TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1954 RHD Barndoor Samba

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:01 am

Hi folks! Matt and Sam from Airkraft here. We are in the process of restoring a 1954 RHD Samba from modified back to stock. A little history on the Bus: Imported from Sweden in the early 2000s and purchased by myself (Matt) before being sold on to Andy Carroll. Andy commissioned a restoration and build up, which included a 2007cc turbo motor build, IRS rear suspension, lowering job etc. The Bus went on to win the coveted "Best of Show" trophy at VolksWorld in 2006 (if my memory serves me right...), and was also a VolksWorld mag cover feature.

Andy sold the Bus on and now the present owner has commissioned Airkraft to restore the Bus back to 100% stock. I will be adding regular updates as often as possible, and aim to make this a fairly heavy picture fest with lots of before, during and after photos. I hope you guys like it!

Anyway, if you get a chance, please check out the Airkraft Facebook page and give us a "like" and a share if you can.

Big thanks!

So, this is how the present story starts... Take one show winning Bus and strip her all down to the bare bones:

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:06 am

Continuing the strip down: making a roll around jig, which incorporates a simple roll over jig...

We needed to remove the belly pans to reveal the extent of the rust issues that had creeped to the surface...

And... the centre belly pan removed:

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:08 am

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:10 am

So here's the dreadful IRS conversion. Just cutting this abomination off and making good all of the hideous welds took days of work...

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:11 am

The rear chassis had been notched for the turbo exhaust system to clear:

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:18 am

So, with the belly pans off, we were able to fully assess the poor previous metal work and also the extent of the rust issues. It was decided that the Bus needed a complete media blast, so all of the underseal was scraped off - a truly labourious task!

Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:23 am

That's all for today... I'll be back tomorrow with some more updates!
Cheers, Matt

Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:57 am

Nice work so far, thanks for posting and I look forward to updates.

Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:38 am

Thanks Everett! Do you remember riding in the back of my 1963 Devon Samba at Bad Camberg many moons ago?

Cheers, Matt Keene

Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:45 am

So, here's some of the delights in store for us...

Tue Apr 19, 2016 3:40 am

The beginning of the paint strip down, which began to reveal some poor previous metalwork...

Tue Apr 19, 2016 3:46 am

The roof...

Tue Apr 19, 2016 3:55 am

As you can see, the Bus had had an absolutely fantastic paint job that had hidden some poor metalwork. When we started this Bus, I spoke to my good friend who had painted the Bus and he warned me that the metalwork beneath was pretty poor. I kind of thought my buddy was exaggerating slightly, but the ugly truth was far worse than expected. How my buddy made a silk purse out of a sow's ear is a true testament to his fantastic craftsmanship - all of the panel lines and swages were so good, they had me completely fooled!

So, it was decided that the best course of action would be to do a complete rework of all the metal work. This would also include media blasting the complete Bus...

Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:26 am

Been following this on FB. Amazing skills, top quality.

Thu Apr 21, 2016 3:17 am

Here's a sample of some of the repairs necessary:

Thu Apr 21, 2016 3:59 am

I particularly like the quality of this repair!

Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:21 am

So, here's the start of Airkraft's repair. We aim to achieve the highest standards with a "metal finished" approach - meaning we hand planish and hand "pick" all of our repairs to make an invisible repair, to give that "factory" look. Wherever possible, we aim to keep as much original metal as possible. We would rather spend the extra time fixing OG metal than replacing with a reproduction panel. Of course, we have to be realistic and when it makes sense to replace large panels such as sides etc., then so be it.

Here's the gnarly exhaust cut out repair:

Some Pullmax action to cut the 2mm steel:

Some Eckold shrinking and stretching:

Clamping new metal in place:

Tig welding action:

A high penetration tig-weld:

Hand filed, planished, picked and metal finished repair:

Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:23 am

More chassis work:

Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:33 am

Thu Apr 21, 2016 8:54 am

Hi
wahoo !!! why a so deep layer of filer ?
the bus doesn't look so bad
good job for the welding ! :D
yan