1973 VW Westfalia build in 2015, 2016 and beyond!

[AirAssault2]

Alas, it was time to start body work. I ordered several body panels for problem areas and decided to tackle one of the smaller areas first. In front of the rear driver's side wheel well was what I thought was a little problem. Turns out, It was paper packed into a hole and covered with bondo. . .

Not exactly what I thought would be underneath the gray primer covering the spot. I grinded out all of the rust, POR-15 the inside of it and cut out the area that I was going to place the new panel. I then welded for the first time in my life. The sticker said that the piece was for a different year but it wasn't when I conferred with whom I bought it from.

Which in turn led to an astronomical amount of grinding. After that, I repainted the area and was left with the final result.

I was ecstatic, though such a small area I felt like I accomplished so much. I actually liked doing body work. It was almost therapeutic, maybe because I was and am a beginner so I have low expectations. Either way, it was time to celebrate! My girlfriend and I decided to take the bus to go see a drive-in movie. The bus was a hit and it was a blast!

[Spike0180]

Looking good! I found body work pretty therapeutic too, until the very final details of getting it 100% straight... Sanding sucks!
_________________
Brutis Patches Izabich: 1970 VW Transporter - 1776cc DP
Current State: Projects never truly end...
Location: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Other cars: 2003 F150, 2003 Jetta GLI vr6-6sp

Sambastic: adj; the quality of being nit picky, elitist, expecting everyone to do things the way they believe is best with no regard to situation, "sambastic"

[AirAssault2]

I agree sanding is a pain however, it is teaching me patience, that's for sure!

[alman72]

if you read on here about alternators, you cut down the long post on the new one, right?
where did you get the hella turn signal covers?
Lastly, you need more pictures of your girlfriend (she may be with the bus, if she prefers)
great job, looking good!

[AirAssault2]

Thanks, I got the turn signal lenses from here actually. Oh trust me, she will make more occurrences throughout this process!

[AirAssault2]

Next up, the driver's side door. If you have been reading from the beginning, it was damaged before I purchased it. Someone came to look at it and left it in neutral, when they did, they left the door open and it dented it up pretty bad. As seen in this picture:

I searched on here for months trying to find a decent door within driving distance from me and finally found one . . . In Charlotte, NC. So off I went. I got the door from the guy who also had a beautiful Splitty, I don't remember the year. After making it back with the "new" door I was dying to put it on. I changed the handle and the panel and it was time to take the old door off. That, well, that was not fun. All of the bolts where stripped. I ended up using a dremel to cut a line into the bolt and after a can of WD-40 and some luck, I got them out and the door off. Then I had to wait for new door bolts, which was depressing.

Putting the new door on was a breeze and man did it make her look better! She was coming along!

[AirAssault2]

With the success of putting the new door on, it was time for another adventure. So me, my girlfriend, and a friend loaded up the bus and headed off to tube the Shenadoah River. It was a blast even though the water was muddied up with the rain we got shortly beforehand. The bus drove well and numerous peace signs, thumbs up, and waves were recieved on the ride over there. Man it makes me so happy! Anyway, check out the video I made if you wanna see it for your yourself.
Link

[AirAssault2]

Back to the body work. Next up, the rear valance, or rear apron. Mine was in pretty bad shape. Thinking this was such a straight and flat piece, I figured this would be a good second body problem area to tackle. It turned out pretty good, I was pretty impressed with my weekend garage warrior result.

[MorkC68]

enjoyed reading your progress with the bus; looks good with the chrome bumpers!

Keep the updates coming
_________________
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/

[AirAssault2]

Thanks MorkC68, means a lot! Will do!

[AirAssault2]

As you can see in our tubing video while pumping up the tubes, the sliding door needs some work. It was pretty rusty on the bottom part, the extent of the damage was found after grinding out all the bondo the P.O. had on it.

After that was done, I cut out the problem area, cut the replacement and I welded in the new piece that I got from CIP1VW.

I'm still working on this whole welding thing and this was by far the biggest piece that I had to cut, size and weld. It turned out good as new(ish).

So much more to do! Man this bus is teaching me patience.

[AirAssault2]

It's been awhile since I've been able to post on here. Ya know, life just kind of interrupts things every now and then. Anyway's at this point in this page, we are in the fall. I just put on a new passenger side dog leg and decided why not take the bus on a trip to the mountains for a few days of cruising, camping and hiking. I brought along the dog and the girlfriend.

We decided to make a little video documenting the trip. You should check it out!

Link

[sjbartnik]

[TDCTDI]

This might be a bit late but POR15 doesn't adhere well to bare metal either, it prefers a rough, rusty surface. They suggest their bare metal surface conditioner which is suspiciously similar to Ospho.

Glad to see you enjoying the Bus while working on it too, kinda rolling-resto sorta thing.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[AirAssault2]

Oh, ok. That is good to know. I have almost always put it on bare metal without even giving it much fault. Thanks so much TDCTDI!

[AirAssault2]

Luckily lately, I have had some more time to get back to doing some work on the bus. I have been juggling this balance of working on it and playing with it and it has been a lot easier to play. Anyways, I was able to finally fix the front passenger dog leg. Luckily, it only needed the front portion replaced. This was my first experience fixing a dog leg and it was good practice for the driver's side dog leg, it will need a complete replacement.

I cut out the old one where the rust was and welded a new one in. I am incredibly happy with how it turned out!

[AirAssault2]

It was about time that we found some forest service roads and drove till we found a spot in the George Washington National Forest that looked good to us. We camped and hiked and it was joyous! Here are a few pictures from the trip. Back to the garage for more body work!

[AirAssault2]

Right above the driver's side rear wheel was another problem spot. Luckily, it was a spot I was able to tackle in less than a day. I'm excited about the incredibly slow progress I am making. Progress is progress though, so I'll take it!

[Pinetops]

Subscribing

I like your bus and attitude. Impressive body work too!

Is it me or is that passenger side dogleg a little pointy? Maybe it's the angle.

Keep up the good work.
_________________
"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[Wasted youth]

Your undying enthusiasm in the face of intimidating problems without practical experience helps make you a reliable person, as well as a trustworthy custodian of another VW bus that could have met the crusher instead.

Now I'm going to be a dick... cuz that's one thing I'm good at.

If you value the future of your bus, your health and the lives of those around you, you will find properly weight-rated tires that will not blow out on you when you suddenly have to make a fast evasive manuever.

Think: fully loaded camper enroute with friiends and loved ones. Deer in the road as you hit that 40 mph curve and suddenly see it. You swerve to miss it. The combined weight of the bus on that automobile rated tire. The sudden swerve loads unusual weight onto that tire as the bus shifts into your swerve. Tire blows out and you hit he shoulder. Then the rocks. Then the tree.