal over the holes or even fiber glass. I've seen worse where I live...

Thanks everybody for a cold shower, but I expect a lot of work and a lot of money to fix that boy. I am not trying to make it new, but want it to be in the household for a while, so I'd like it to be solid. The reason I relate severe rust in the engine area to heat is that the other parts of the undercarriage are not nearly as rusty as the rear. The engine had no oil when I drained it, so I guess the engine was killed and driven to the ground. I will continue posting pictures of the repairs.
The plan is the following: after I finish the removal of transmission, I will sandblast the rear and start cutting some rust out. then I need to treat the metal ( POR 15 with all preps) and then prime. I am planning to use 20 gauge metal for repairs -is it going to be strong enough at the floor and rear seat section??
Thank you, everybody

Fri Aug 31, 2012 5:19 am

The biggest challenge is those hard-to-get-to places, like inside the structural members. But -- do the best you can with rust treatment (like Ospho or POR-15's Metal-Ready) and finish as you stated. You may be able to stop a good bit of it. It will never be perfect, but probably good enough fro driving around. Eventually, rust will probably kill it, so this is a matter of life extension.

Fri Aug 31, 2012 1:33 pm

My daily driver is a rustbucket Merc (thank goodness not my bus). So far, the one product I've found that works on already rusted sheet metal is a Rustoleum product called (geez, can't remember, but will update when I get home and look at the bottle again).

Using a small brush, I painted it on any rusty metal that I see and it turns into a shiny hard black thing. Almost looks like lacquer. If not too bad, I then just paint over it. If the metal is perforated, I will place a piece of fibreglass cloth impregnated with resin over the affected part. This effectively seals the metal.

If the hole's really big (like half the palm of the hand) I will reinforce the fibreglass with sheet metal cut to shape. I've done this successfully on a wheel well that looked like it had surface rust, that broke through when I tapped with a hammer.

If the hole is larger than my palm, I will cut a piece of metal, and weld it over. Structural rust is treated with the rustoleum and then if needed, thicker gauge sheet metal is welded to support it.

Fri Aug 31, 2012 2:48 pm

if people put their location in the avatar or their signature then other people could make better suggestions.

Fri Aug 31, 2012 3:49 pm

Trans is out. scratching my head. Break lines are dead, will change them all anyway. I am wondering where should I be looking for that panel above the accordion pipes?

Fri Aug 31, 2012 5:24 pm

I'm going to spout my usual line. There are good investments of time and money, and there are bad investments of time and money. And as the saying goes, sometimes the cheap comes out expensive. I agree with jtauxe, do what you can to keep this one alive, but think long and hard about whether this is the one that you want to restore. I think keeping this one alive for a while is the most sensible goal.

Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:31 pm

SGKent wrote: if people put their location in the avatar or their signature then other people could make better suggestions.
I live in Brooklyn, NY, work in CT.
Great suggestion, SGKent. That would be great to find a local mentor for myself. I know there are a lot of VW fans in Long Island, but I do not know anybody.

Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:47 pm

I'd leave it as is and drive it, and save money for a better bus to have in the long run. I dealt with a rusty bus for 10 years and now that I have a nice one, I haven't looked back. I've seen worse come back but it is going to be a lot of work and unless you are good with metal and welding the result might be mediocre(talking from experience).

Thu Sep 06, 2012 3:25 pm

Starting slowly collecting panels for repair. I was wondering if anybody knows where to get a rear inner valence from? I could only find one in UK for 95 GBP. Is there for sale here in the US?
Also I am going to repair the cabin floor the part that is right behind the rear seat. Is that part available or should i be looking for a donor part or try to fab something myself?
thanks

Thu Sep 06, 2012 3:38 pm

Hvost2000 wrote: Starting slowly collecting panels for repair. I was wondering if anybody knows where to get a rear inner valence from? I could only find one in UK for 95 GBP. Is there for sale here in the US?
Also I am going to repair the cabin floor the part that is right behind the rear seat. Is that part available or should i be looking for a donor part or try to fab something myself?
thanks

did you try bus depot?

Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:40 pm

I found the rear valence on busdepot, but it ships in 3-5 weeks and costs $152, so probably they are getting it from UK, too. The rear floor/wall i could not find.

Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:24 am

I've never seen the rear wall for sale, try your luck used. You can buy the floors, but only in large sections (half the floor at a time), it'll be $200+ and shipping will kill you. Unless the whole floor is in bad shape, just cut out some scrap metal and patch it. Odds are the floor is going to be covered in the end anyways.