John, the Engineer - '77 Champagne Transporter Build/Travels

[BusPriest]

Ok, Thanks for the all the help.

I took out the corrugated/ribbed rubber piece and put in a straight rubber one. Changed the oil and the water problem seems to have subsided.


Progress was sort of slow because its only me and School was taking some time (graduated now tho!).
here is the progress.

Installed the mats and the kick panels. Still need to install the parcel tray, but waiting til i figure out my second battery/ second fuse panel/etc situation.

made the rear pad. Easiest to cut with solid blade in long sweeping cuts. Some say a turkey cutter is good, i didnt want to spend $20 on that.

Bug screen! works great. Straight out of a westy.

Took him about 230 miles south to New Braunfels. Saw Willie and Merle play and camped at the river.

Before the show.
The bus did well. Only issue is that it would occasionally die out at a light after highway speeds and the starter wouldnt go. I could get a jump and we would go along our way.

Gave it a good rubbing compound and polish job. Looked good in some places, looked liek shit in others. the places it looked bad were mainly where it was repainted.

It gets messy.

Panels are MOSTLY finished. Made one to go where drivers pedistals are and right side rear that have not been installed yet. Pretty happy with the color. It will look cool with the fabric i got for the seat... I hope.

Kirk was awesome enough to donate this cabinet. Gotta redo the outsides and make the wood insides, but it was a huge help.

The bus at my folks during my graduation party.

Got under to rebuild my starter but my 15mm has disappeared. Couldnt fit a socket.... going to have to do this very soon. Hopefully the rebuild is as good as buying new? I dont want to do this 5 times.

Then...... This

I was in a rush on a friday to go to a show on saturday and took it to a car wash. I didnt realize it was a spinny brush type until i was already too far into it and cars were behind me. Went thru and the top brush sat down and just crushed it. The car wash said they would take care of it... we will see...

That day got worse when i pulled in and crushed my charger in the driveway in an annoyed/rushed haste.

Maybe it was just a sign its time to clear coat the bus. You can see above that i needed to replace some rubbers...might as well do it now.

This is the Window seal up front... Nasty but no apparent weakspots or pinholes.

grinded it down with wirewheel

Left the rust on the front valence. Didnt know how to address this really... I didnt want to try and match the entire section, as i knew it wouldnt look right. Hoping that clear coat will basically slow down the rust until its ready to be fully painted some day...

Put some rusto oil based on there. Should be good.

This is what the side looked like. Wasnt happy with the non matching fade... so i decided to see what I could do....

Shoulda stopped here...... but i didnt....

This is what it ended up like... Not totally happy but whatever.

Pullled all the windows and ready to go to paint

So I was talking to my painter guy and told him mayb he could clean up the side i messed up and make it a little better. Well, his english isnt perfect, but he thought i meant the slider door (which i didnt want touched).

it looked like this..

he took sand paper and basically just did a bunch of weird patches all over the door. Looked like it was sanded/prepped for paint. I could see bare metal and bondo in places... it was terrrrrible. looked nothing like the rest of the bus and made the rest of the patina look fake because it was so bad.... Anyways... I saw it and called him and asked him to repaint just the slider brown. If its not perfect same color thats ok... anything was better than that... I might end up doing a vinyl wrap on that slider of a mirror image of the panel on the opposite side... Could look cool.
Pics soon of the clear coat.
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

Also, huge thanks to brian. He helped me decide on the system.
Got a 1000w amp, pioneer 10", 4 polk marine grade speakers and pioneer head unit. So much fun.
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

So i went to pick up my bus last night... didnt know what to expect with the paint on the door but i figured it was solid brown.

i was wrong.


He tried to do a fade from the bottom to fix his mistake.... jeez... i wish he just marked it off and painted it fully brown to fix it like i asked. i paid my $400 for the clear coat and left.

Heres the results

im not really happy with the slider door. Called a wrap place and they told me it would be about 160 to get a wrap the size of that door. Have a couple thoughts for solution:
1. a good picture of the panel opposite (where a rhd slider would be) could be printed and wrapped on the door... making it match the other panels well.
2. wrap in just plain brown like its a replacement panel
3/ pull door and have a patina guy work it up ($$$)
4. pull the door and paint it myself in several layers. grey, white white white brown. then see if i can match the patina.
5. leave it... which i'll do for now... but i wont like it...
_________________
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.

[Wildthings]

Next time use Osphos or some other phosphoric acid treatment on the rust around the windshield before painting it over and installing the windshield. This will stop further rust in its tracks.

[BusPriest]

Wildthings,

Wish i knew about that a couple days ago! ha. I will be sure to do that next time, or for any other rust i treat.
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

Time to do seals.

Looked around and there wasnt a write up about doing seals, a bunch about which seals to get, but none about how to do them. So, I decided to write up this, might save some people some headache. But maybe this is unreal basic? Either way, so much on here, so will try to help where i messed up in places.
Also, used Wolfberg west seals

Tools:

First pull the old seal out.

Then take your degreaser or other cleaner and clean out as much of the old glue as you can.

The next part is where i got stuck. I debated cutting the door seal and pulling out the door strap. Decided to pull out the door strap.

This is it.

Pull the circle clip out the bottom and then use a screw driver to pry up the bar.

push the strap pulley into the door so it looks like

Heres another place i messed up. This glue is SUPER fast drying. You should fully install the door seal before touching glue. The best way for me was putting the corners on and then meeting in the middle. Other wise i would get to the end and have extra material.

Now leaving the rubber on, use the glue in about a foot long section by putting it on the door and putting the rubber back in. Go around the door and it should be all good.

Next you have to deal with the door strap again.

its recessed. Use your pliers and pull half way out. you wont be able to get it all the way out. Put a nail thru the hole and use that to pull it out further

Line it up, put the pin in, put your clip back on and enjoy your new door. It may bounce back in your face so shut it hard!
_________________
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.

[jtauxe]

[BusPriest]

Well, I wish I knew to do the phosphoric acid. Hopefully it will last as is for the next couple years until a total rebuild/paint job is warranted.

Got the new glass installed at the glass shop. Since the carwash broke it, they were paying for it, so i let them do it.

Got this wonderful delivery from WW. My seals and a buddies.


Was going to wait for my buddy to help friday with the windows but i got antsy this morning. Installed the rubber around the glass first. Some people thought that windex in the rubber was good. I did this on one of them and had the darnedest time getting it to stay on. I would go dry if i was you. Clean first very good with windex though.
The Chrome trim was a slight bugger at first. What i learned was: Use some silicon spray in the grove. Take the back/butt end of a kitchen fork or spoon (it was sitting on my dining table and worked well) and spread it around the grove. Place the chrome on there and measure up from corner. Then start your grove at the beginning of the chrome and go all the way around. It should just slide or pop right in. Where it wouldnt go in very well, the butt end of the spoon was a great help getting the crease to open up a bit. Put the chrome trim connectors on one side before putting in, and slide over.

Tcash or SGKent gave a wonderful suggestion of using a pen body for the rope. I put silicon in the grove (i think this helps pull the rope out and prevents any tearing). then place the rope in the pen body. Start your rope and slide the pen
tip into the grove. The rope magically sits itself!

(from the famous Scruffy Murphys in Waco, TX.)


Ive seen some people question about slider windows rubber. It might depend on which ones you have. Mine are branded DuraGlass and have the VW and Audi logos, so i think they are originals? Anyways, I used the WW non deluxe (or Cal-Look) rubbers, just to make it easier. Kirk mentioned that his were a SOB to get in and that it took two people. I actually needed someone for the other ones, but not these two. they went in pretty easy and I did them alone.

Yay!


Then I opened the front door and found this.

Huge puddle. Man, this is what all these new door and window rubbers were about.. the end of that shit!

When they installed the front window, they missed some of the drivers side headliner, but it was already messed up on the pass side so no biggie.

Then I looked up.

dang.

Gotta go back and get them to reinstall it. I guess thats what you get letting others work on your bus for you....
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

Took a break From the bus to study for the Texas bar. Back on it now. Trying to get it ready to camp for a couple weeks in the next couple days.

Made curtains from a bed sheet and seat fabric. They have rare earth magnets in the corners to hold them up

Then sewed up the rear bed w some new foam. The rear pad was a bear to sew, but mom helped w that part.

_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

[BusPriest]

Having an odd issue:

Changed out the starter for a Bosch one (the old one was having hot start issues).
Put everything back together and was getting in bus to start it and the key wouldn't budge. The wheel was loose. Tried the radio and nothing. So I check my connections and I didn't hook up the big thick black wire to starter. Get that on the bolt with all the rest of them, hook up the battery charger and let sit to charge a bit.
Then when the radio will turn on and there is some charge in battery I try to turn key and it's still stuck in off position. Now the wheel is locked too.
It's for sure the correct key and the correct direction. Ideas??
_________________
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.

[busdaddy]

Remove the electrical portion of the ignition switch incase it's somehow melted inside and locked up, other than that I've got nothing.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[BusPriest]

Do I need To do the ratwell method of removing everything including the steering wheel to check this?
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

Fixed the issues with cursing, screaming and violent blows. Thanks again busdaddy.
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

Today was a very very busy day.

Started off by taking off the exhaust and passenger heater box as mine was trash. Got that off, put new used heater box on with new seals and sealant. Painted exhaust with high heat temp Rusto paint to stop the rust.

Then I went to the Flaps to get my new bosche starter. Been having heat issues with the old one, just wanted a new Bosch one so I could forget about it forever as Aeromech suggested. Had fun putting that in.
Got it all back together and nothing worked. Got back under and saw I missed a cable, got that back on and still nothing. Battery seemed dead. Put on charger and moved on to interior stuff.

Recently took off my panels to poly them, so put those back on. Put on my rear seats that were made yesterday.

Go back to starter and now my damn steering is locked and the ignition won't budge. Fast fwd thru hours of samba searching I decide to pull my wheel and see what I can do.... I get the wheel off and then turn the key and it suddenly is fine... Wtf...
Anyways, I had my wheel off so I cleaned the dials and added some lights so I can actually see how slow my bus is.

Put it all back together and we are now happy. That starter is something else!!!

Tomorrow is going to be second battery, wiring up a bunch of stuff, making new rear cabinet and maybe poor mans Dakota digital.
_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

New Curtains with magnet power!!

They got some tie dye style on the outside.

New bed


And my favorite thing

_________________
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.

[BusPriest]

Pretty boring mcode but glad to know the birthday now! 2/10/77
_________________
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.

[Kirk]

Hey man! I just was able to put together your screen name. Haha Bus is looking good. You consider disassembling that bed and moving the brackets apart to make a full bed? Looks good!
_________________
MAKE FORUMS GREAT AGAIN

Bear
Coble
Super
Oppenheim

[BusPriest]

Hey buddy. You couldn't tell it was me from the asking of crazy questions all over? Haha.
The bed will stay since I'm putting a rear cabinet and making a fridge cabinet. Yesterday I finally found a used/discounted domestic cf-025 fridge that will fit perfect in the fridge cabinet area.
_________________
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.

[Kirk]

It's funny because I saw this thread, then met you and didn't put it together. Now that I met you and stumbled on your thread again I was like ohhhhh yeahhhhhh.

Good score on the fridge.
_________________
MAKE FORUMS GREAT AGAIN

Bear
Coble
Super
Oppenheim