Zach's Progress thread on the 1972 Westy

[mikewire]

[vacca_rabite]

[mikewire]

Yep, sorry I didn't catch that at first...you are missing the upper track the trim slides into, here's an example of what it should look like:

_________________
-Mike

@countdowngarage
@bigskyeuro

1972 VW Kombi 9 Passenger Deluxe 221(5) w/ 2.0L F.I. VWAC swap
1965 VW Beetle Deluxe Bahama Blue

[vacca_rabite]

Okay, got that fixed.

I went to ACME in Harrisburg and they let me look at their 2 parts bays. A couple minutes with a screwdriver and a spot weld cutter and I had the retraining track I needed for my bus.

Cleaned it up, laid down a lite coat of zinc. Clamped into place.

Burned it in.

The zinc I used was causing some contact errors with my welder. So I had to scratch to start and turn the heat up to get the penetration I wanted.

Yay! The cover is back on!

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[mikewire]

Awesome, Zach FTW!
_________________
-Mike

@countdowngarage
@bigskyeuro

1972 VW Kombi 9 Passenger Deluxe 221(5) w/ 2.0L F.I. VWAC swap
1965 VW Beetle Deluxe Bahama Blue

[vacca_rabite]

Bus is all masked up and ready for exterior paint. Hoping to get it in epoxy and a couple coats of hi-build tomorrow.

Masking off these ducts SUCKED. First one took an hour to figure out how to do it. Second took about 20 minutes.

My trusty companion kept me company during a rainy muggy day in the garage while I was working.

The day started and ended with cleaning the bus. Then adding filler where I noticed low spots. Masking while the filler dried. Sanding filler. Adding more filler. Sanding that. Then washing the bus again. And since it was about 100% humidity, the bus just would not dry. So at about 10pm I decided that the exterior epoxy coat would just get done tomorrow morning.

Lots of progress today. Painting always takes so long.

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[Abscate]

Good dog. Good Bus. Good Zach

A Scout is ……..patient…..+11 other things
_________________
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[vacca_rabite]

Hah! A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. I'm a scoutmaster for my eldest and a den leader for my youngest, I have to say that twice a week.

Bus is all one color again.

In these pics the bus is in Epoxy. So much nicer then the urban camo scheme of bare metal, pearl white, elm green, primer, old epoxy, body filler.

Of course once one color it was a lot easier to see all the divots I missed. So it got another round of filler and then another 2 coats of epoxy. Right now it also has 2 coats of high build primer on it, and will get another 2 coats probably Thursday. And then all the guide coat and sanding starts. I HATE that part.

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[Buggeee]

Things are about to get pretty!
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[vacca_rabite]

Big update. Tons of work go done this long weekend.

Friday afternoon I block sanded all the bus and found several low points that needed to come up.

Like these.

So more filler was added. I used a glaze product (holy crikey it was expensive too).

Lots of sanding and cleaning and the bus was looking like urban camo again, but was much more flat. Also LOTS of pushing the bus in and out of the garage. and vacuuming the garage for dust control.

Buy Saturday morning I was able to get another coat of epoxy on to seal the filler.

And boy did it look better!
So I put another half gallon of high build on it. Rubbed in some guide coat. And did a bunch more block sanding. All. Day. Saturday. From 240 and starting with the 320.

I also smoked up some ribs Saturday.

After dinner I got right back to it.
Here is a walkaround of the bus when I finally wrapped up Saturday night.

Link


Sunday I went for a bike ride and Amy picked up the sanding duties.
40 miles on a Sunday morning.

When I got home we pushed the bus out again. Did the final sanding and washed it down. I went out and tried to find some wax and grease remover. 5 stores later and I finally had it. We wrapped up around 10 pm, pretty exhausted.

Monday morning we got up early and wiped the bus down with the wax and grease remover. And then gave it a sponge bath with water to clean off whatever residue was left over. Let the bus dry (today was hot, so it dried quickly) and out I went to paint.

EVERY DAMN TIME.
I need to make a post of all the times I let my beard out of the respirator while painting and then had to shave it off.

I ran out of paint 1.5 coats in, so I have to go out tomorrow and get more. Which means I'll have to spend 1/2 a day scuffing the entire bus before I can paint the rest. But I'll get that done this week. By Friday afternoon I should be able to put another several coats of paint on. And then this phase is done, and I can start color sanding.

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[Ceckert64]

Looks great! Painting can definitely be a pain, I was in the same spot as you with my 72 westy last week for paint.

Good luck!
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro

[vacca_rabite]

So, question: I'm not getting many responses to this thread. Is this common on build threads?

At lunch today I pushed the bus back out in the sun. Since I ran out of paint last weekend, I had to scuff everything. And I noted some fisheyes on the door panel. So I got some 400 grit sandpaper and sanded them down till I cleared the fisheyes. Then washed, degreased, and washed again until my lint free shop rags came back clean.

So this panel of the bus looks like this again:

The rest of the bust looks good, and I should be able to get many coats of paint on it tomorrow during the day.

I'm pushing a little to get the base paint done this week - tomorrow really.
I'm driving to Texas on Monday for a week, and then the summer is a whirlwind of Cub scout camp, Boy Scout camp, 914 trips, new engine install in the 914, etc. June and July are just packed. I want the paintwork done so that when I'm working I can focus on mechanical and electrical work.

Paint will be a huge mile stone.

When that done I can rebuild the carbs (no reason to rebuild them before paint and then clog them with paint dust).
New fuel lines.
Put in the new wire loom.
Install windows and seals.
Add a driver seat

And suddenly I should be able to drive the bus again. From that point its a driving restoration to get the interior to where Amy wants it to be.

The end of June will be about 1 year from the day I bought it. So far this is the fastest project I've done.

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[vacca_rabite]

So here we are!

Happy with how these vents turned out.

A big day. I got all the base coat on Friday night. This morning I took all the masking off, pushed the bus in the sun and took some pictures.

Tonight after doing a longish hike with the Boy Scouts, and going swimming, I taught Amy how to rope in the rear three windows. I did two, she did the rear windows and did great!

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[vacca_rabite]

What size screws are used to hold in the louvered side windows?

Thanks
Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[vacca_rabite]

No updates since June? Shame.

We have made a bit of progress this summer, but also hit some setbacks.

Progress first.
Both carbs have been rebuilt.
A new main harness has been run into the bus.
We have started putting weather stripping into the bus.
We have stripped all the window tint off the windows that were tinted.

But the setback is a sticky one.

This is the issue. On the driver door only, the paint keeps failing and coming up at the beltline bend on the door. I have painted the door two times now. and the paint has failed again at the same place.

The last time I painted the door, I ground the paint back all the way to bare metal, several inches from the point of failure.

Then epoxy, filler, primer and paint. It looked great for about 3 weeks and then failed again at the same place.

I'm going to bring it back to metal and try and paint it again. My best guess is that the epoxy had not finished gassing off before recoating. Just, try and keep things warm and give more time between coats.

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[vacca_rabite]

Oh, also this fell into my lap last month.
I'm planning to put it into the bus, though not immediately.

Very good compression. Complete CIS. Came out of a running car that was being converted to electric. Also came with the 915 5 speed transmission.

For now, to get it running, I plan on using the 1.7 for now, and collecting parts to mate the 2.7 to the bus transmission. Then the next winter collect the stuff needed to put the 915 into the mix - but that will require a LOT of work.

Zach
_________________
1972 T2 Bay Westy in restoration
1976 Porsche 914
195? Empi Sportster Dune Buggy
1981 Rabbit Truck
1987 Vanagon Syncro GL tin top camper.

[Buggeee]

I dont have a lot of experience, only a few years of playtime with the bodywork.

In that short time, I have sometimes had a heavy spray hand and epoxy primer does not forgive me for it.

I would try it without the epoxy primer. I was tought this way: Filler, if needed, straight to bare metal with no holes (if there are any holes or weld seams use Duraglass as the first filler because it does not absorb moisture). After filler stage is complete, a light coat of etch primer on any bare metal areas. Followed by a few heavy coats of high-build sandable primer on the whole panel. Sand the panel with 150 grit and a foam block to smooth the high build primer. It's ok if it breaks through a little here or there but the goal would be to avoid the break through. Then seal it all with a sealer primer. Then base coat and clear (or just color if using single stage). Oh - and blow every square inch with compressed air after each sanding session to clear out any pin holes before applying the next stage. Otherwise the pin holes will be hidden and the dust in them will melt during paint stage, leaving pinholes in your finished surface.

That's just a process my retired body man cousin thought me and it's been working for me.

The Porsche engine is cool!
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Abscate]

[borninabus]

[vacca_rabite]