68 panel - a long story short ish

[wcfvw69]

I love this picture! The bus looks new cruising down the road. Congrats on the drama free trip.
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Contact me at [email protected]
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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**

[SamboSamba22]

[metz]

Thanks guys. Feels good to finally have it road worthy after all these years.

Yesterday I moved it into its new home in Oslo. I'll be sharing space with four other guys. Two Alfa's, a 911 and a couple of motorcycles. It's literally ten minutes from my doorstep by bike, and even less from work. Looking forward to keep tinkering on the bus there. Need to get up some shelves and stuff, but should be great.

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[Trashman]

Love this panel! And those new plates you got are awesome. But correct me if I'm wrong but it looks as though your tail lights are mounted upside down?
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Bagged 1968 Neptune Blue "Deluxe"

[metz]

Cheers, Trashman. The taillights should be the correct way.

I've been taking a break from the bus in the past months. Been catching up on other things in life after a hectic year to get it this far. Feels good to have it in a nice, dry and secure place without a deadline – and only ten minutes from home! Still tons to be done to have it ready for trips, but I'll take it bit by bit in a pace that should be more joyful.

Anyway, I was up in the garage yesterday and built some sturdy shelves. Next up is a work bench and then the place is more ready to have actual work done to the bus.

I might take the car back to the painter in my hometown for the xmas holiday. It will be a logistical mess since I will have to go back and forth a bunch of times, but the painter promised me he would touch-up or redo the stuff I wasn't happy with – and this might be the last or atleast best chance to have it done. We'll see.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Motivation is creeping back after the break, and this xmas holiday I took the seats with me to take advantage of my dads blasting cabinet and the painter in my hometown.

First disassembly.

Was a real pain blasting the seat frames because they only just barely fit in the cabinet. It took ages, but with a wire brush and some sanding, they were good to go.

Then after a quick stop at the painter and back home. Looks good!

I ordered seat covers and door card from TMI last summer, so they were ready for assembly earlier this week.

Nice to share the garage with someone for jobs like this. Jonas (the 911 owner) helping out.

One down, one to go.

I only used the original padding because it was pretty solid, but I guess I could have changed the felt to make it even tighter. Or will this smooth out with some heat?
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Did a small, but rewarding job yesterday. I'd been wondering on how to best mount the front license plate to get it exactly where I want it. Then when we finally got a 3d printer at my job, I figured why not use that.

So first I made templates to fit the bumper, scanned them and made the CAD files. Then they went straight to the printer.

Came out looking alright. These are shaped in both axis where they meet the bumper, and flat towards the plate.

Got some strong weather resistant double sided tape and went to work.

All ready to mount.

My first plan was to use velcro on the bumper side so it would be easier to adjust, but I opted to just stick it on. I did a bunch of tests with masking tape, but when I finally felt comfortable I went for it and got it straight. The tape is pretty strong, so not much room for adjustment after you make contact.

All in all an insignificant job. I have lots more important things to do with the bus before spring, but it feels good to have the plate on and the bus looks a whole lot more complete.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[SamboSamba22]

Without any doubt, one of the cleanest panels I’ve ever seen.
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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]

[wcfvw69]

[Tram]

[wcfvw69]

[Tram]

[metz]

Wow, too kind! But I'll take that as inspiration to get it ready for the season
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Been having this problem about my wheel situation. I have CSP disc brakes waiting for the new beam, but they will only take 15" wheels, so the stock 14" will not fit as soon as it's mounted. My long term plan is to modify the rear so I can fit my Crestlines, but that will not happen this year. I also have some 356 replicas, but those are also wide for the rear unless I run very narrow tires. Then, once again my friend Anders comes to the rescue and borrows me these nice Ansen Slot Mags that he has no car to put on at the moment. I picked them up yesterday and put the two tires I had on the 356 on them. I think it will look great, and the fit should be good both in the front and rear.

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Progress is slowly picking up in the garage. Been setting up the workspace and tonight Anders joined me to finish up the seats.

And they're in!

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Before I could continue with the new door cards I needed to sort the door handles. Both of the front door handles had previously had break-in attempts, and one lock was busted beyond repair. The other one had a matching key with the ignition and was sort of turning, but not managing to operate the lock. First I went to a locksmith, but after a week, all he did was to file another key plus one non-matching key to the tailgate. Not happy. Since the attempt to fix them had failed and they weren't exactly pretty, I started searching for replacements and found a NOS pair somewhat locally.

Old pair:

$300 for the NOS pair. Not cheap, but I guess it's a fair price, and they look good:

Very nice and all, and even with original VW keys. But now I had one key for the ignition, one for the left door, one for the right and one for the tailgate. No good. Some research led me to this guy Per in the Norwegian vintage VW club. Drove an hour over to his place, and after another hour or two, he turned my three different locks into matching with the ignition. Great success!

Started installing today before I had to leave for Easter holiday.

On my way to the cabin I stopped by the VW club's part barn that was open for members that evening and scored a perfect handle for the sliding door (that also had a busted lock) for $40. Slowly, steady.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

SOS

Was finally going to install the new narrowed and adjustable beam tonight. Anders joined me and we got the old one out easy enough.

It was all going smooth, before this.

It doesn't fit. The holes are in all the wrong places to be mounted. Are there differences within early bays or is the new beam wrong?

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Here's some reference photos. Is this anything exclusive for early early bays?

Frame:

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[Dammit]

Incredible work, incredible dedication.

Needs a flat-6 on ITB's, and a chromed bike rack of some description.

[Tcash]

1968-69.5 had a wider beam with a narrow bolt pattern on the bottom two bolts.
Front beams