TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jun 14, 2016 11:57 am

Hello, I'm Anatoli from Bulgaria!
After a long time of just reading posts here, I'm ready to show what I'm trying to return back on the road. I remember this Vw since I was a kid. When I realize that it has been forgotten from its owner I decided to start "small" project and try to restore it. It has been sitting in the mud for more that 10 years without front beam. Here is how I found it in the backyard of the owner.

After about a month trying to convince the owner to sell it to me and that I'll try to restore this vehicle, not to give it for scrap, finally it was mine and I took it home. It was not possible to get it other way that with a forklift:

The engine was not inside, I was told that it is stored in the garage of the owner and the front beam should be somewhere ... who knows where. But I'm a believer ... so I decided that I'll find all the parts at some point.

Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:45 pm

Welcome to TheSamba!

Here is a little information. Good Luck

Pictures would be cool.
How to post photos/How to post a photo in the Forums

Pronunciation (Samba) English

I am thinking of buying a VW van
Cleaning+Rodents+Hantavirus
Up in smoke... Bus fires... don't let it happen to you!
M-Plate Location
M-Plate Decoder Volkswagen Type 2 Bus
Bus VIN / Chassis Numbers
Type 2/Bus Owner's Manuals
Bus repair manuals
Bus parts manuals
Early Baywindow Bus Parts Book
Late Baywindow Bus Parts Fiche
Type 2 Wiring Diagrams
Model and Year Variations
Type 4: Secrets Revealed
Distributor Parts & Specifications
PARTS INTERCHANGE MANUAL
Youtube Videos

There is a ton of information located at the top of the Forum section.

Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:49 pm

:shock:

DUDE YES YES YES YES DO IT

this is a badass vehicle, best of luck. Please post updates and stuff as you work on it!

Tue Jun 14, 2016 2:23 pm

Welcome!

It looks like it's going to be a fun project! Buy lots of mig welding wire and grinding discs!

Wed Jun 15, 2016 12:34 am

Hey guys, actually this was how it looked like last year. Now it is a bit different already, but still a lot of work to be done. I'll share the progress and will tell you the whole story :) So here some pictures after I got it home. I tied to clean and preserve temporary the rusty metal that I think sill can be saved.

At that time I was still investigating what is the state of the bus at the traffic police in Bulgaria. All document were lost from the ex owner, believe me it is not an easy thing to do here - it took me another month.
Please just do not judge my work too strictly, I'm an computer engineer :) Those days I didn't have a mig welder at all. Progress is slower than I would like but I'm working on the truck only on weekends. [/img]

Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:28 am

That is an excellent project. So, you've gone after some of the surface rust, which is fine. I would treat it with phosphoric acid (a product like Ospho if you can find it) and get some paint on that, just to arrest the rust. See if you can get any rust treatment to the inside places, too.

But the surface rust you have gone after is the easy part. :) Take a good long look at all the structural members on the underside. Take some photos and let us see! You may have to learn some welding skills. I am also an engineer (environmental) but have signed up for a welding class this fall at our local university. I have some rusty projects like yours, and decided that I need to learn to do it myself. Hiring a talented welder is expensive, even for engineers. You'll be wanting to save your money for an engine, gates, and whatnot.

Did you get legal title to the bus, in the end? If not, this may all be for naught.

As a 1977 bus, you have a great model year. I expect it came with a 1600-cc engine Type 1, but you could put in a 2000-cc Type IV engine if you can find one. And that bigger engine will really make that pickup go!

Good luck on the project! Once it is running, you will have one of the best pickups ever made.

Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:46 am

tolkata wrote: It was not possible to get it other way that with a forklift:

This is an absolute fantastic photo. 8)

Best of luck.

-dasdachshund

Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:38 pm

Hi guys! Thank you all, you are giving me the courage that I need to finish all this.
The idea was to go for the surface rust first and after all patching and panel replacement is done, to treat all the rust left with some product based on phosphoric acid. Structural parts of the bus are not not that bad, but there are patches over patches without cutting any rust. I'll post some photos. Now I already have a welder and got some welding skills, still a lot to learn. Engine is 1600cc I have rebuilt it as well, photos a bit later :)

Wed Jun 15, 2016 2:28 pm

You have your work cut out for you :shock:

it's gonna be tiiiiiiiight tho dude

Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:07 am

Yeah that is right - a lot of hard work ahead.

So those days (last year) I start cutting some of the rust:

There were 3 layers of metal one over the other, and as mentioned before all the rust left in between. They did patches over the rust :shock:

Those days I also went to the ex owner garage and found the engine. It was all around you can not imagine ... it took me a half day to find all parts in this mess. Take into account that it was half disassembled :?

I also found the front beam outside the garage it was in very bad condition:

Also found the front tires and the rest from the front suspension - stored in the roof of the house - crazy people :!:

So I had more or less all parts now at my place - happy days.

As to the legal state of the bus - I got all document needed to register it back again, just have to bring it to the traffic police station once done.

[/img]

Thu Jun 16, 2016 4:33 am

Well done, you are on your way!!

Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:13 am

Thanks once again :)
Lets close the work I did last year in some pictures. As autumn was coming I decided to try repairing the front beam and to get the van in the garage which unfortunately is not big enough, but at least it will not stay outside on the rain and snow coming.
So getting some drawings from the forum I laser cut 10mm thick steel plates for the front beam. All the old rusty metal was removed and the new plates has been welded. Then the beam was back on the bus after more than 10 years.

Then all the rest of the front suspension and here it is on his wheels :)

Engine has been revisited, all the seals replaced with new ones:

Gearbox was cleaned a bit as well:

So after all the work done - I tried to start the engine, but no luck. No matter that I did timing , new spark plugs , etc. For me it looked like a problem with the carb, and I left it aside for some time. There is also some problem with the gearbox, no 1st gear.

Anyway I get the bus in the garage and left it there till this spring.

More of the story later on :)

Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:18 am

The repair to the front beam is excellent. Way to go, Anatoli! I bet you were jumping for joy when you got it on all fours again. Badass.

Thu Jun 16, 2016 9:38 am

Off course I was happy , but tired as hell, so I was not jumping too much :)

As winter was coming and I left the bus in the garage, I start working on what I can - the doors. I bought myself MIG welder and start welding :wink: I bought 2 second hand doors that should have been perfect, but they were not. So out of 4 doors I build back 2 doors and chose and clean the best parts that can be reused.

Also I got some new parts for Christmas :)

Happy days, cheers!

Fri Jun 17, 2016 1:33 am

After the metal work of the doors was done I decided to go for outriggers.
I had some time to play with this so I decided to bend them myself using some drawing from the forum again. I also built my mini metal bender, using some ideas from the web.
Here is the bender and the first product:

And few days later i have the whole set:

I got some measurements of the inner sills , but as they were to long for my bender i just give those to a small local shop to bend it for me. Then I just have to weld a bit and here we are:

I'm very pleased with the result. Could be better but as for the first try is excellent.

So this was done during the winter, next time I'll show some of the panel replacement already.

Cheers!

Fri Jun 17, 2016 7:12 am

Outstanding. You and that bus were made for each other. Can't wait to see what you've done next. :P

Fri Jun 17, 2016 8:18 am

Nice job
Tcash

Fri Jun 17, 2016 11:46 am

Hey secretsubmariner I do not know if we were for each other with the bus, but I'm trying to do my best and I enjoy it.

So what I did next ... It was raining a lot in Bulgaria those sping days so I tried to work inside. I bought some more parts - front shock absorbs, as this was one of the things I couldn't find in the ex-owner garage and repair kit for the carburetor.

I got some cheap spray gun and did my first try to use it with epoxy primer:

I repaired the original silencer and got some second handed heat exchanges in very good condition that I just painted a bit. This is dead mouse I found inside :shock:

I went for carb rebuild (unfortunately I didn't take any photos) and I was decided to fire up the engine and hear his voice. By the way I was told by the ex-owner that the engine was given for rebuild that is why it was out of the bus. According him it should have new bearings and piston rings.

Here is the end result in short video:

I was really jumping for joy 8) last year it didn't want to start , but the carb kit really did the trick.

Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:25 pm

Wow.. you're doing a great job bringing that left for dead bus back to life.. Keep up the great work!

Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:35 am

Hello guys,
Here some pictures during the metal work on the left side of the bus:

Still have to do some grinding here, but so far so good.