'Let's Go! Scotland-Croatia and onwards in our Kombi!'

[mcdonaldneal]

Thanks Bob, that’s all good advice and not far off what I’ve been doing. I have a friend who used to do do bodywork for a commercial bus company, so he keeps me right if I really muck up! The main issue, as you identify, is patience! I’m working on that. Luckily, these areas I am doing are unlikely to even be visible, so I’m safe enough. My friend is going to help me paint the Ghia engine bay over the winter.

The other issue here is the weather. Forecast today is for intermittent heavy rain showers, so that can mess with the timing of coats, but I should be able to dodge in and out of the garage to get something done. Thanks again.
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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

Finally started (and finished!) getting some colour on. Three light coats and a heavier final coat on the step which is visible.
When the tape came off I had missed a bit at the belt line of the rear panel but I just masked that up and did a patch.
The colour match looks a bit off in the light but in reality isn’t too bad for what will be mostly hidden.

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

Stage 437(b): bottom of sliding door.
I won’t lie. I’m very uneasy having the sliding door balancing on the window frame, so i am being very careful not to stress it too much. It’s not too bad, but there is a bit of rust that I might as well treat and paint while I can work on it upside down.
I saw the warnings from various Samba threads (too late) saying not to remove the bottom roller unless really necessary, as the position is calibrated with shims from the factory. I have no shims (that I’ve seen!) and so I thought I should record the position of the bracket before I paint it. As you look at the pictures, the bracket was installed as far rightwards as it will go and the right hand end is as far away from me as it will go. The left hand end is tilted slightly towards me, about a 2mm drill bit worth. I suspect I will still see the marks after painting but I want to be sure.

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[vwmerckx]

Great thread that I have read from top to bottom!

Regarding the sliding door sill, I installed a "Sliding Door Sill Cover" ordered from BusOk out of the Netherlands

They offer two models:

Westfalia sliding door sill cover 231070051
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1728661

Sliding door sill cover 255070050D
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2124414

I went with the former after laying down new flooring and painting the door sill. Stays in place and does a great job of protecting the door sill

[mcdonaldneal]

Thanks vwmerckx, you must have amazing stamina if you’ve even read half the thread, well done!
Those sill covers look very nice. I’m not sure if the profile would be right for us though, as I don’t think the flooring sits up proud of the metal floor. I’ll have a look though. Cheers!
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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

I got quite a few things done today. Actually, we are hoping to go away from home (not in the Kombi) for a few weeks on Friday, so I want to leave the Kombi almost driveable. I say almost because I will not mount the sliding door until we get back, to give the paint in the tracks the best chance of curing!

First up, the bottom roller assembly. The dust seal comes off with some fine prising. I would have said ‘easily’ but I stuck a screwdriver into my thumb at the last stage, which makes it ‘tricky’. I put tape on the circlip to stop it pinging off, but I no longer have my wiper puller, so the roller bearing was cleaned pretty well in situ and packed with fresh grease. The felt washer on the other roller was soaked in thick steering box oil and the post lubed with moly grease. Repeated with the single upper roller. I love the ‘O’ and ‘U’, German for upper and lower. Very nice!

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

Some unrelated smaller tasks. I am still working on the front door cards and, although both have been cleaned, one has had bumper and trim gel applied (the left hand one). Doesn’t show up well in the pic, but looks lovely.
The sliding door bottom was painted with a grey rust treatment paint. Not a perfect match at all, but it will barely be visible from above and with the trim panel on. Funny, most campers have body colour inside the door, but this still has the commercial base vehicle grey.
I’m going for overkill on the inside of the cover strip. Rust treating primer and then white primer, then body colour (tomorrow, hopefully).
The plastic roller cover is very stained. I’m not sure if the white colour can be brought back, but I’ve given it to Shona to see if she can work some cleaning magic!

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

Next, the hinge assembly. I had precleaned it but I guessed it would benefit from disassembly. Some pics to remind me of what goes where, and a dry run at reassembly. I have drilled out the rivet to replace the nylon block and I will paint the ‘U’ before I lubricate and reassemble for good. No small puller still, so the replacement bearing will wait until the puller arrives.

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

Lastly, the ‘door open’ retainer (no idea what it’s called!) had pretty criminal overspray for years. I couldn’t see how to take it apart but just cleaned it all in situ. The rubber might not survive the cleaning process but I’ve treated it with glycerine to give it a chance.

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[vwmerckx]

I should have mentioned that mine is a '71 Tintop

The "sliding door sill cover" does sit below the factory aluminum edging

Thanks again for the good read

[mcdonaldneal]

Another couple of steps today. The plastic roller cover resisted attempts to completely get rid of the staining. Patina it is then.
The small puller arrived this evening and I put it to very satisfying use, removing the roller from the hinge assembly, discovering a circlip holding in the bearing, removing the clip and the bearing, replacing with a FAG bearing from eBay (after double checking the size) and pushing it all back on to the cleaned shaft.
Also secured the nylon block.
Not bad in a pretty short window of time.

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[The Volkswagen Ranch]

Try Rustoleum “ Shell White” a perfect match. Look up the thread on Eche_Bus. Saved in projects section. Sorry the screen shot is not better, but still learning how to do! See page 9. Bob

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1963 Convertible (Lizzie) and 1964 Convertible (Patience) 1976 Westfalia (Winnie)

[mcdonaldneal]

Thanks Bob, I might go down that route, although when I have painted plastic before I have used a plastic specific primer to aid adhesion. I’ll probably live with it for now!

We are going away on Friday for a few weeks, so I wanted to get a few loose ends tidied up.

The original sliding door seal had a lot of overspray on it, and the bottom two corners were almost disintegrating. There’s no great way to deal with old paint on soft rubber so I had nothing to lose. I ended up having success with paint thinner and a plastic abrasive pad. I rinsed off the thinner as soon as I could. I then glued and strengthened the corners with ‘Stormseal’ wetsuit adhesive which filled in the gaps in the rubber and looked reasonably neat (I squared up the end line of the glue after the pics. I will leave the rubber soaking with glycerine while we are away.

I finally reassembled the slider hinge after painting. The heavy spring is very awkward! I’ll leave fitting until we get home.

Finally, I removed, cleaned, lubricated and reinstalled the passenger side lock mechanism, including the lock tumbler, which is now lubricated with graphite powder. I don’t think it was quite as dirty as the driver’s side! Much easier once you have done one side already!

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[MorkC68]

The attention to detail when carrying out maintenance keeps a good bus looking great.

Yours is a very good bus...
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Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[mcdonaldneal]

[airschooled]

Yes! I also appreciate the detailed and clear photography- these pictures are super helpful!

Robbie
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Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[MorkC68]

[mcdonaldneal]

[mcdonaldneal]

Well, we’ve been away from home for a while, but now we’re back and so I needed to finish the sliding door installation after the refurbishment.
I also wanted to do an oil change as I have very heavy weight 20w50 in the engine. This has been great in summer weather, good oil pressure and not running too hot, but with the possibility of using the Kombi over the winter I wanted to go back to 15w40.
So, first step was to go for a drive to warm up the oil, and it was a beautiful, late autumn sunrise so I stopped for a few pics. No sliding door, so it was a bit chilly! Once home, I changed the oil and also put on a fresh ‘deep’ filter. We’ll see how it goes.
Rehanging the sliding door should be straightforward, but the groove in the nylon block wouldn’t slide over the rail. Measurement confirmed it was slightly too small, so I finessed it with a dremel wheel and then it slid on nicely. The rails have been painted and so there is a certain amount of paint clippings to come off where the rollers run which is a bit messy. I’ll keep cleaning it up and applying grease or a smear of wax.

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[mcdonaldneal]

I felt I had to have a go at mending the broken VDO clock. The orange hands match my other VDO accessory gauges, you see. The adjustment knob had cracked in half, so I removed the clock and the partial blanking ring. There was a blob of solder to the clock internals that would need to be removed to allow disassembly, but happily I was able to fiddle with the broken parts and glue without taking it apart. Splinted with waxed thread until the glue cured. I painted the trim ring Matt black while it was out, so it all makes a pretty repair. Works perfectly!
The weather has been pretty poor, so only one short trip recently to go paddle boarding. I am an unlikely looking surf dude!
While I’m stuck in, I’m repairing the facing of the under bench seat cupboard. The particleboard has split internally, so plenty of strong wood glue and clamps should sort it for a while. The board is a terrible material and splits badly if it’s been wet at all.

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!