TheSamba.com :: View topic - My '71 East Coast Camper, a restoration by GermanSupply

Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:36 pm

Very nice! Looks like it'll be an "easy" restore.

Love this! So clean and original.

Mon Dec 17, 2012 6:25 pm

Bala wrote: Very nice! Looks like it'll be an "easy" restore.

Love this! So clean and original.

Thanks, here's a few more inside shots...

Here's the VDO tach I mentioned on the previous page... it's attached to the dashtop.

Has anybody seen one of these tachs before? It works great. I haven't seen one for sale or mentioned before in the classifieds or forums... It's also a nice place to rest your sunglasses when you get out of the bus.

Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:42 am

BobB10 wrote: Bala wrote: Very nice! Looks like it'll be an "easy" restore.

Love this! So clean and original.

Thanks, here's a few more inside shots...

Wow! This is an inspiration for me and I will use your pics to restore my '69..

I am sure this is an original floor, is it low pile carpet? or a linoleum?

PO installed linoleum in mine but I'd like to make it original.

Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:06 am

gintaras wrote: is it low pile carpet? or a linoleum?

Hi, it's a linoleum like floor, and original (all one piece not tiles). It's a blue/gray'ish/white/beige dots kind of thing...

Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:40 am

Yes sir. Actually a pretty popular add on for funny little foreign cars. Never seen one in an early bay. Looks good.

Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:04 am

notchboy wrote: Yes sir. Actually a pretty popular add on for funny little foreign cars. Never seen one in an early bay. Looks good.

Yup that's it... Wow 'notchboy', that's fantastic, thanks so much for sharing!! I've been trying to find that info for years... Guess I didn't know where to look or who to ask... Mystery solved.

You guys are great!

Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:27 pm

OK, SEND IN THE STRIPPERS!!!

Well I'm sure it went something like that, here's some pictures from the strip down of the bus at GermanSupply...

At this point the bus is almost completely stripped

Interior panelling remains

They begin masking the bus for soda blast

They are using vapour barrier tape and 6-mil vapour barrier

back side...

Winshield is the worst on the bus

There is no rust through, only deep surface rust

Sliding door track area has rust also

This is about as bad as it gets, which is not too bad at all for an eastern bus

This area is almost always very rusty, on this bus it looks perfect (says Scott)

Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:53 pm

Great looking bus! I'll be watching and learning from this thread. I'm partial to the 71 white westys :wink:

Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:16 pm

one thing i want to mention about this photo is NEVER use that red 'tuck tape'. the red tape was suggested to us by the soda blasting company and it was a nightmare in the end. it separates when you remove it and it leaves a terrible mess. the only thing that you can use to remove the residue it leaves behind is acetone which is nasty stuff to work with.

Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:49 am

Thanks Scott, I think that's good advice for everybody... so remember guys, when you're finished stripping, and you're totally blasted, nobody wants to clean up your terrible sticky mess :lol: (sorry I couldn't help myself)

Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:53 am

71whitewesty wrote: Great looking bus! I'll be watching and learning from this thread. I'm partial to the 71 white westys :wink:

Thanks '71whitewesty'! we have lot's more to share with you guys...

Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:00 am

Hi try this tape next time, leaves no residue. Good Luck
http://www.tapejungle.com/categories/Gaffers-Tape/?gclid=CKjm9sXdprQCFQtxQgodRSYA5g

Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:42 pm

Nice project. Scott at German Supply is awesome guy. He really knows his stuff and has the quality parts. Your in good hands.

If you don't mind me asking what the budget and timeline on a Getmansupply resto?

Congrats on your bus and the adventures ahead!

Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:29 pm

Congratulations on your find! You are fortunate to have such a Guru so close. Scott is the best of the best. Hope you are paying special attention to the underside. When I did mine this is where I started. If you have a hole there you have issues in that wheel well underneath that needs to be cut out and new metal welded in. The only metal work on my garage kept for 28 years was the wheel wells in these areas in both sides. I stripped mine to bare metal underneath and out side and spot blasted certain areas inside.Look in the inside rear wheel areas,under the front seat pedestals in the "stash" area and especially where your seatbelts mount. My undercarriage litterally had no pitting....but these areas needed some metal work. Don't go cheap. Very nice project Bus. Good luck!

Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:41 pm

curtis4085 wrote: If you don't mind me asking what the budget and timeline on a Getmansupply resto?

bob might not want to discuss budget, i know i will be a little sheepish to discuss the timeline.

understand why the questions are being asked. i found this thread interesting:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525684

Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:57 pm

germansupplyscott wrote: curtis4085 wrote: If you don't mind me asking what the budget and timeline on a Getmansupply resto?

bob might not want to discuss budget, i know i will be a little sheepish to discuss the timeline.

understand why the questions are being asked. i found this thread interesting:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525684

No worries. I know from experience there's no budget when it comes to perfection. And timelines move as the wind when chasing that rainbow. Either way the owner is in great hands.

Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:52 am

curtis4085 wrote: No worries. I know from experience there's no budget when it comes to perfection. And timelines move as the wind when chasing that rainbow. Either way the owner is in great hands.

Thanks guys, it's funny, I've never thought of what we're doing as perfection. Far from it. I just wanted it to be a 'no excuses' bus. Y'know, if we can fix it now, then let's do it. Much easier than having to bodge something on the side of the road.

I agree Scott at GermanSupply is a bus guru, and I'm very lucky to have him do this bus for our family. That's why we sent our camper 1500km / 950 miles away to him to be restored.

Timeline and money? well we've had a few delays due to Scott moving locations (but I still keep finding him haha) but he's all settled in a nice new place now, and is nearly finished another restoration project. So mine will get his full attention shortly. He's got a lot on his plate, but I think it'll be worth it in the end. As for the money thing, I've had many cars over the years (mostly older sporty types) and I'm surprised all the time by how reasonable stuff costs. I know, by reading vw forums you guys often go off on how such and such widget is now $150 but really, consider yourself lucky, these things are 40+ years old and in most cases an NOS or rebuilt part is still available somewhere. The other thing is that we should all use the technical experts more... pay for their expertise. They have a lifetime of experience, and deserve to earn a living too or we will lose them forever.

I'm building this bus for me, it's not for concours or vw events. It's going to go camping and roadtrips, and look and work fabulous while doing so.

Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:32 pm

STRIPPING CONTINUED...

A snake-pit of dried up old rubber seals

Battery tray is disgusting and has a big hole under the patch piece

Transaxle is gone

Label for engine bay insulation. Great looking graphic.

Underbody is super solid. This bus has belly pans on the outside rails but not in the middle

Rocker detail

Scott says that this is truly the best original rocker he's ever seen on a native Canadian bus

Interior of cab is gutted. They could have left this together but in the long run it is easier this way (Eeeeek!!)

They will soda blast the seat pedestals and front floor

Seat belt mount has typical rust, this will be cut out and repaired

Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:39 pm

Headliners are removed

Registration Tag

Masking is almost done

Wonder if she knows what's going on...

Almost ready to go the blaster

All the doors have been completely stripped for blasting

Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:03 pm

Nice job!
Boy o boy does that look familiar. I did almost the same thing to my 71 Tintop Westy.
I used chemical stripper instead of media blasting. There are a few more photos in my gallery (around page 5, 7 and page 8 )

Good luck!