TheSamba.com :: View topic - 20-020744 "The Tocksfors Rhd"

Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:59 am

Most impressive Ben - I admire your drive and vision and the ability to get the right people to do the bits you need them to - lovely bus and a cool bit of VW history....

Dave

Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:01 am

amazing.. what a contrats before / after !

Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:02 pm

Am I the ony one sad to see the magnificent metal work being covered over by paint? :cry:

Tue May 10, 2016 6:04 am

you sir, are a wizard! :shock: =D> =D> =D>

i wish i had these skills :)

Sun May 15, 2016 3:27 am

Absolutely amazing Ben!! :shock:

Mon May 16, 2016 3:07 am

Awesome project, well done so far :bus_blue: :)

Mon May 16, 2016 6:50 pm

Your dedication and ability to transcribe to written word is a joy to witness! Keep up the good work!

Sat May 21, 2016 10:54 am

This is awesome. Can't wait to see some pics of this bus on the road.

Seems like the "patina" exterior look requires as much or more work and skill as a new paint job!

Tue May 24, 2016 1:08 pm

Amazing work! Loads of respect for this save! =D>

Sat Jun 11, 2016 4:44 am

absolutely outstanding work - truly inspirational.

Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:38 am

goreygoreymanunited wrote: absolutely outstanding work - truly inspirational.

X 100000
Very awesome work... my kombi should be a breeze :lol:

Wed Aug 31, 2016 5:02 pm

Is this bus on the road now? Just curious what it is being used for and how it drives.

Sat Oct 22, 2016 1:09 am

Skill level expert! Well done!

Mon Oct 24, 2016 10:34 am

flat_six wrote: Is this bus on the road now? Just curious what it is being used for and how it drives.

I'm afraid to say it's been a little neglected through the summer, with a lot of other things happening, and a day job to do too! About time for a final push though so watch this space. Currently she's on wheels and wired in so we're not too far off.

The original front beam was CRUSTY, as were the trailing arms and other parts. In the end we took a better LHD beam and made one good one out of the pair. The drums were replaced with '55+ items to allow dual circuit brakes for better braking, and out back the tried and tested road of bolting in a big nut trans using spacer blocks on the spring plates was travelled yet again. Bolted to a nice little 1500sp it should make for a decent cruiser.

A new, correctly made wiring loom came from Jon at VWLooms as per usual, and the rapidly dwindling parts stash was raided for tail lights, headlights, and all those other little parts that she needed.

She's looking a little sorry for herself at the moment but I'll hopefully have more to report and some better pictures soon!

Sat Nov 05, 2016 10:49 am

Awesome work is there a update

Tue Nov 22, 2016 11:32 am

Ok, so here's a couple off better snaps ..............

Like I said I used the original front beam and a far better condition LHD beam to make one decent one, the original steering box and arm, original BD spindles and trailing arms, and later split bus drums. I have added a bay master cylinder and twin circuit brakes with all new lines and components. At the rear I installed a decent big nut trans using late split spring plates which need notching slightly for clearance, a Wagons West gearbox mount, and a set of Hayburner spacers to space out the springplates to match the track of the late trans. Apart from the slight nosecone trim that's needed just like it would be for a straight axle conversion, there's no other cutting to be done. It's all bolt on and can be easily reversed if I feel the need for a crash box! Everything has been cleaned, refurbished and detailed .......... apart from the rims 8)

For wheels I sourced a set of nicely patina'd 16" barndoor rims and shod them in some second hand land rover tyres borrowed from a friend. I feel that I may not be able to run them on the front due to clearance in the arch but the back wheels look wicked and just how I imagined that they would months ago :D

The 1500sp got a 12v conversion because we use our buses a lot and it's just plain easier, after all the trans, etc. aren't original barndoor anyway. Oli managed to work his magic on the original fuel tank too so another original part of this bus is now reinstalled! I wasn't sure that was gonna be possible as it was just a little roached so I was well chuffed to get that piece of the puzzle back in.

Oli also had a play with the paint and did his blending thing to tidy up the rear window, front panel and long side. The rear window is original but had some welding repairs ......... looks way better now

and the new panel to the top of the longside now matches the "old paint" swage-down section. I think this will rust up some more once it gets out in the weather and will start to blend with the rest of the bus even more, but for now I'm well pleased.

In the cab I couldn't bring myself to replace the speedo or the pod and so Ben wired new controls up underneath so I can retain the original instrument cluster in all its glory! He even got the dash lights working for me!!

Interestingly the starter button was minty fresh inside when stripped and rebuilt. Most components looked like new so maybe the mileage of this old girl is actually genuine!?! It actually seems more unlikely for it to have gone round the clock in the very few years that it was on the road and have such low wear on components like the pedals and electrics?!

Tue Nov 22, 2016 12:12 pm

What does the milage say? I can't make it out from the picture, but I can see it starts with a 0! Very, very nice work. I take it you're keeping this one at stock height if you're running those Landy tyres. Green laning?

Tue Nov 22, 2016 2:42 pm

Thanks dude. Yep a stock-ish green laner is exactly where I'm headed 8)

ok, so pretty unlikely I know, and it looks like the numbers may have been round, but then I bought it from the son of the original owner who remembers playing in the bus when it was parked up next to the local garage on his fathers land in the late fifties or early sixties. I guess if it went round the clock in its 8 or so years of use round town, (if it even got driven out and about in town), then the owner was very light footed on the pedals and light fingered on the electrics!!

Fixed the single reflector pressing by the way. One of just four known early rhd survivors with the single reflector pressing still on the left hand side before VW decided to run two rear reflectors instead of handed ones, (to suit the new factory rhd buses as well as lhd).

Front end tidied up too, and now wearing it's (slightly buckled) original badge. Massive thanks again to Patrick for knocking doors in Tocksfors and retrieving this along with other missing items :D :D

Wed Nov 23, 2016 6:12 am

Awesome to see this one on its "new" shoes. Nice work. Also cool to see the electrics sorted.

Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:03 pm

Awesome - just unbelievable... Every square centimeter of this bus has a story to tell, with expert human hands. Talk about character! Glad to see it closer to rolling down the road.

Might be cool to have a snap of that front axle next time its up.