Hello from the UK!

[MorkC68]

Earlier this week we took the westy for his MOT test; passed okay, advisories include grumbling front wheel bearings, handbrake inefficient and he advised we change the fuel filter.

Next part for attention is the drivers door, the skin has cracked badly in several places:

Its had some form of repair around the mirror' bolt

The bonding on the door braces has gone brittle and broken away and one of the braces is loose inside the frame. It needs sorting!

The plan is to reskin the door, the frame is excellent so we're going to remove the old damaged one, clean up all of the Dinitrol and treat any rust, paint it up etc before welding the new skin on and paint!

Unpicking the spot welds is slow going

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

So we started to take the spot welds off the lower half of the door to remove the skin only, we ended up taking the whole outer door skin off as the spot welds had gone all round the top of the window frame. It looks like its been welded before

I think the door has had something happen to it in the past, the bracing inside the door frame was broken off, the hole where the mirror passes through was not how it should be and we need to make some new bits for the brace around the mirror nut

On a plus side, we got a small crack on the inside welded up, the outer skin fits okay and we treated some rust with Vactan. We just have to rebuild the bracing and get that cleaned and painted up. The door frame itself is mint, just surface rust, no real rot aside of some little bits where spot welds have broke.

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

Progress has been slow this past week, been de-sealing, rubbing back, welding and painting the bracing on the door after fixing the mirror nut back into its recess, looks good!

But, so much for our "very good" rust free inner door, part of it is peppered with holes

Luckily Schofields do a repair panel with the correct profile

http://www.alanhschofield.com/ourparts/prod_252712...1105D.html


Whilst this was on order, we applied some more Vactan to the top door frame

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

Had a few good sessions on the door and got all of the rotten underside cut out, the inner brace bar cleaned up, rust treated and a coat of paint applied. Progress is good

The Schofield repair section is very good however, the profile on the inside slightly different to the old one, the edge on the new one is sharper, no bother it can be made good!

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

The new bit is all welded in place, fits well, the steel didn't bow during welding, which is a plus, to correct the profile on the inside lip, we chopped it out, reshaped it and welded it back in.

I didn't get any photos before a layer of filler was applied to neaten it up, however, we did get carried away, good job its easy sand

Whilst we waited for the filler to go off, we checked the fit of the door skin and marked it out for the brace bars

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[lil-jinx]

Did you just fill that long hole with filler?
_________________
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668799
1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy
1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[MorkC68]

[lil-jinx]

Great work! On your 73,what is that profile at the bottom of the front doors,I have not seen that before,It looks good.
I just got to get to the UK for a look around.
_________________
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668799
1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy
1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[cliveawn]

Hello mate! Cool busses...
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Green 78 Westfalia Helsinki,

2056 with 41 x 34 valves,ported heads
Fully balanced
8,5:1CR
JPM Custom made cam
JPM 7075 dual taper pushrods
IDF 40's with 28mm venturi's
Python CSP 42mm exhaust.
115 HP

Daily driver 2017 Volvo V60 D5 hybrid
Rica stage 2 tune 345hp.

''Funny thing about common sense is that its not very common''

Seismic gun mechanic

[notchboy]

Great job mork! Major looking good aND sorted.
_________________

[MorkC68]

[MorkC68]

[MorkC68]

[LazyLightning75]

Wow! That's an impressive amount of work going on. When you're done you really will know your bus inside and out. Looking forward to seeing it all come together.
_________________
1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[MorkC68]

[MorkC68]

Bit more progress this past couple of weeks, mostly painting the inside of the door frame ready for welding back up.

cant beat a bit of red oxide

then a good coating of Rustoleum

Finally, we got some bonding on the support brace which holds the mirror in place

fingers crossed we're reskinning the frame next week!
_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

Well, the door is almost done. Finally welded back up, filled and a couple of coats of primer layed down, its taken a while but we have got there!

Door skin on and spot welded:

Window Frame welded back on:

Filled and flatted back:

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

And finally some paint!

Top coat

Tomorrow we will pop one final finishing coat of paint on, leave the paint to harden over the weekend in readiness for clear coating.
_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

Its been a few weeks since I updated the project, work has got in the way and we have been busy as a result!

Anyway, we got the door finished and the results are good - one final coat of colour and a couple of light coats of clear coat, I'm happy with the outcome!

We have also moved Major from our unit up to the garage for the welding to take place, however, the roof had to be removed to get him inside!

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[MorkC68]

With the westy moved up to the garage to do the bodywork, we started at the rear left hand corner and tackled the rust bubbles there:

We also found that the rear outer valance has lots of rust pinholes on the top lip:

Lucky for us the inner valance was in excellent condition.

The worst of the rot was confined to a 2" square section with slightly less on the inner d post.

_________________
Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/