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vwuberalles
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2003
Posts: 1357
Location: Richmond, VA
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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 Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2017 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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I'm getting ready to return the bus to stock height. I got the original beam with the bus but there were torsion leaves missing and the bump stops cut off - poor man's way of lowering. 
I bought a complete set of torsion leaves and bump stops from the Samba classifieds. The leaves are in, bump stops are welded on and the beam is painted - it's ready to install.
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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joefriday
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2015
Posts: 179
Location: Richland WA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:19 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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| Lots of good improvements on this bus. Nice job on the beam. Look forward to the finished product! |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Going back to stock height is probably not going to happen until over the winter. I'm still gathering up parts. I removed the Wagenswest's beam in hoping to at least get the stock beam in while still running with the existing flipped spindles assemblies. I went to put the spindle assemblies on the stock beam and discovered they are from a '64-'67 beam and don't fit. Link pins are bigger. Out came the stock beam and back in went the Wagenswest's beam.
I pulled the tired 1600 engine out and replaced it with a 1600 I rebuilt over last winter. I now have a bus I trust to take an longer road trips. I also got the heat all hooked up which was a bit tricky with the Vintage speed exhaust. I was quite surprised at how much heat comes out of the front vents.
I made some new front door panels. I cut them out of 1/8" birch plywood and pained them to match the roof and kick panels...
I'm going to sand blast the stock rims and repaint them before I put the proper size tires on them. In the meantime the bus is sporting some Radar rims that I use to have on my '65 Beetle. It makes the bus look like a $.97 Hot Wheels car from Walmart...  Gotta take a few steps backwards before moving forward...
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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oakman
Samba Member
Joined: February 05, 2014
Posts: 1715
Location: Edge of the Desert, Ca
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| Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:53 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Nice work! Those interior panels look great, the front beam too!
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Brandon |
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brokevwguy
Samba Member
Joined: November 03, 2012
Posts: 269
Location: Upstate New York
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| Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 5:28 am Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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That front beam looks great all cleaned up and painted. 
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Be happy with what you have, you will save allot of money that way....
1961 Standard |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Well, driving season is done here. No snow yet - just road salt because of the below freezing temperatures. I put just over 1100 trouble free miles on it since May. Over the winter I plan on returning it to stock height. For the front the original beam is ready to go but for the rear I need to get the replacement transmission rebuilt. It's a AO transmission with a 3.875 final drive. I've got two sets of reduction boxes to make one good set from.
Also on the "to-do" list is:
- Remove gas tank to seal the inside
- Paint bumpers
- Remove front and rear safari windows - going back to stock windows!
- Weld in cargo rocker
Lets see what I get accomplished...
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 3:42 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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I made a homemade knuckle pin extractor tool to dis-assemble my front spindles. The seals were hard as a rock and falling apart. It took me 4 hours to make the tool. It's made from a pitman arm puller tool and scraps of metal I had hanging around the garage. Now I got to figure out a way to press them back together so the link pins are perfectly parallel with each other.
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Some progress...
Got the brake backing plates sandblasted and painted...
Got the spindles painted and reassembled with new rubber seals...
Made a press to press the king pins back together...
Passenger side spindle went together correctly first try... took me five tries for the driver's side - the link pin holes wouldn't stay lined up while pressing it together.
The narrowed Wagenswest beam is out and the original beam is back in...
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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silkvw
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2008
Posts: 453
Location: Elgin, TX
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:09 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Tool making can be fun and a challenge. You are doing a great job!
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'64 single cab Big Bend Bus Bash 2015 '16
'59 camper BBBB 2017 '18 '19 '20 '22 New Mexico
'70 Ghia........Bonneville,........TX Mile,........142 mph......(sold)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=641871&highlight= |
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Brokenshire
Samba Member
Joined: June 26, 2017
Posts: 12
Location: Vancouver
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| Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 1:59 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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| Yay! Very nice to see the photos! I appreciate the stock beams over anything else. It is a lot of work restoring back to original specs after others have changed things up over the years. Very nice press, by the way! |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:58 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Today I got the spindles, backing plates and brake cylinders installed.
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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This weekend I installed the brake shoes and drums. Greased the link & king pins, center pin and beam. Wheels are on and it's back on the ground. It sits 3 1/2" higher. It looks so much better now that the wheels aren't tucked way inside the wheel wells. While installing the brake shoes I discovered the lining is coming off one of the old shoes so I ordered a new set. Also ordered all new Wolfsburg West oil shocks.
Next... pull the engine & transmission. The gas tank needs sealing so out it will come too...
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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JohnnyRingo
Samba Member
Joined: October 22, 2011
Posts: 415
Location: United States
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:38 am Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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| My ol bus is looking good, sure do miss her. See ya in a few weeks, when we make our voyage to Spring Bulli/no dough... |
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andre b
Samba Member
Joined: August 10, 2004
Posts: 806
Location: San Jose C.A.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:13 am Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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| bus looks way better..i just did the same thing on my 60 mango,,some one pulled the pins back in the day.. |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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| JohnnyRingo wrote: |
| My ol bus is looking good, sure do miss her. See ya in a few weeks, when we make our voyage to Spring Bulli/no dough... |
Maybe I'll drive it to the show next year... or the year after... Gotta get it painted first!
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2018 3:44 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Finally some progress. The AO code transmission that I was getting rebuilt ended up very worn and not practical to rebuild. I ended up finding a '66-'67 bus transmission. Went to install the axles and discovered the side gear side to side clearance was out of spec. I ordered some thicker thrust washers from Weddle and now all is good. While assembling the RGBs I found a few of the bearings were loose in the housings. I used Loctite 680 Bearing Retainer on all the bearings. The transmission is all assembled minus the brakes...
...and is installed in the bus. Hope to at least have it back on the ground and rolling in the next week so I can push it out of the garage to get my '74 bus and '56 Beetle out of winter storage.
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Finally done...
Had a bit of a setback. I was in a car accident on May 8th. I was t-boned while driving in my '79 panel. My head bounced off the top of the door frame giving me a concussion and whiplash. Messed up my back a bit too. It's nice to have a quiet transmission where I can hear the engine while shifting through the gears. I can hear the reduction boxes when coasting in neutral. Big improvement in the steering over the narrowed beam. Much quicker and better turning radius. Still gotta get some proper size tires. Not sure if the rear is too high. I wasn't expecting that much negative camber.
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:01 pm Post subject: Re: My '60 Kombi |
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Got the bumpers painted and back on...
Now, if I could only find some stock size tires...
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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Joey
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2005
Posts: 5366
Location: Nova Scotia - Canada
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| Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2019 3:14 pm Post subject: '60 Kombi |
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Not sure exactly was this black stuff is but I want it gone. I'm using a propane torch to soften it up and a plastic scraper to remove most of it. I then wipe off the residue with minerial spirits.
4 hours later...
It's all over the interior walls as well but the stuff on the floor is pretty thick in some areas. I'm thinking I've got several hours of heating/scraping ahead of me...
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Joey
‘60 Kombi - '74 Bus - '79 Panel - '65 Beetle |
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