1973 Bay Window Rescue - Long term project

[rob.e]

Looking good.

Love those wheels. - who made them? Are they 5x112?

[fxshov]

Enjoyed your post. I have a 73 as well. It also was OG Orange and White. Im going through it as well. Can't wait to see your finished ride.

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GOOD AINT CHEAP AND CHEAP ANIT GOOD

73 Bay Window
05 Tundra
12 Scion
93 HD Softtail
18 NX 2500
I need a bigger garage.

[AirKooledGarage]

Painter finally wrapped the bus. 1 month turned into 5 on this one, but I'm stoked to have it back.

Went from body shop directly to upholstery shop to install headliner. Headliner came from JBugs (Acme manufactured) and had a plastic rib at the back. Threw us for a loop, but upholstery guy cut it out and wrapped headliner into pocket for door seal. End result looks great.

It's now back with the other projects and ready for a methodical winter build.

To do:

Raise beam 1"
Install Wagonswest adjustable spring plates in rear
Sort tires and wheels (struggling to get rubber band tires on 17" alloys)
Install all doors
Sort interior panels (ordered from West Coast Metric, but just noticed they created their own color chart, that differs from TMI). Color isn't bad, but not what I originally had in mind.
Wire compressor for air shocks
Sort a clever location for additional gauges (anyone ever do a center console under the e-brake?)
Install all the glass
Have custom front bench upholstered
Probably some other stuff as well.

Upside, it's now winter here and first show isn't until June, so time is on my side!

Downside, is it'll be roughly 7 years from start to finish.
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[AirKooledGarage]

[AirKooledGarage]

[AirKooledGarage]

Installed the Wagonswest adjustable spring plate and test fit rear wheel. Love the look and realizing adjustable plates are mandatory! Tucked the 17" wheel with little issue. No air in the Monroes and axle sits 3/4" off the frame notch. Next up is raising the beam!

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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[metz]

That color is super nice. Keep ut up!
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[Vee Dub Nut]

Man that's looking great.. Sure does make me want to go ahead and bit the bullet to tub and notch mine. I'd like to be just a little more down from where I am now.

Keep up the nice work!
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Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2006

67 Beetle (TBD)

74 Transporter (EJ25 Swapped) - Build Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

See all my VW pics on Instagram @ vee_dub_nut

[AirKooledGarage]

Winter in the Midwest is the perfect time to wrench. Snowing sideways and pretty cold means you're probably not going anywhere. Garage is nice and warm and UPS just dropped off a fresh batch of parts.

Today was more about the little stuff, but still pretty satisfying.

Tested out the TMI upholstery. Fresh clips and plugs (I love the detail stuff). Really happy with the tan/light green combo. Wish J-Bugs had not jacked my seat cover order or that'd be happening as well.

Rebuilt the e brake assembly. Fresh slider and bumper (did you know it DOESN'T have to make that clangy sound when you release it?). C&C out of the UK has all the goods to make this work. I'd really like a fresh handle, but have not found anything that works.

Once parking brake was sorted, the rest of the controls fell into place. All seals, rubber boots and grommets, pretty close to what the factory had intended. Looking at carpet to match the upholstery down the road.

Next up is assembling the dash (shot before e brake redux). Wet sanding left a ton of residue on everything, so this one may be tedious. Plumbed an electric WW pump and have most of the wires labeled. Although a little painful, should wrap by end of the weekend.
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[KentABQ]

[AirKooledGarage]

Although he's not working on the bus much, the Kid has been through a 66, 72 and 78 bugs (bought and sold) and is now building a barn find 65 buggy.

We also have a long buggy and a 68 vert in play.

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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[AirKooledGarage]

Not as much done today, but progress nonetheless.

Got the bench put together and mounted (upholstery will come next month). Most of the wiring is cleaned up and marked as well. Also decided on turn signals, which will now be hidden in grill.

Not sure I'm in love with black headlight rings, but we'll see how it rolls out with wheels and other accents. Cleaned up some old mats we had laying around and dropped them in until we decide on carpet.
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[Wasted youth]

That project is looking really good. I'm pretty much stock in my taste, but it seems like you're really doing that right and careful.

Where did you get all the rubber for the pedals, shifter, etc?

[AirKooledGarage]

Thanks, labor of love.

Some of the rubber came from CIP1 and the obscure stuff from Custom & Commercial in the UK.

The rubber bumpers under the floor for clutch/throttle and e-brake return are my favorite. Everything feels so much more solid and sorted.
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[AirKooledGarage]

Winter weekends are made for wrenching.

Wrapped up the wiring and dash rebuild. Got a chance to use the Escutcheon tool as well!

Built this dash years ago. Hated the foam and not a radio fan, so we smoothed in everything. Stoked on the look. Not a fan of the auxiliary gauges, though. Considering creating a narrow center console from ashtray to floor.

Every part possible was replaced, crazy details like the seal behind the gauges, the glove box, air vents, levers, bulbs even found a perfect dash pad. Rally need a decent steering wheel now.
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[AirKooledGarage]

Another solid weekend of progress. Short of compressor for air shocks and whatever blue tooth amp we end up using, the electrical is wrapped.

Bumper and fog light layed out nicely. Not using rear defogger so dash switch for the now handles the fog light and no additional holes were drilled in the dash.

Secret signals worked pretty well.

Fresh windshield washer jets, correct rubber seals for wiper shafts and nut cover. hope is to avoid leaks. We'll see!

Ordered door switches from CIP1, not sure what I did wrong, but these are useless. Luckily, originals cleaned up OK.

Tail lights, and engine cover went together nicely, although fresh rubber is making it hard to close. Hoping that settles down. Next up is bumper.
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug

[Vee Dub Nut]

Where is that drooling emoticon when you need it

Looking great!
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Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2006

67 Beetle (TBD)

74 Transporter (EJ25 Swapped) - Build Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

See all my VW pics on Instagram @ vee_dub_nut

[white74westy]

[Stuartzickefoose]

The world has yet to see any door switches even close to original quality. You got the best on the market


That is looking really dang good!
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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[AirKooledGarage]

Thanks! Happy with the results so far. Should have doors hung and wheels/suspension sorted by month end. That's the part I'm super stoked on!
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1973 Bus
1974 Long Body Buggy (sold)
1965 Manxish buggy (kids car)
1961 Patina Bug