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Biting the body work bullet on my 67 westy- would love support
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gravee
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Joined: May 01, 2009
Posts: 165
Location: Waterbury, Vermont
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PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2021 5:37 am    Post subject: Biting the body work bullet on my 67 westy- would love support Reply with quote

I have been driving my 67 Westy for 28 years. I bought it from the original owner in Baltimore and have put over 100,000 miles on it. I am the only mechanic to work on it- though I did get a tranny rebuild once. Living in Vermont I only drive in the summer but for years this was my daily driver. As inspection rules have changed here it is now impossible to get it through inspection. Having found it unpassable yesterday I am facing some hard truths- the underside needs some work.

For years I have struggled to stop water under my front window seals. This has led to water dripping inside the nose. The bottom part of the windows and the bottom of the nose are shot along with the two pieces behind the nose on the bottom that connect to the front of the frame. Got hit on my drivers side years ago. Got enough money to travel the country for the summer so never fixed it- door still shut- you know...so it needs a drivers dogleg half the front floor and one of the pillars where the front meets the floor. Could probably use a few other frame pieces replaced as well.

I have no idea who might do this work in the New England or Vermont. I would love to hear peoples rough guesses on a possible cost. I am in it for the long haul so have swallowed the fact that she might be off the road for a couple of years to do all this work. I am a novice at welding but comfortable learning and taking on new skills. Watching the Kona Bus vids on youtube and seeing the front nose done at Skinner was slightly demoralizing. I respect craft and perfection. Am I crazy to try to take on this by myself?

Would love people thoughts, support, encouragement. I am a happy dude and I just feel so down on this. I also have two kids, work a hard job, and will have to approach the work piecemeal over time if I take it on.

I appreciate you all and this community.
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Braukuche
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Joined: September 03, 2004
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PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2021 7:09 am    Post subject: Re: Biting the body work bullet on my 67 westy- would love support Reply with quote

gravee wrote:
I have been driving my 67 Westy for 28 years. I bought it from the original owner in Baltimore and have put over 100,000 miles on it. I am the only mechanic to work on it- though I did get a tranny rebuild once. Living in Vermont I only drive in the summer but for years this was my daily driver. As inspection rules have changed here it is now impossible to get it through inspection. Having found it unpassable yesterday I am facing some hard truths- the underside needs some work.

For years I have struggled to stop water under my front window seals. This has led to water dripping inside the nose. The bottom part of the windows and the bottom of the nose are shot along with the two pieces behind the nose on the bottom that connect to the front of the frame. Got hit on my drivers side years ago. Got enough money to travel the country for the summer so never fixed it- door still shut- you know...so it needs a drivers dogleg half the front floor and one of the pillars where the front meets the floor. Could probably use a few other frame pieces replaced as well.

I have no idea who might do this work in the New England or Vermont. I would love to hear peoples rough guesses on a possible cost. I am in it for the long haul so have swallowed the fact that she might be off the road for a couple of years to do all this work. I am a novice at welding but comfortable learning and taking on new skills. Watching the Kona Bus vids on youtube and seeing the front nose done at Skinner was slightly demoralizing. I respect craft and perfection. Am I crazy to try to take on this by myself?

Would love people thoughts, support, encouragement. I am a happy dude and I just feel so down on this. I also have two kids, work a hard job, and will have to approach the work piecemeal over time if I take it on.

I appreciate you all and this community.


First off be realistic in your expectations. If you are a novice you can’t expect experienced results but you can do your best. Welding is easy and it isn’t. It’s not that difficult to get two pieces of metal to bond together but it is difficult to make clean nice welds and avoid warpage and burn throughs.
I live in So Cal and finding people willing to even take on work like this is near impossible. It’s why I ended up doing it myself and making hordes of mistakes along the way. But always improving.
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Mike Fisher
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Joined: January 30, 2006
Posts: 17961
Location: Eugene, OR
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PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2021 7:13 am    Post subject: Re: Biting the body work bullet on my 67 westy- would love support Reply with quote

I'm guessing 10K if you take it to a Shop.
You can save a ton of money & it will be done to your standards if you do it yourself.
www.MasterSeriesct.com silver & black brushed on for the chassis/inner fenders looks/works good.
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69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey
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gravee
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Joined: May 01, 2009
Posts: 165
Location: Waterbury, Vermont
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PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2021 12:59 pm    Post subject: Re: Biting the body work bullet on my 67 westy- would love support Reply with quote

Thank you both for your responses. Having spent days/ weeks reading and learning to build an engine I finally put together a pretty sweet engine combo for my ride.

I definitely have faith that I can learn these skills given enough time. That being said- I would love to learn from some others learning. If anyone has any threads they recommend that show the start to finish in a detail that would really show me what to respect I would really appreciate that.

Any other key learnings that might make this process easier would be greatly appreciated. As someone who was thinking if I needed to build a rotisserie to grind down the underside of my frame- learning about alternatives that are a little less humbling and time consuming are priceless. If something like Masterseries works then I am open to it.

When offered $4000 for the 67 Westy with 68,000 OG miles on it that I had just bought for $900 28 years ago, I kept it because it needed to be driven and lived in. (they wanted to put it in a garage to take out for shows). I keep it pretty stock looks minus upgrades in how it drives. I am pretty utilitarian and want to do what works. Most of all I want to keep it on the road carting my family around to festivals, camping, and other adventures.

I appreciate all perspectives. Thanks
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Mike Fisher
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Joined: January 30, 2006
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Location: Eugene, OR
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PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2021 9:48 am    Post subject: Re: Biting the body work bullet on my 67 westy- would love support Reply with quote

If you have a garage I'd pull the windshield out and start the front repairs.
Buy a welder with gas shielding & 4 jack stands so you can work underneath it.
A cheap siphon sand blaster you could use in your driveway.
Use phosphoric acid rust killer before the primer. Very Happy
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69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey
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