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chrisflstf Samba Member
Joined: February 10, 2004 Posts: 3442 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 7:56 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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That is beyond excellent craftmanship. |
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Busstom Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2014 Posts: 3847 Location: San Jose, CA
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:21 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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mabbo wrote: |
We charge £35 per hour, not sure how many hours we got in this so far. I'd have to check. |
Yep, speechless. Your disciplined detail and level of skill do indeed set the bar right at the top...incomparable.
And your labor rate, dude, that's about $43/hour stateside...you won't find that here. People here are lookin for 80 - 90 an hour, minimum! And even at that rate, I'm telling you, one would be hard-pressed to find someone that even has the ability to do the work at your level.
And on top of that, you have time to stop and snap pics, then post them and narrate the account of the whole thing, for our benefit?
Freaking amazing. |
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:00 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Thanks for the comments, nice to hear you like my work Sounds like I need to put my prices up, or move over there. We have put our hourly rate up to £45 an hour for new work but trying to keep it at £35 an hour for the existing projects, but its tough to make enough to cover the bills and take home a below average wage.
Oh, and someone asked earlier how many hours were in it... There are 191.5 hours of labour in total since it arrived at the workshop.
Anyway, a bit of an update but nothing too exciting. There were a couple of holes on the dash that had been drilled below the fuel gauge, apparently one was for a switch for a sump heater for the cold climates, and another was a warning light to show when a trailer was attached. Pretty cool, but here they are welded up:
The rear seat mounts were welded in. I tried to replicated the factory (excessive amount of) spotwelds:
The seat runner panel thats spot welded to the cab tool chest area was hacked up in the past. It was removed, repaired and pinned into position. Got to tidy a couple of things up on it before its welded in place:
As the side panels were getting replaced they were removed before blasting. This let the blaster get to the insides of the posts as they were pretty bad:
We were hoping to save the front panel, but it wouldnt have been cost effective for the customer, and we were concerned about the condition of the A posts, so we cut it off. The A posts were loads better than expected
We took the cab section and a box full of bits to be blasted, got it back to the workshop and put it back over the chassis:
The RHS window frame had a few pin holes in, so these were cut out and a little repair piece welded in:
The front inner window frames were also rotten in places, so I cut the rot out and welded in some new steel:
Did the same both sides, then lined the heater Y section up and pinned it into place ready for welding once Im happy everything lines up properly:
The panel behind the fuel tank had a section hacked out at some point, you can just make it out on the RHS of this pic:
Now that panel had been removed we made a repair panel to put it back to factory:
Thats about it so far.
Cheers, Neil |
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GERMANAIRE Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2007 Posts: 689 Location: BUFORD,GA.
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Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 3:41 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Truly Amazing Work And Attention To Detail! |
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Braukuche Samba Member
Joined: September 03, 2004 Posts: 11004
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Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 11:48 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Damn, there's nothing left of that truck but the roof! And I thought mine was bad.
Beautiful work though. _________________ Go Reds! Smash state!
Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now |
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 3:36 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Thanks again for the comments... Still enjoying working on it
I repaired the panel above the gearbox that was rotten where both engine side trays meet it. Did the same repair both sides:
Then, the repair panel we made was welded in and clamped in place while we trial fitted the other new panels:
The new top hats and side supports were clamped in place to check everything was good before any welding:
The side panels and rear corners fitted quite nice. The rear engine lid hinge panel needed a bit of work, and the sides supports still need lengthening at this point, but now we were happy with the top hats etc they were welded in place. The engine lid hinge panel was twisted, with the corners and engine lid fitted the gaps were awful. After some work they are a little better but still need more work:
We trial fitted the gates at this point to see where the captive nuts needed fitting into the side panels of the bed framework, and to check the mounting area on the BBT engine lid hinge panel and rear corners. None of them lined up But they will be OK with a bit of work... Looks a bit like a finished bus:
I spot welded both side panels to the smaller side panel at the back of the cab that meets the bulkhead:
The lower hinge section of the post was repaired with a Klassic Fab panel. I cant find pictures of this but once this was repaired the side panels were trimmed down, fitted and pinned in place once fitting nice, ready for welding:
The rear bulkhead and bed were trial fitted now the new side panels were in place, and sides and quarters mocked up on the repaired framework:
The original cargo door was twisted / damaged. We have an good original paint door that we used to check the gaps... Pretty pleased with this:
There was so much work in all the above. Working with a mixture of panels from Klassic Fab, Autocraft, and the new BBT panels in weld through primer... All pretty good but all need work. The rear corners are not great. The holes for the gate hinges are in the wrong place, and the shape isnt perfect, but they are good enough overall. Just to show how much modification these panels need - here is the original battery tray, with the new Autocraft panel on top of it. Completely different shape where it meets the corner... And, neither of those panels fit the new corner. No big deal, we will just reshape the new panel when its fitted to fit the new corner:
A little repair I forgot to mention - The radio holes were slightly damaged, so they were repaired and are now have the correct size hole. Before:
After:
And the other side:
I think thats where we are at the moment. No doubt Iv missed bits. |
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:35 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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RHS inner B post panel tacked in place, and side panel pinned in place:
New bulkhead trial fit with new B post:
Side panels and corners lined up and pinned in place:
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14266 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:57 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Epic repair of all time and a handshake/high-five to Funky Truck in many ways.
Could that battery tray be for the earlier SC? Didn't they have a sharper corner or was that just the bumpers? |
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peecee69 Samba Member
Joined: January 27, 2005 Posts: 1572 Location: Annapolis, MD/Bloomfield Hills, MI
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:59 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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BarryL wrote: |
Epic repair of all time and a handshake/high-five to Funky Truck in many ways.
Could that battery tray be for the earlier SC? Didn't they have a sharper corner or was that just the bumpers? |
You must be correct. The early SC/DC corners were much more square than the later ones. I figured that was for an early truck.
I couldn't find the m-code plate for it in this thread. Didn't know LHD DCs would have a cargo door on the left. I'm guessing this is Swedish specific? Are left side cargo doors typical in Sweden? _________________ 1973 Standard Beetle - running maintenance thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=675712&highlight=
1966 Doublecab - Starting resto - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668518&highlight= |
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TRS63 Samba Member
Joined: December 17, 2017 Posts: 999 Location: Stuttgart - Germany
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:04 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Thanks again for the comments
As far as I know no one makes rear tubs for a truck so we modified a pair of tubs from Autocraft to clear the vents as the originals. We mocked them up with the side panel, marked where they needed to be re shaped, cut them then got them in the stretcher and worked the edge until they were fairly straight:
The shape along the lower curve at the end of the sill wasnt the same profile as the rear side panel:
If we would have left the tubs like this, the side panel would have been a mess after welding them together so we reshaped them. The rear closing panel had a nice curve that matched the side panel, so that was used as a template:
You can see the difference with the template over the tub:
After a bit of reshaping just using a hammer and dolly:
Much better fit with the side panel:
The side panel and tub were fitted and pinned together, then removed to finish welding the tubs:
We welded the top cuts in the tubs and spot welded the new side supports:
We spent ages getting the door gaps nice and making sure the body was in the right position over the chassis forwards/backwards and left/right. Once happy we pinned everything into place:
Thats where we are at the moment.
Cheers |
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scottvw Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2004 Posts: 2821 Location: Centennial, CO
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 10:22 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Unbelievable work. Are you keeping track of your man hours? It's got to be off the charts. |
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 1:06 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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scottvw wrote: |
Unbelievable work. Are you keeping track of your man hours? It's got to be off the charts. |
Cheers
Yea logging every hour. Just over 360 so far.
Cheers |
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 7:29 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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These might not be in order, but here goes.
A post repairs on both sides:
LHS B post repairs:
We are using the 3 piece Klassic Fab panel which is pretty nice, but needs a bit of work. Its for a regular bus so needed modifying for things like the hinge slot etc but overall its pretty nice.
You can see the top of the panel isnt as wide as the original:
Reshaped it:
Inner post trimmed down and clamped in place:
Outer B post trimmed, lined up and mocked up. Had the sill, door and dogleg all mocked up to check the height etc but didnt get a pic:
All 3 B post panels welded in place:
Sill lines up nice, and nice enough gaps:
And welded in place:
The rear cab inner posts were rotten at the bottom. We drilled the spotwelds and removed the panel to get access to the post and made a repair section:
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 2:46 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Right... Haven't updated this in a while and I cant really remember exactly the order the pictures should be in, but here goes.
Got the RHS inner B post repaired, and the bulkhead welded to both B posts and front top hat:
Door gaps checked/set and dog legs and tubs pinned in place:
Got the side panel welded down the B post and sill so the dog legs and tubs can be fitted:
Getting ready to weld:
Seat runner panel plug welded to tool chest:
Tubs welded:
Front arches welded:
Front kick panel repaired:
Trimmed down the window frame repair panel and scribed the position to cut:
Spot welded the heater Y piece back into the dash ready for the front panel to be fitted:
Front panel pinned in place:
Removed the front panel and windscreen repair panel and spot welded them together:
Spot welded the new headlight bowls to the front panel:
With the welding to the front panel complete, we painted the inside of the front panel, outer valance and inner framework body colour:
Spot welded down the A posts, valance and window frame, and cut the indicator holes and washer holes as close to factory as possible:
The cab floor was welded in before the front panel as fitted:
Thats it for a while...
Last edited by mabbo on Tue Mar 31, 2020 11:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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chrisflstf Samba Member
Joined: February 10, 2004 Posts: 3442 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:02 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Your skills and details are incredible |
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Jack-Fatboy Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2007 Posts: 353 Location: POLAND
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 7:41 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Very immpresive rebuild. Great metal work skills |
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matthew henricks Samba Member
Joined: January 02, 2002 Posts: 1219 Location: So. Cal
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 8:33 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Very nice work! Skills man... |
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BulliBill Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2004 Posts: 4572 Location: St Charles, MO
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 8:53 am Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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Simply mind-blowing work that you guys are pouring into this DC! You should be very proud of your skills! The owner should incredibly grateful that he found the right guys to save this DC! Will we see it finished at Hessisch-Oldendorf in 2021???
Bill _________________ I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton
Thanks for any help! |
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mabbo Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2004 Posts: 208 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:48 pm Post subject: Re: Swedish 66 Crew Cab Resto |
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BulliBill wrote: |
Simply mind-blowing work that you guys are pouring into this DC! You should be very proud of your skills! The owner should incredibly grateful that he found the right guys to save this DC! Will we see it finished at Hessisch-Oldendorf in 2021???
Bill |
Thanks for the comments guys
And I believe that is his target Bill. Im hoping to get my 55 Beetle there too, although, I dont have to do anything to that lol |
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