'63 Panel Camper to Deluxe conversion project

[LAGrunthaner]

[mandraks]

looks great. congratulations.

This will be a lot of work to put back to original
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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[edgood1]

I cleaned up some 15" rims for the bus.

and painted the black steering wheel white while I was at it.

it's funny, 15" wheels are one of those things I'm always on the lookout for. I somehow have amassed 15 of them.
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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[1970PAKombi]

You're doing a truly amazing job, I love this thread, I am in love with this bus too. Kudos and keep up the love!

[edgood1]

[Burlyhammer]

[shortwing]

Hey! Any updates on this sa-WEET project?
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"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." Henry Ford.

[edgood1]

I'm going to make a concerted effort to get this bus on the road in the next couple of months. I put a lot more work into the body, touch ups, repaints, color sanding and polishing over the winter. I started wiring it up today.

who polishes their rear apron? or more aptly put, who doesn't?

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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[edgood1]

I'm trying to reuse as many parts that came with the bus as possible. I spent a lot of time sandblasting and painting little things.
This is just a tiny sample

My bus came with "white" turn signal lenses, which was a thing for a short while in 1962 to 1963.

I'm curious, what is this cargo door mechanism supposed to look like when new? I cleaned it up pretty good but it's still looks kind of rough. All of the NOS ones I've seen look similar

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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[EverettB]

The parts look nice, cool!

The cargo door latch is shiny as it's plated but not polished or chrome looking.
Your photo looks like a good approximation to me.
Hard to tell for sure in pics.

Here's my 7/63 Bus, it has a "D" latch:

Obvious this is dirty and never cleaned - I think it was a little more shiny when new and maybe more shiny if I cleaned it up a little.
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[edgood1]

Thanks Everett, that's a great reference pic. The rear cargo door mechanism came out better. I think this is closer to what they looked like new.

It probably saw a lot less use than the forward one. It's hard to get that tarnish out, which is probably from the grease leaking out of them over many years of constant use. I'm happy with them.

It's really nice having an all original bus is great condition (the '65 westy) to use as reference. I constantly forget that I can do that I find myself looking on this site for pictures of what things looked new or how things go together and never realize that I have several buses right here that I can look at. I also have a very rough 62 bus that I've been picking parts off of. It's really really hard not to pick parts off of the westfalia because everything is original and in really good shape but I need to keep it that way.

Reference vs restored.

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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[Navydave73]

Nice job! Keep it up, it hit several stall points over the 5 years it took me. Your paint looks amazing

[EverettB]

What chrome paint did you use for the taillight buckets?
_________________
How to Post Photos
Everett Barnes - [email protected] | My wanted ads
"Water is the only drink for a wise man" | "Communication prevents complaints"
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[edgood1]

[edgood1]

I've been waiting for it to get warm enough to repaint the rear hatch and the passenger side rear corner. There were some blemishes in the paint that I couldn't wet sand out.
before

after

This came out so good I'm tempted to repaint the rest of the bus
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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[edgood1]

While I was literally waiting for paint to dry, I gathered up the 3 non working deluxe clocks that I've amassed over the years. I've had luck fixing these in the past. The one that would be correct for my bus was naturally the one in the worst shape but with a little knuckle grease and a lot of patience I got it cleaned up and working. It's been running on my desk for the past couple of hours and the solenoid click that happens every minute or so is a relaxing sound.

Link


Reassembled:

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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[BarryL]

How did you do the bezel off and on?

[edgood1]

[edgood1]

The dash is coming together. I'll need to clean up or replace the grab handle. I'm still working out some electrical gremlins with the flashers.

I put all the doors mechanisms back on except for the drivers door. The original one was broken and I got this replacement from cip1 but it's the wrong one. I think this is the earlier verison.

I might try welding the original back together.
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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[John Ghia]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=
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BUS BOYZ