New 1964 Sub-Hatch Project

[srfndoc]

Great work, turned out amazing. Now you get to enjoy it.
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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[Stocknazi]

Those cabinets turned out great! Scraping was definitely the way to go. The Baltic Birch is the correct wood for walls/ceiling for all Westfalia, with the exception of SO-23 and earlier models (some trailers?).

The Baltic Birch varies in color and grain, but I've found that it looks the best if you use an amber shellac. You can buy flakes and mix it yourself with denatured alcohol, but the pre-mixed can stuff worked great for me. Mixed shellac does have a shelf life.

I would guess Westfalia used un-tinted shellac originally and it yellowed/aged over time. Using the amber shellac just speeds the clock up some and gives the white-ish Baltic Birch that warm, yellow, antique looking finish straight away.

The couple threads on scraping/re-veneer of Westfalia panels/cabinets are gold. Really shows you what can be achieved with these old veneers and cabinets with enough commitment and the right technique. The earlier SO-23 and earlier cabinets were solid wood construction with multiple veneers. As a bonus they can be reconstructed and repaired more easily compared to plywood.
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WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).

"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Thomas Jefferson

[livingskies]

We applied a coat of stain to the Baltic Birth before applying several coats of a clear urethane finish. It took some experimenting with different stains and mixing of several to come up with a color that matched the old cabinets reasonably well. Redoing the cabinets was tedious, time-consuming work. It brought back memories of many years ago when I spent several years refinishing and rebuilding wooden furniture as a business. This type of work involves nasty chemicals and dust; that requires good breathing and skin protection.

Thanks for the info on the green marble flooring for the rear floor area. I had no idea. An internet search does not turn up much that resembles the original material in the images on this forum. The closest we came was at a local flooring store that had some really old stock upstairs. What we came home with is in the image below. The color looks about right, although the marble streaking is more mottled than in the original material. Although this does have a directional grain in the material, it isn't that easy to see. Anyway, since most posts seemed to agree that SO33 campers had the grain running across, we installed it that way. As installed, it runs the full width under the cabinets and about five or six inches down the front edge.

Certainly not a perfect replica of the original, but close enough for now.

[livingskies]

We are very happy with how the sub-hatch turned out. Since the body was practically rust free, it was a relatively easy restoration. The only thing left to do is to install the lower panel below the dash - held off on that in case I decided to install a cylinder temp gauge and need to run wiring.

Much of my enjoyment with this bus and other vehicles comes from restoring them. Now that this bus is done, I could use the garage space. I have a few more VW projects that I may get to, including a nice 1961 single cab and a 1957 camperized bus - not too mention a few beetles. In the meantime, I've also taken on two Toyota FJ45 trucks that need a fair bit of work. Not much time for camping.

It might be time to pass the sub-hatch on to the next owner. I'm wondering how the market is for restored VW buses and what might be a good way to go about selling it. It's located in Canada, which might help with selling it, seeing as the Canadian dollar is weak at the moment. Any tips will be appreciated.