68 panel - a long story short ish

[SamboSamba22]

Hey man, you’re plugging away!
Images shared just gives us all fuel for our restoration fires, so it’s nice knowing others are working hard to build a bus to truly enjoy.
You are a better man than I, the attention given to the dash, I never in a million years would’ve worked that thing to look as nicely as it does now.

You’re going to be cruising, buddy in the passenger seat, saying “just check out that clean dash!”, buddy stating “looks nice”.
You’ll know the time and effort, and for that I would drive with a little more pride. Keep shaking and baking, it’s coming along, and we’d all enjoy seeing it in full circle.
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The Bus Barn Ltd. Co.

Oct. ’67 Double Cab (’68 Crew Cab)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44412.png]Click to view image[/URL]
March '69 Delivery (Panel Bus)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44414.png]Click to view image[/URL]

[Pinetops]

The bus is coming along beautifully, very well done.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[metz]

@SamboSama22: "Looks nice" – haha, I've thought about that so many times when I've been putting in stupid many hours into stuff that no-one will ever notice. But I think it will be worth it all for the peace of mind.

With the tank in, battery in and some wiring hooked up, it was time to get the engine in! I'm not really touching the engine at this point. It was running, so I hope it will keep doing that some more. I will look at upgrading or replacing it in the future as a separate project. The original exhaust had severe rust, so I'd bought a future proof replacement from Vintage Speed.

My bus didn't come with a firewall in the engine bay, but I wanted one and was lucky to score one from a salvage yard - even the correct early bay version if I'm not mistaken. It was painted along with the other parts, so the engine bay should look nice and clean when finished.

And here's the old 1600:

Anders and Jon came to help, which was great as they done these things a bunch of times before. Anders adjusted the valves and we started picking off the old exhaust and installing the new one along with new engine mounts:

Transmission on and ready to go in:

Nice to lift the bus up and roll the engine in place:

Bus down:

And it's in!

That was a late night for sure. Jon had to leave, but in the AM, Anders, dad and I managed to get the engine to start. Hadn't hooked up the fuel tank, so we only had it running for a little bit, but a great feeling and another milestone checked!

[SamboSamba22]

Looking good, I think you’ll enjoy the exhaust, friend of mine Bill has the same setup, its very nice.
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The Bus Barn Ltd. Co.

Oct. ’67 Double Cab (’68 Crew Cab)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44412.png]Click to view image[/URL]
March '69 Delivery (Panel Bus)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44414.png]Click to view image[/URL]

[metz]

Next up was hooking up the gas tank. Then we did an engine oil flush before new oil and filter. Of course there was broken oil sump bolts that needed sorting, so like everything on this project, things take three times as much time as expected. But a bunch of small thing here and there and it was ready to move! It was running a bit loud and sucking some air, but nonetheless I was pretty stoked about having the bus moving by its own power again.


Link


Next up: doors and wiring!

[Tcash]

That's great.
That exhaust was shaking my computer. Does it really have that much resonance?
Nice van
Tcash

[metz]

Cheers, Tcash! No, it was leaking and timing wasn't good.

[metz]

Started wiring on the final day of my four week summer "holiday" work camp. Sorted out quite a bit, but didn't really get everything to work properly. Nice, clean atmosphere anyway.

And nice to see light!

When progress stalled and I was just scratching my head I went on with the passenger door. First lifting it on and putting on the new seal. They're from Wolfsburg West, and like the rear hatch – they seem too thick, but from what I've read they should improve over time.

The glass and all that. It was quite a puzzle, but when we finally understood the correct order and method of installing everything, it wasn't too bad.

Fast forward to weekend worker again (the bus is still in my hometown). I got help from a friend of the old man who's an electrician. Turned out the main problem was lack of earth – so after a few hours, we had pretty much everything but the horn working, which had a bad connection at the bottom (that I mentioned earlier was a pain in the ass to connect). Have to do that one again.

Then we could install the top part of the dash and the new rubber middle section.

Pretty looking!

[SamboSamba22]

Such a good looking bus. Color is great for a panel.
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The Bus Barn Ltd. Co.

Oct. ’67 Double Cab (’68 Crew Cab)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44412.png]Click to view image[/URL]
March '69 Delivery (Panel Bus)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44414.png]Click to view image[/URL]

[metz]

As the bus is getting close to road ready, some more pleasing tasks was coming up. I've done some research to sound insulation and deadening, and decided on some thin sound deadening sheets from Silent Coat. I bought 4 square meters, which was more that enough. In contrast to how a lot of people use these types of products, I wanted to use as little as possible and only where it makes sense. Meaning big surfaces without any geometry stopping the sound resonance.

This was an extremely rewarding task. Quick, clean and the difference is instant and pretty big.


Link

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

The windscreen! After the success on the rear I was probably complacent before installing the front. I put the new seal on the old glass, draw string in and started working in the glass. Sadly, my lack of research meant no lube. When starting from the bottom, the rubber never completely sat down, which meant when closing in on the upper corners, thing started to get very tight. Force was used and the glass broke. Of course, the disappointment equals no pictures...

I'd taken two days of work before the weekend and bought test plates (if that's the correct word). I had a dream of making my way to the Scandinavian Cal-look Classic – the biggest meet in Scandinavia. This was not going to happen. Eventually, we tried with the old rubber seal and after a few tries we managed to get it in. But installation never felt comfortable. It looks better than the picture shows. But at least I had a temporary windscreen so I could do some test rides around the block.

The test ride wasn't very good though. Engine lost power on low revs and started coughing when putting it in second. I wasn't going anywhere with the engine in the current state. So I spent the rest of the weekend on the rear bumper, loose ends, wiring, rubber seals and misc – and got a good chunk of work done.

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Since it wasn't going to go through the MOT with the old windscreen in, I had to find a new one quickly. Luckily, my local aircooled VW shop had it in stock! I guess it's been laying there for ten years without adjusting the price, because it was dirt cheap. Super happy I picked it up and went down the next weekend to sort things out.

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous about installing the new glass. I didn't want to break another one. The old one was scratched up and I didn't mind investing in a new one, but messing up another time was out of the question. My main concern was that the welding of the A-pillar meant that the window opening was smaller than it was supposed to, but then again, we managed to get the old one in at last.

So, lots of lube, new glass, new seal and two cords instead of one. A mistake I did on the previous attempt was not pushing the glass all the way towards the lip before pulling the string. This mean it jumped out on top, not helping to push the seal down when dragging it onto the lip.

With help of my friend Alex, I think we gave it a good eight attempts before finally getting it right. And the feeling when the last bit of seal jumped into place was great. The amount of focus sadly meant no progress picture. But here it is installed!

After successfully installing the windscreen, Jon came over to look at the engine. We started troubleshooting and in the end it turned out to be the ignition timing that caused the problems (I'd already tried another carb). Suddenly it ran smoothly and quiet compared to how it was before.

Then, the shift lever caused problems since the pin that holds the rod had broken off (and my attempt of welding it was poor). He drilled it off, cleaned it and welded it back on in a few minutes. Amazing what experience does, I'd already spent hours worrying on how to solve it after my last failed attempt.

Then we drove!

Only laps around the neighbourhood, but we drove it. And everything was working. The engine ran smoothly and the power was back. Almost 13 years earlier I drove the bus towards home, and Jon met me on the way to see what I'd bought. We kicked tires and talked about my plans for it, took it for a small spin before I drove home. Now we were driving it again. Almost done.

Next up, MOT.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[TDCTDI]

OUTSTANDING!!!
Absolutely beautiful! Well done!

Good luck getting it through the MOT, but I doubt you'll have any problem. In my state, vehicles 35 years & older are exempt from inspection, I got my tags yesterday.
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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.

[wcfvw69]

Nice persistence in pushing through and finishing your bus! It looks great.
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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**

[riverside66]

What a stunning example of a bus! Nicely done!
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1977 Standard Beetle -Sold-
1979 Transporter - "Wheatbread" -Sold-

[TomWesty]

That's one sweet looking panel!
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If you haven't bled on them, you haven't worked on them.
Visit: www.tomcoryell.com and check out my music!

[metz]

Cheers guys! Getting close now.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[vwcanuck]

So that's what my 68 panel almost looked like rolling out of the factory ... but not so nice!

[chachi]

beautiful bus, great work!
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'74 transporter panel
'91 vanagon carat NAHT

[metz]

Too kind, guys! Up close it's not perfect, but I'm very happy with the way it's turning out. It's not going to be a show car anyway.

Anyway. It flew through the MOT last week! Super happy about that. Then I sorted the insurance and ordered plates. It being older than 1970, you can get the old style license plates in Norway, and if you're a bit sneaky you can find one you like that's not taken, and pick that instead of the original one. A few days later I got it in the mail.

Last night it was time to bring it home. I gotta say I was quite nervous. 130km between my hometown and Oslo and the bus hadn't done more than a lap around town in the last almost 13 years. Anders and Joachim joined me to pick it, and off we went.

After a quick stop at the first gas station checking that everything was still in place, the trip went remarkably smooth. I was just waiting for something to cock up, but nothing happened. No drama at all. Just smooth sailing, albeit a little noisy.

Now there's still a ton of work to do, but today I'm moving it to a new place I'll be sharing with four other guys. My own spot in a warm and secure place where I can do things in my own pace. Looking forward to the new setup, only a 10 minute bike ride from my flat.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe