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Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:04 am

DELTA 55 was collected last year here in Australia after passing through a friends hands he offered it to us when his circumstances changed.

This is the third SC for our family

I have a 65 SC, my son and I built a SC together starting when he was 8 yr old

Now it's time to build one with my daughter.

It took us 6 months to raise the cash and we headed of on a 17.5 hour drive non stop to collect her.

The excitement inside my daughter kept us going.

We collected her from our Friend Ben and he drove her straight up on the trailer and We headed off back home with a very excited little girl.

Some back story.

DELTA was born in 1955 in Wolfsburg
Sold New in 1955 in Australia
Moved to western New South Wales to a Station in Bourke
Then within a few years moved to a neighboring Station (DELTA)in Louth

At DELTA station she was used for transporting the fuel on their airfield to refuel the planes. She had a accident early in her life where she ran into a truck which caused damage to her nose and driver's A Pillar and Door.

She never left the station which is why she has only travelled 19000miles since New.

Then a few decades later she was sold and collected by a VW shop in southern Australia
He kept her a few years sold her to a chicken farmer who decided to take the nose off to examine the damage she had but decided not to continue further. Another VW shop took her and then sold it to our Friend Ben.

Now back to the road trip. The weekend we collected DELTA was a large national event in Melbourne which was kind of on the way home.

So Issy my daughter asked if we could do the event on the way home. Of course this broke up the long drive home and gave us a chance to see this southern show.

Delta was a hit we unloaded her and drove her into a show spot, yep she drives and runs.

Over the cause of the day she had a huge gathering consistently around her.

The event gave us a chance to meet some of her previous owners and here some stories.

The next day we loaded up and headed on another 11 hour drive home.

Well the plans have been set,

Issy would like to complete the following
Re attach her original nose
Repair the damage
Fix the rusty driver's will and small repair in treasure chest
Retrim the seat
Attach and install the original hoops
Build a nice 1641 to help make her a safe and enjoyable cruiser

On and a quick polish

Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:05 am

The collection and her first show

Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:17 am

Money shot and should be your avatar Schmidts.
Hey Alan Brase is this 55 single cab your 55 single cab's sister? :D

Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:20 am

Issy with her big brother Sammy, Sammy built a cool 56 Rat SC first that we rescued from the out back in Australia, we use that now to travel in do surf trips and attend VW shows up and down the east coast of Australia

Original sign writing we have contact the owners and they have filled in the blanks

19000 miles old and still running matching numbers as it left the factory in 1955

Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:22 am

Smile says it all

Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:52 am

Love it, every girl should have a VW Bus :wink:

Schmidts wrote: Smile says it all

Sat Feb 08, 2020 9:10 am

Wow,. nice!

Schmidts wrote:

What's the rubber tube in the upper-left?

Sat Feb 08, 2020 12:10 pm

EverettB wrote: Wow,. nice!

Schmidts wrote:

What's the rubber tube in the upper-left?

That's fresh air supply to the air filter.

So in Australia as most know rear vents sucked in the red dust in the out back so farmers looked at ways to get clean air in.

DELTA has pipe work to the cab and the air filter was mounted behind the seat

Sat Feb 08, 2020 12:54 pm

Dusty conditions air intake before VW thought to.
Yes, generally way nicer than mine. but for the wrinkled nose.
Looks to be several months earlier than mine.
I hear ya, Ev, looking at that original engine.
Al

Sun Feb 09, 2020 12:04 am

It is nice to have such a Family. Good Luck. Keep on trucking 8)

Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:50 am

Schmidts wrote:

19000 miles old and still running matching numbers as it left the factory in 1955

Looks like it sat inside for ages, that paint!
Sweet truck apart from the impact damage. On the plus side, easy to clean those wire connection with the nose off. ;)

Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:56 am

:D great truck, in need of a "facelift". :lol:

Sun Feb 09, 2020 2:04 pm

factory safaris too? luckily there are a lot of options for repop metal noses now :)

Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:29 pm

I will follow your progress on this with interest. I've been trying to do high end metal finished body work for decades, but now try to save paint while I do it.
IN addition to having an almost identical later 1955 (1956 model year) single cab, I also own the world's most crooked original paint Porsche 912 Targa project, a sad sack 1970 pop top Westy that a tree fell on the left A-pillar and my low mileage original paint 1983 diesel Vanagon that some distracted chickie babe tried to drive thru last year. Once these are finished, I will pat myself on the back.
One of the first things Delta 55 will need is a tug on the RH inner wheel house to straighten the buckle and get the edge back to the right place. I hope you can get access to a damage dozer or make one. You'll need a bit of a tug on the A pillar also, but with it all out in the open like that it should be pretty easy to get it near perfect with a few hours work. I'd work it hot. I use a trigger start MAPP gas torch with a hose, so I can just drop the torch and it goes off. Then I get about 6 seconds to work before it's too cold. Working hot lets the metal get upset back close to original and relieves much of the stretching.
The nose skin (and door skin, too, if you choose to unskin it- I think it would be best): I think one method would be to get one of those C-clamp air hammer planishing tools. One MIGHT even be able to coat the hammer with thin plastic and still remove most of the dents without losing much paint.
Reattaching the nose is gonna be a difficult task any way you look at it. Gotta be welded. Very best would be a plasma welder. As in the aerospce industry. Good luck on finding one.
TIG would be next. I'd probably end up using oxyacetylene, because I'm good at it. But it will lose the most paint.
Keep us posted.

Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:54 pm

Issy Schmidt says: put the original nose skin back on.
I agree complete. but I'd iron out the lumps first. and the ones on the door too.
Mine is a little worse, and I will likely try to blend some Dove Blue into the patina after I add some new metal on a couple holes.
Living in the GREAT WHITE NORTH, I don't like to share my ride with snow and wind. I have actually lived with a 1970 T2 for several winters without a gas heater but only a boost fan under the floor. I digress, not such a problem in Australia!

Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:48 am

Alan Brase wrote: I will follow your progress on this with interest. I've been trying to do high end metal finished body work for decades, but now try to save paint while I do it.
IN addition to having an almost identical later 1955 (1956 model year) single cab, I also own the world's most crooked original paint Porsche 912 Targa project, a sad sack 1970 pop top Westy that a tree fell on the left A-pillar and my low mileage original paint 1983 diesel Vanagon that some distracted chickie babe tried to drive thru last year. Once these are finished, I will pat myself on the back.
One of the first things Delta 55 will need is a tug on the RH inner wheel house to straighten the buckle and get the edge back to the right place. I hope you can get access to a damage dozer or make one. You'll need a bit of a tug on the A pillar also, but with it all out in the open like that it should be pretty easy to get it near perfect with a few hours work. I'd work it hot. I use a trigger start MAPP gas torch with a hose, so I can just drop the torch and it goes off. Then I get about 6 seconds to work before it's too cold. Working hot lets the metal get upset back close to original and relieves much of the stretching.
The nose skin (and door skin, too, if you choose to unskin it- I think it would be best): I think one method would be to get one of those C-clamp air hammer planishing tools. One MIGHT even be able to coat the hammer with thin plastic and still remove most of the dents without losing much paint.
Reattaching the nose is gonna be a difficult task any way you look at it. Gotta be welded. Very best would be a plasma welder. As in the aerospce industry. Good luck on finding one.
TIG would be next. I'd probably end up using oxyacetylene, because I'm good at it. But it will lose the most paint.
Keep us posted.

Our panel guy will take that on he has years of experience. We have a Gerson A post which we will use for the bent stuff floor with old crease and the nose is pretty sweet. I am not wanting a shiney clean nose we want to show her history and broken past. Like a good boxer.

Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:07 am

Ok so after weeks of heat, months of fires and conditions to hot to want to work outside.

The weekend seen a cool change with rain and a great chance to spend some time on Delta with Issy

Our plans has changed with our panel guy losing his farm in the fires so we have begun with some post panel work to help keep the build on track and time frame.

We plan to do trim, (seats door cards kick panels and roof cards) Repair and install the original hoops, pull out the original motor and box for storage , build a fresh 1641 and swing axle box conversion

We also will tackle any prep work requested from our panel guy

First job an easy afternoon in the cool to finish the week off

Teach your daughter the art of retrimming the seats.

Now the base cover was toast but we salvaged it for later and removed the messy coconut cushion

The top was quite good so we covered over it keeping the original underneath with out damaging it. Now this is a material and technique we used on my Son's SC last year. Recycling to it's best.

The foam and material was originally my queen bed mattress going out for scrap I had a light bulb moment. It's got all the materials we needed.

We cut the foam to shape and the material covering and recovered the seat.

This is one of the most comfortable seats I have ever read in. 12 months on its proven perfect.

So Issy requested the same comfort

That's one job completed now off to storage

Thu Feb 13, 2020 5:59 pm

Schmidts wrote:
It took us 6 months to raise the cash and we headed of on a 17.5 hour drive non stop to collect her.

Well at 3 gallons per hour figuring 20 MPG @ 60 MPH (about 100 KMH) for a tow rig and trailer, how the heck did you get over 50 gallons (about 200 liters of fuel in that)??

Great truck!!

Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:37 am

Eric&Barb wrote: Schmidts wrote:
It took us 6 months to raise the cash and we headed of on a 17.5 hour drive non stop to collect her.

Well at 3 gallons per hour figuring 20 MPG @ 60 MPH (about 100 KMH) for a tow rig and trailer, how the heck did you get over 50 gallons (about 200 liters of fuel in that)??

Great truck!!

Non stop as no over night stops I was allowed 6 x 20 minute stops for Piss , Coffee and Fuel :lol: Issy kept a tight time frame.

Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:00 am

Schmidts wrote:
Non stop as no over night stops I was allowed 6 x 20 minute stops for Piss , Coffee and Fuel :lol: Issy kept a tight time frame.

So non-non-stop, OK. Still quite the drive.

Here is some cool history of the first USA coast to coast non-stop drive:

https://www.carscoops.com/2010/11/meet-louie-mattar-and-his-fabulous/

More here:

https://www.google.com/search?biw=957&bih=619&...RhDh1QMICg

A good video:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&a...E_D4c62rKV