74 Kombi - The onion bus

[Welt]

[Welt]

This project has gone slightly forward yet again. Sandblasted the cab area and gave it all a coat of primer. Even the roof had some surface rust as it wasn't fully painted at the factory. Gave the "gutter" in front also a nice thick brushed coat of the same anti corrosion primer I've been using to prevent all the other tight spots from leaking any additional rust. That should keep rust away for a few years at least. Atleast I'd hope so.

The whole lower windshield lip need to be replaced, no doubt about that. I think I'll drill out the spot welds, cut and remove the outer lip and weld repair panels in. Some of the backside is also gone already, but can be used as a guide and repaired in spots.

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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[Welt]

...and now the cab area has gotten a topcoat of pastelweiss. I still think this is a fantastic colour. Props to the people choosing these paints in the 70's Seam sealed all exposed panel seams before painting to get a nice even look.

Here's my idea for the long heater tube underneath. Bought some aluminium-paper tube and large diameter heat shrink tubing. Should be quite rigid and resistant to all the muck flying around the bottom.

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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[wcfvw69]

Nice.. The cab came out great!

Personally, I think you should hunt down an original heater duct in great shape and install it. There's tons of used ones here in the states or have one made at a sheet metal shop.

Keep up the great work.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Welt]

[1967250s]

If that is heat shrink, it can shrink easily from the heat generated from the heat exchangers, up to 1/2 to 1/4 of the unshrunken size. I'd suggest a rubber hose or aluminum tube instead.
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'72 Elm Green Deluxe

[Welt]

[Welt]

Has it really been this long since the last update Time for a more massive post then! Work on this one hasn't stopped, just haven't had the drive to really post any of it.

Work on the underside is almost finished at this point. Sprayed the wheel wells with top coat, while the other parts got a layer of chassis wax (like waxoyl for most of you) followed by a thicker bodywax. Didn't spray topcoat in there, as it already had two heavy coats of that red epoxy.

Repairing the windshield area was quite easy with the three piece Schofield panels, as the damage was quite small tbh. Basically drilled all the spotwelds out, drew the outer edges of the panels and cut. Saved the panel on the inside, as the rust damage was so tiny on that side. First the sides and then the middle and no apparent warping. The first pic nicely shows how much rust is hiding in there! Those areas got a nice coat of primer and some of that more runny wax coating after all the sanding etc. I was able to do.

Work on the outside has begun too. I'll solder most of the lesser dents, try to straighten bigger ones but end up using filler too at some point. The outside needs to be sanded all the way to bare metal, as there is too much hiding under.

Made these plywood "windows" to shield the insides from most of the sand and grit during the upcoming tedious surface preparation.

Fuel tank wasn't in the best condition, but nothing too major yet again. Some obvious holes and pitting got filled with body solder. The inside I flushed with denaturated alcohol to remove all the gunk and varnish, which was followed with a citric acid bath. After that I pressure washed the inside with hot water, then poured some denaturated alcohol again to absorb the remainging moisture, and then dried it all with a nice long leaf blower treatment. Not too keen on using fuel tank sealers, but if it starts to rust again that might still be an option.

Attack has been continued on all fronts and not only the outside. Bought a cheapo R&R seat to the back, which seems to be as flimsy as the price. Welded most of the tube joints rather than using screws after this first fitting and hope it helps. Don't want to make this into a full camper for obvious reasons, but the price from changing from a tax free van to a passenger bus has been lowered here to an almost nonexistent level so I just thought to go with it. More seats the merrier.

Been experimenting with various wood dyes in the meantime. Found a nice greyish color that still retains the flamed grain structure in the wood. Need to make some patterns, cut and mount them in to see how they look in the car. Pretty hard to see the true color in pictures, as the whole look seems to change with different perspectives.

The front seats frames were pretty clean. Some cracked springs and frame rails but nothing too major. Found some really nice OEM quality fabric, so more on those later! Obviously DIY seat covers, how else.

Begun on sound insulation work on the inside too. Used STP Black Gold butyl rubber, which seemed to be super easy to apply and cut. Major change in the rigidness and sound. Tapping the sheet metal sounds more like thuds rather than loud dings now.

Tried sandblasting one of the wheels, but some areas had quite tough rust on the inner side. Dipping in citric acid it was, then. Cleaned up pretty nicely and will most likely receive a top coat in Pastelweiss as I don't really like the stock "chrome metal color".

Found some Massive Meats(tm) to complement the stock wheels in a winter sale. A full round of Nokian Cline Van 185R14C.

Wheels always need some bling, don't they? What does a normal and sane person do, when baby moons are not the same curvature as some 10$ wheel stickers? Use a profile gauge on the hub caps, chuck some wood on a lathe and make a pressing tool, of course!

...and to top it all of, here's the cast front emblem I made a way back in a semi finished state. Just need to figure out how to attach it!

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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[SGKent]

[quote="Welt"][
Appreciate the concern. The heat shrink should be a version that shrinks at 120 C (250 F), rather than the cheapest 80 C (175 F). I saw a pic on ratwell where a T4 heat exchanger gives 190 F (90 C) at the output. quote]

Think again. The air is passing over 700 F heat exchangers. Aftermarket inner bellows tube.

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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Welt]

[Welt]

Time for a picture dump? Here's some things that have happened in between posts. Some things might be in random order as this post is a b- to organize properly! Might write some more when I have the time/interest.

Rebuilt the sliding door mechanism. The U-hinge was worn, rusty and the bushings were no better. Sloppy.

One bushing had even split in two.

... and one locking piece was also broken. Wonder how this even worked before.

Unfortunately the U-hinge is NLA, so cleanup was all I could do.

Old bushings had oiling holes, but had spun in there so did not work all that good anyhow.

New JustKampers bushings installed.

Finished piece. Added some heavy grease into the bushings, here's hoping that will help with the worn hinge.

Aftermarket TRW brake master cylinder did not get my hopes up with its quality, so I ended up rebuilding the original ATE one. Had to press the pistons out with a grease gun after much huffing and puffing. The insides were quite nice and cleaned up superbly with my ultrasonic cleaner. Ultrasonic cleaning+ diluted citric acid worked wonders on this one. New ATE brake light switches were more expensive than the aftermarket brake master cylinder...

Primary piston disassembled.

Secondary piston disassembled.

Locating washer to hold the new seal in.

Full assembly.

Cleaned up and a new seal towards the booster. Most parts had some pitting in them but I hope the new seals will keep it from leaking.

ATE cylinder had this choking hole in the rear, which the spare part had not. I guess it's important with a disc+drum setup.

Rebuilt assembly. The booster was fine along the boots etc. Just some new paint.

Replaced rear wheel bearings with new Febi parts. The hub carrier was heavily rusted on the outside in the beginning, but all the insides were nice and greasy.

Brake pressure regulator got the ultrasonic treatment too. Soaked the whole part in ethanol before disassembly.

Cleaned the mating surfaces with wet P800 paper.

Valve seal was fine. And all the piston bores looked ok. Piston seals were also in good condition.

Made my own gasket to replace the old crusty one.

Bodywork is almost done at this point. Installed a winch to the garage so it was possible to push the whole rotisserie out (almost!). After putting on some wood blocks between the trolley and chassis, the whole thing was a few centimeters too tall and hit the door frame. Duh...

That didn't really make the work all that much harder as the garage is large enough to work on the roof. Fortunately found only one small hole in it.

The usual rust under the side cover attachments.

Both front doors were quite bad, but not too bad to use gorilla-fu. Lots of rust again. Drivers side door stop had actually been ripped out from the chassis (and the door itself!) during this cars earlier life. Hinge area was also deformed and bent.

Made this tool to try and smoothen out the heavy dings.

At the same time, sliding door got some new Schofield replacement metal.

Started to work on door panels etc.

Dyed flamed birch.

Before removing the rotisserie, some final things were done down under. Copied the original insulation with aluminized fibreglass fabric and ceramic wool.

Installed everything with aluminium tape and galvanized steel wire.

Fuel tank installed.

Made new panels to the engine bay wrapped in aluminium tape.

Reused the seals and painted the fresh air flaps.

Fumbled with the rear brakes.

Took the rotisserie off.

Got around to make a better accelerator linkage.

Exercised some heavy duty violence on the rear bumper.

No problems with door gaps etc. with this door.

Drivers side door needed some filler to make the panel curve nicely in the front. It was too warped for my metal bending skills to make perfect without.

Advances in the interior front! Old vinyl seat covers were good for making templates. Template testing with a cheap fabric...

...and the final ones in GTD plaid and black vinyl. Not yet fully finished as can be seen from the photos.

Lines match!

New 185R14C tires fitted.

Replaced the drop arm pin. Did not touch the bushing as it was not sloppy. Too much hassle for no good so the replacement was kept in storage.

Torsion arms had some surface rust on the bearing surfaces but nothing major. New Febi balljoints for this old beam.

Phew, guess I need to post more often so these won't become a huge mess!
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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[BusPriest]

Awesome post. Loving your build
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1977 Champagne Transporter Custom Camper.
SOHC EJ25, tubbed, wagenswest
Work in progress build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=619684
Not a Priest.

[Pinetops]

Amazing work! I really like the material you used for the seats/bed.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[911GT2]

This is such a good build.

Love the quality of the work you do

[Welt]

Thanks for all the encouragement.

I actually spent a lot of time choosing the right fabric. One upholstery shop had all the OEM style VAG fabrics available on special order (including all the Westy plaid versions that WW for example sell), so a lot to choose from. I'd say the black-grey-white plaid is simple, timeless and not so flashy like all the different GTI plaids. Almost done:

Super tight to put on, white knuckles-tier stuff. Oh well, that just means they won't loosen up any moment soon.

Front beam and accessories installed. The spring leaves sure are tougher than in bugs, but torsion arms most went in without a hassle. One of them was a struggle but surrendered in the end.

Some part applicability lessons here again. Bought a upper to lower reservoir hose that was supposed to be for 73-79 (actually Braz. kombi one). No way would it fit with my side input reservoir and I'd say not even the "wrong" rear input 73-79 VAG reservoir. Not a big loss here, but as many parts on this kombi have been PO substitutes I've known no better until a part doesn't actually fit. I'll use the hose seals and install some correct diameter EPDM hose that should resist brake fluid. Hard brake lines were a slight oddity also, I think most of the lines in the kit I used were just slightly too long. Weren't able to do nice straight lines

Rear axles pulled in position and tightened with a big impact gun. Final torque applied with a big torque wrench. The beefy OEM nuts were reused. I don't doubt that the aftermarket smaller crown nuts are OK, but I like the beefiness of the full size ones.

Mostly everything else installed in the back. Still waiting for a few small things for the transaxle along with a brand new engine case. The mag engine case I originally bought for this ended up being somewhat of a hack, so I'd guess throwing a little more money in the engine section makes sense. Really don't want to put brand new parts inside the engine and end up with destruction due to a so-so engine case.

My goal is to get most small things done pretty soon and drop the bus on those sweet black donuts after all this time, spray a coat of spray filler or whatever that is, then transport it to a paint shop in the near future. That would give me enough time to do the engine and install all remaining parts during winter time -> ready to drive spring season -17?
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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[Welt]

Going forward.

One order of parts for the transmission arrived. Corrected my earlier mistake of not replacing the hockey still ball joint in the nose cone. Just quickly eyeballed it previously and thought it was ok, which it really wasn't. It was a cracked original plastic and not steel as I posted a long ago. This new one is definitely steel though.

Thought about blasting the transmission case, but decided against it in the end. I didn't want to plug any breather holes with blasting media, so in turn just gave it a coat of paint to cover the flaked areas. Don't like painted transaxles, but blasting and cleaning at this point might be more trouble than it's worth. Screwed up one hockey stick bushing trying to install it at one point, but luckily a friendly local machine shop pressed in a new one.

All cables are replaced now, phew . One thing about the heater cables still confuses me though; the diverter valve. It was at this position when most of the cables were snapped near the control levers in the cabin.

In that position, the valve seems to be diverting most of the air to the back.

When the lever is pulled to an unnatural looking position, the valve seems to be blocking most of the passage. But it does look like that the cable will never be able to pull it that far. I haven't found information on whether that is supposed to bleed some air at times or not? Owner's manual states that in one position rear and front footwells are closed. Fully or mostly? Any ideas?

There doesn't seem to be any springs or anything in the diverter or the front, only the cables.

Also received a new shiny engine case along with some full flow fittings Most of the 90 degree fittings looked quite restrictive to me, therefore ended up buying some better ones. That does come at a cost though as most already know. Will need to clearance the lower pulley tin by a wide margin, but a belt should still fit through. Did not find any 45 degree adapters in black, so a brass fitting will have to do. Clears the rear engine support bar nicely.

Original windshield does show it's age at this point. Some damage here and there but nothing too major. Wanted to try "repairing" them myself with those cheapo resin injection kits. Cleaned most of the small hits quite nicely, but did not hide everything as I expected. Worth the 3$ nevertheless.

One thing I've wanted to be bulletproof on this hunk of metal is brake booster vacuum supply. Dual carb vacuum is a somewhat of a hit and miss IMHO and I do not want to tap all the intakes (dual DRLA). My approach to this will be a pump assisted system. I've planned a system/wiring for both a vacuum pump and an electric fuel pump using a Volvo fuel pump relay. Should be quite similar to using a VW fuel relay. The idea is to only trigger two cheap relays with the more expensive one (replacement!) and run a vacuum switch in normally closed mode until a certain vacuum level. Thus, this system should work only when key is turned on, coil gives trigger signals and the vacuum level is too low. Simple, huh. Will report how it works when I get around to assemble it all.

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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[Welt]

Some small finishing touches before final paint and a small update. Test fitted doors with lock assemblies and all seem to fit nicely. Multiple skim coats of elastic filler plus lots of sanding in the somewhat dented areas and my skills won't get the surfaces straighter than this. After all that, the whole car got two coats of very fast drying spray filler/primer all over and some caressing with P500 dry paper. Dropped on four wheels and steering column installed, it now waits transportation to painters' place. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks for the painter to find a good slot, so progress is strong!

Starting to look like quite a perky little van.
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1956 Oval
1971 Type 181
1974 Baywindow
1974 Beetle

[cmonSTART]

Serious props for soldering your dents - didn't think anyone knew how to do that anymore!
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[wcfvw69]

Good job pushing forward to see this to completion.

What color are you painting it?
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Welt]