Bringing back to life my1960 swr kombi

[motofly196]

Yes, the long wall. If you leave it like that, it will show horribly. That edge needs to be feathered down and stretched out. You can try to fill it with High build primer and block it out....but it will still show. It just depends on how well you want the repair to be. You've worked hard to get out all the rust, you might be a little disappointed if you paint it the way it is now.

[73sparks]

a little wet sanding and that line is gone. he put paint line above where work was done. it will all blend pretty good when done.
already featherd edges, pic doesnt show it well.
Thanks for input.

[73sparks]

fixed the hinges on engine lid, had to weld new screw plates in .
looks pretty good,need to work on screw plates on bus . screws are a little stiff.
PO had used door hinges so I will need to weld holes up and blend paint.

[73sparks]

[73sparks]

Alrighty so I am moving on to the front of bus to begin putting doglegs in and floors and nose repairs.
But I have been dredding this passenger door that is not original to bus.
If you look at pics you can see the sag in door, top hinge where it welds to the door appears to be tweaked.some cracks in metal and one of the
three points that are welded appears to be loose or moved.There is a bump above this in the metal which makes me think it was pushed by the wind and stretched.
my question is what can I do ,cut it open and try to reweld and bend hinge. any pics or sites with advice aporeciated.
need this done so I can fit dogleg and move closer to finishing bus.✌

[73sparks]

[nineteensixtyfiveVG]

this bus is going to be awesome, cant wait to see the final product. what kind of interior are you going to do?

[73sparks]

Thanks, I am going with Claras grey kombi interior front and back.
Originaly it was ordered as a camper.

[73sparks]

[73sparks]

Help I need some suggestions on how to align passenger door.
I searched the forums and tried some things guys had posted,but no luck.
Getting really pissed off at door need to get this aligned so I can weld in dogleg.
clamped where rivets are and welded cracks in the metal, helped a little.
you can see from last pics when pass door almost closed hinges are already engaged and causing flex in hinge.
driver side lined up perrfect and when it is at same point ad passenger door I have a gap in hinges no flexing.
I have adjusted every way possible no help,still has bad sag.
Help....

[sgellis]

Door or hinge is bent. Likly from being forced open to far. If the hing doesn't have a bend at the screws... Put a block of wood in the hinge and force the door shut a little. Should bend the hinge mount in the door.
_________________
My 64 Kombi restoration
My camper interior build
My 54 standard restoration
The Nova Scotian Barndoor (YouTube)
The Nova Scotian Barndoor (CAD drawings)

[73sparks]

so let me understand this, which hinge should I bend since door is sagging so bad?
I am thinking I need to just get crazy and bend door up from where it is sagging to clear dogleg wuth 2 by 4 wood. and hope I dont rip hinge out.
thanks for info👍

[ryans65]

Looks like upper hinge needs to be pinched together or lower hinge needs to be pulled apart, maybe a combination of both. Socket trick works well for spreading the hinges apart. Might want to search for pinching them back together. I haven't had to do that yet.

[sgellis]

[73sparks]

awesome.. thanks guys👍

[73sparks]

[73sparks]

making some progress with door alignment, you can see door gap is
off above door handle. socket trick on bottom hinge and a washer to shim it helped. was able to bend upper hinge a little by force, still need to spread this upper hinge somehow to fix the gap.
messing with doors is the most time consumimg work ... no fun.

[glideking]

A bus with cut out doglegs is flexible indeed. Even where you have your jack stand support will shift and twist. Time consuming yes. Look at it fresh in the morning. The whole nose of the bus is held only by the windshield posts. VW body steel is very soft. Use lots of blocks of wood to spread the load out over larger areas to push or clamp against. I use threaded pipe clamps with reversible heads. Used for woodworking they can be made any length. Even from the back of the buss to push the nose back out or pull in. The bus needs to be pushed past where it needs so the metal will spring back to where you want. The doglegs and floor will help lock the alignment so make sure it stays put.
Kurt
_________________
"The more I get done the less it looks like I did anything"
1959 Single Cab Restoration"Funky Truck"
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...highlight=
1965 21 Window Restoration Thread (From old photos)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6...highlight=
1963 Panelvan build "Tyvanosaurus Wrecks"
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8351639#8351639

[73sparks]

I have tried to be aware of where my jack points are while doing my welding to insure things lining up. this door is not original to bus and I think it had a issue with its original bus donor.my driver door is spot on
almost perfect needs a minor adjustment to be done.
I have to have this door better aligned before I can weld doglegs and front floors in.
Thanks for the info Kurt, I will keep trying.

[western auto]