20-020744 "The Tocksfors Rhd"

[busben]

Deja Vu

[busben]

Next up, back to that front end. First we got the new cab floor into position

and then repairs started on the rusty, beaten up, mis-shaped front panel....

first the instrument pod was fixed

then the front skin was worked back into something like the correct profile, and the rusty headlight bucket removed and replaced

then the right hand side was trimmed up and new metal grafted in off a donor clip, plus a-posts on and lower dash support metal work repaired / replaced

and finally the new screen on and ............ We have a solid front end again!

then one of my favourite parts of a build this big - the front end attached to the chassis

[busben]

So .......... next step after a New Year break was to get started on the roof. When we rescued this bus from the forest most of the roof was paper thin but I really wanted to keep the front end just to retain some of the identity of the bus. I managed to source an early roof to use for the rear 2/3, and in OG dove blue as well, although it's got black paint over the top but this will hopefully strip off.

First job was to spot weld the inner strengtheners onto the new section of roof. Not many Barndoors had these and the jury is out to exactly why they were installed, but maybe something to do with extra strength for roof loading ...... maybe for places with heavy snow?? All I know is that mine had them as you can see from this photo ......

........ and so they're going back on. Not surprisingly they are the same profile as the cargo doors and side panels so an easy fix.

Then the front gutter was replaced with some KF sections

and then we had to work out what to do with this!! The roof was pretty badly beat and so it had quite a lot of work just to get it back into the right shape before we could do anything with it!!

When we started tacking the old front section in position we also had to fabricate some of the lower edge that attaches to the gutter as this was toast in places on the original clip

but the main problem area was the right hand side that had been sat buried on the forest floor

I came up with the solution of using the scraps of rear roof to fix this section to try and retain the heavy patina, and so the front section was trimmed up ready

and the lower edge sorted with a fabricated piece

and then this piece of original rear roof was used ..............

which I think worked out pretty damn well!!

and cleaned up it looks even better

one more minor repair on the front as this skin is pretty thin in places

and the roof is fixed and ready for use!!

[busben]

[Scotty]

Paul Wisk drove his 54 deluxe chassis around a field before he attached the body back on
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[mandraks]

I, too, will be watching. No doubt
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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[brettsvw]

[Crimson]

I was the one who found and checked the number on the bus .. remember I got tons of mail after I posted pictures on the meanbugs forums .. a few years since the last time I was working on vw:s.. but my friend patric sent the link to me regarding the bus so I just had to register again to see the awsome work you done to it. Keep up the good work👍🏻😊

[dockmaster]

[73sports]

I just keep thinking how cool it would be to see the chassis taken out for a spin before the body is reconstructed.
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I will never lie, but sometimes the truth changes.

Central Jersey VW Society

[mandraks]

[Aspro]

Does the pine cone switch still work Ben? Looks like another rare barndoor part.

[The Rascals Cats]

Amazing Job ...
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Building my automotive dreams ....
Also i'm proud to be a " Rascal cat"...
www.therascalscats.com Follow us daily on IG @therascalscats

[Dennaan]

Will be fun to follow yet another incredible save by you! Insane

[busben]

[Scotty]

Your clutch pedal doesn't have much wear on it at all!
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[wcfvw69]

Wow...! Nice work.
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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**

[bally]

You make it sound so easy Ben

What special potions/techniques/tools were required to disassemble that lot?

Cheers,

Dave

[Hellberg]

amazing!!
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Type 2 -53 smooth Gate SC (o\!/o) Type 1 -50 |o\ /o| Type 2 -55 Barndoor kombi
...........Driving barndoor to HO 2017............

[busben]

haha yeh it's a big, bad project for sure Grant, but I couldn't leave such a rare bus rotting in the forest when I had a chance to save it. It's interesting to try such a rusty project too. Bit different to the last one.

So, on to that early rhd pedal cluster. Everything, unsurprisingly, was seized solid in a lump of rusted metal..........

so first job was to fabricate a nice new cross-section to re-assemble everything onto

before the handbrake assembly was carefully taken apart,

cleaned,

painted,

and re-assembled using a new spring from a gun

Then the pedals were pulled apart.

The rod that holds the pedals was rusted solid, so when pulled apart and cleaned it showed heavy pitting, especially where it looked like water had been dripping onto it .......... for the last 50 years!

so it was filled with weld

and ground back. Perfect.

The sleeve was even worse

but repaired the same way

Finally every component was cleaned and painted ready for re-assembly,

with another chassis section fabricated by hand

and finally everything back together, fully refurbished and working well

Final job before Christmas was to weld the section in place in the chassis