My 63 Subhatch Flipseat

[Thompson2]

Started tackling the icebox this weekend. It looked like they had been using it as a tool box with the amount of dirt... And T and K trim was all a mess... I didn't get a good shot of the T-trim coming out of the door, but most of the bottom door had come out... which meant that they damaged it by repeatedly trying to close it..

Before and after shots of the box. Looks like they had something glued in the front of the bottom, maybe to keep things from sliding out because the door didn't latch because the trim was coming out of the door? I still need to figure out how to deal with that...

What's the weird "goo" between the box and the cabinet face? It looks kind of like caulk but it was still gummy and fairly easy to remove. It had picked up a ton of dirt and was pretty gross..

Hinge cleanup... hopefully I'll be able to find someone to re-plate them in brass, along with the door latch. A stainless fine-wire wire wheel applied super lightly cleans off the oxidation. Leaves and interesting copper-ish color. And yes, I am lazy and only whizzed the visible bits... lol

The tray cleaned up pretty well. Any suggestions on adhesive to repair the cracks? I saw the E6000 in the SO42 icebox seal thread... it's that still the best option? There are a few cracks in the icebox itself that will need love too, but they were pretty minor...

and the next questions - about the rack(s) The plastic is peeling off of the one I've got. I saw the Plasti-Dip ReRack that looks like a touch up product. I'd really like ot peel and completely recoat, but I didn't see anything that was purpose-made for that. Is there a good way to recoat?

And is there a source for the lower rack? Mine is MIA.

[Thompson2]

Almost forgot - does any one repop the door catches for the cabinets? I've got 2 missing (booze cabinet and cup cabinet) and then the 2 missing doors will need them as well... Pretty sure the odds of me finding 4 OG ones in a reasonable amount of time is highly unlikely...

[squareweave]

Look into cleaning the hinges in vinegar or ammonia. You will find a lot of information online

. As far as the catches it looks like a wide 5 hubcap clip. I'm not an expert on these interiors though.

[oakman]

I'm not sure what the goo is between the ice-box and cabinet, I don't think mine had anything there that I remember.. As for the wire shelf, if you're good with brazing, maybe you could make one? I think the other shelf is the same outside diameter?

The glue marks in the front bottom of your ice-box are from a "dam" that was there so if any of the water dripped out of the tray, it would have another catch basin before it leaked out of the ice box.

Here you can see the "dam", I can get you better pics if you decide to re-make this piece in the future:

Like Squareweave said, those cabinet latches are just hubcap clips. Not sure what they're plated with, but very easy to get new ones (finally, something that is easily acquired)!!! The new ones from WW are black spring steel.

I'm not sure what glue would work best for that ice-box tray..I would probably just put a few drops of super glue in there and be done with it. Those trays are unobtanium so just be careful with it. I don't plan on ever putting a block of ice in mine because I'm sure it would break. I use my ice-box to store dry goods when I'm camping.

As far as the hinges go, when I started cleaning mine and saw that the brass plating goes away so easily I stopped. I didn't want to have to have them all plated again, but if you do have yours plated, I'm sure it will look great and really compliment the interior.
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Brandon

[Thompson2]

[Thompson2]

Yet another side trip here...

After cleaning water spots off of the paint and glass another vehicle with clay bar, I got a wild hair and decided to try it on the ancient, crusty water spots on the bus glass... figured it was worth a shot. Definitely better than having to replace all the glass just for that...

Spent about 10 minutes scrubbing down a 2x2 section of a flip out window with basically no improvement. There was minor reduction, but it would have taken hours per window to get any noticeable results...so on to the next.

Saw in a couple of places that 0000 steel wool would make quick work of it. Again, hit a 2x2 section, this time with steel wool and windex... nope... a little bit better than the clay bar, but nothing to get excited about.

That was when I remembered the polishing compound that I used on the tatty paint to get rid of the heavy oxidation and bat piss stains. Figured it wouldn’t hurt the glass, so what the hell. It was only 1:00am.. why not?

Hit the same window, but a bigger section (it’s a pain to get just a small bit of compound out of the bottle). Five-ish minutes with moderate pressure yielded amazing results! Cool. I’ll tape off a line and get a nice before/after split shot... nope... despite being painfully obvious in person, water spots are a bitch to capture on camera... so off to the jalousie window right next door... a few minutes of scrubbing and this is what I ended up with.

I really sorry, but I only did then bottom pane... the rest will get done a little at a time... super stoked on how it turned out and can’t wait to do some more. Please ignore the funk in the bottom of the window frame. Haven’t gotten to that yet, although it’s moved up the list since I can*really* see it now...

This is what I call results!

And this is what I used to get that. Hope this helps someone out..

[LAGrunthaner]

WOW Thompson2 stunning results, I'm on it now for my fleet thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing all of them done.

[LAGrunthaner]

BTW I originally thought the glass you cleaned was removed, that's how good a job you did.
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[Thompson2]

[oakman]

The glass turned out sweet!! Looks like you have a good formula going. Water spots can be a nightmare. I've soaked them with clr and then scraped with a razorblade with ok results.

I'm not exactly sure what the "funk" is in the window frame, but all of the ones I've dealt with had it to some degree. Just part of the oxidation maybe? It will come off with enough effort. When I did the windows on my old Alabama Camper, I disassembled them and scrubbed all of that stuff clean with sos steel wool pads. Scotchbrite pads with varying degrees of harshness may do the trick too.
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Brandon

[Thompson2]

[LAGrunthaner]

Looks like new glass Thompson2, excellent job and when you figure out how to clean that nasty aluminum at the bottom I'll really be impressed as I have the same problem on my Westy and short of taking the entire jalousie apart I can't figure it out either. I am getting a feeling you will find the magic trick

[zozo]

Have you tried using WD-40 along with the steel wool?

[Thompson2]

[zozo]

[crofty]

Ive used 600 sandpaper to remove big oxidation build up. go light then switch to steel wool and polish.
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[LAGrunthaner]

When my new electric toothbrush brush replacements arrive I'll use my old one on mine.
_________________
American Red Cross Safe And Well:
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Maui Roadsters
www.mauiroadsters.com
http://www.oacdp.org

[Major Woody]

I think you should be able to make the lower rack. Start with a new, off the shelf steel rack for a BBQ grill, take it apart and bend/weld up what you need, then take it and the other one to Portland Powdercoating and have them coated. They will bake the old rack to destroy the failing coating, then blast it clean prior to recoating. They have a minimum charge so take your wheels in at the same time. There is a RAL number for the powder which is apparently a dead-on match for silver white. You could have everything done in that color and it would look great.
I bet you could reproduce the bottom tray by having it scanned and then 3D printed. There are probably a bunch of people who would like to have them. You could be a hero in the VW world!

[Thompson2]

[Thompson2]

And now, lots of questions...

I started cleaning up the cup and booze cabinets and found several things that I need clarity on.

1) This "'trim" around the long wall panel - is that welded in or is it made up of separate bolt-in pieces? Mine is about 1/2 gone on the bottom edge. The flip-out window seal apparently leaked for a long time killing both the wood panel and the trim. And part B, are replacement pieces available or will I need to make them (when I get to that point)?

2) The screws that hold the cabinets / bench in - are they all supposed to be the same diameter / length? I have at least 2 different lengths and a lot of them that attach to the floor are rusted beyond saving. The longer one is 3/4" and would punch through the back of a cabinet if it was used on the vertical portion of the bracket. The shorter screw is 1/2". And related to that - the screws on the top of the cabinets - are the screws that attach to the body the same length as the rest?

3) What is the head style for the cabinet bracket screws called? If I'm going to have to order a crap load of them anyway, I might as well get the right style. Short screw on the left was galvanized, the one on the right is chrome / stainless but the head style is the same/similar. [edit]Maybe pan head sheet metal screws instead of wood screws?[/edit]

4) Made in England, sitting in the booze cabinet... I'm assuming these are random leftovers?

5) In the cup cabinet, there's a glob of old glue on the back panel.. is this a DPO add-on that I need to scrape off or am I missing some bit from here?

6) I'm not sure how they even did this, but one of the cabinet catches looks like it was drug across gravel and is pretty well beat... is there a source for replacements? I didn't find anything like it on NLAVW, but I'm hoping there's another source.

7) Last question for today... When it's folder down, the jump seat isn't flat to the lip on the cabinet... am I missing something to support it or is this just how they are?