A promise, patience, and persistence - My 1974 Westfalia thread

[white74westy]

Still plugging away. Still trying to do one thing a day. Some days it doesn't happen, others it does. Summer is particularly difficult for a number of reasons, like the overbearing heat, kids schedules etc. However, I have made a little progress...woohoo!

I finally finished the driver's side seat pedestal cover. Really pleased with the way it turned out:

I also finished installing the driver's side retractable seat belt. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I used the original buckles, in order to retain the use of the original part that attaches to the pedestal. I've always loved the way the original orange "PRESS" buttons appear:

Edit: These pictures were taken from the driver's side, of the passenger's seat belt, just to give an idea of what it would look like. Parking is tight in the garage, and I couldn't open the passenger door.

[white74westy]

I've also been working on the headliner and accompanying pieces, that trim out the rest of the interior, near the roof line. As I mentioned earlier, I broke one of the ends off during the move, from the old house to the new one. I was pretty hot about it! I had managed to store that thing, completely untouched, for years, atop the bus. One stupid mistake was all it took.

Initially I intended to make a new one out of 1/4" lauan. I did, and it was probably fine, but I couldn't stomach it. I decided to see if I could repair what I had. I'm glad I did!

I took a piece of the lauan and used it as a backer to the repair, by attaching it with Gorilla Glue:

I let that sit for a couple of days. Next was filling the crack with some filler:

Sanded it down:

Filled it again and sanded it again:

Smoothed out fairly well.

After the repair was made, I prepped the rest of the pieces. Sanded them down with 220 grit and used a moist paper towel to wipe away the dust:

<<<<<<<******DISCLAIMER!!!********>>>>>>>>>

This color is not an exact match!!!

However, it is pretty close. I took one of the original pieces to a local big box and had them use the spectrophotometer to color match the paint. I used the portion that had been hiding under the rubber trim piece. That paint had not been exposed to UV, or pretty much anything since it came from the factory. I grew frustrated with the person trying to match the paint, and finally acquiesced. More than likely, no one would ever know the difference. However I felt that I should make a point of saying it is not exact, as I have included a picture of the color mix code, should anyone wish to get some made.

Now that is off my chest, here is what I ended up with:

Originally I applied the paint with a brush. I absolutely hated the result! I sanded everything down again and started over. This time, I used a foam weenie roller. All told, I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out. I will try to get them installed soon and snap some pictures once its done.

On another note, I got a call from the powder coater, stating that the trailer will be ready before the end of the week. Pretty psyched to get that project going too!

As always, hope you enjoy!
a.

[white74westy]

Had a few minutes to spare after work a couple of nights ago, and decided to install the freshly painted headliner.

Before I could put it in, there were a few housecleaning items that needed tending. To begin, I removed all the old glue and remnants of the old insulation. Here's what I started with:

Carefully used a wide razor blade to remove all the old stuff:

Once that was done, I adhered a few sound deadening strips:

Afterwards, I added reflectix insulation:

Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to take a picture of the fiberglass insulation installed over the reflectix. You'll have to take my word for it, its there. You may be able to see a little of it sticking out the opening for the dome light:

Once again, I'm thrilled with the way it turned out!!! It has been many, many years since I've seen the bus with the headliner in it. I know, it probably seems pretty trivial, but its just one more thing that has been checked off the list!

[white74westy]

Last night, I dug out the old sun visors. They were absolutely disgusting! The amount of filth things will collect in storage has absolutely amazed me! I say that, because there is absolutely no way I would have driven around with these things looking so bad. It was time to remedy the situation! Time to break out the Krud Kutter, and the toothbrush, once more.

Here's what they looked like, fresh out of their 20+ year hibernation:

Spot tested the Krud Kutter:

Gnnnnarrrrllllly!

Man that was nasty. However, the cleaner was really effective in removing all the old dirt and grime:

Little before and after action:

Once again, it has been rewarding cleaning things up and getting them ready to install back in the bus! May as well spend the time up front, so that you can enjoy it on the back end. However, all these little things add up! Cleaning the sun visors took about an hour. I mention this, as there was someone earlier in the week wondering if they could have their bus painted and turned around in a couple of weeks. Albeit near impossible, I suppose it could be done...with a team of people working around the clock. However, these things don't clean themselves, nor do they throw themselves back into place. There is a lot of time and patience required in doing things properly. I'm enjoying the ride.

[WildIdea]

Your bus just keeps getting better! Thanks for posting the updates.

[orwell84]

I often prefer cleaning up old interior parts even if I can get them perfect and they still show some wear and tear. It just looks right compared to something brand new. Things like the scuffed off paint from the steering column are also preferred.

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

Trailer parts are back from powder coating:

Can't wait to get started putting it back together!



I took a few closer shots of a couple of things in the trailer thread:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=696364&highlight=

[white74westy]

Got to piddle around a little bit this weekend on some odds and sods.

Installed the freshly cleaned sun visors:

Broke out the White Diamond cleaner again, and went after the curtain rods. The image on the left is the before, showing the white, chalky appearance. The image on the right gives an idea of what they look like, having been polished:

Finally, I installed the driver's side rubber, on the cab door:

I have the originals, which were a little rough, but probably still usable. However, several years ago, I bought the "German" Bus Depot seals and decided to use them. The extrusion looks pretty good and the seal fit fairly well, all the way round. Much like others have experienced, I have to almost slam the door, in order to get it to close properly. On the other hand, I did not have to let the door out, as I had no issues with the reveal:

I hope that my experience is similar to others' and that eventually the seals will seat properly and will require less effort to close the doors.

The only question I have of anyone that has installed these seals is how they got the bottom corner (nearest the front of the bus) to stay? Glue? If so, what type? When I removed the originals, there was definitely a rubber cement type of adhesive, all the way around. These seals fit so tightly , that I didn't think it would be necessary. Any advice from personal experience would be greatly appreciated!

a.

[busdaddy]

Looking good, the lower front corners need 3M weatherstrip ashesive, your FLAPS will have it in a red tube, you don't need alot unless you are doing the pop top seal as well.
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[white74westy]

[white74westy]

Still chipping away...

I've been slowly making progress. Friendly reminder to self that it all adds up! In fact, so much so, that we actually took the bus out, as a family the other night. My kids had a sleep over at a friend's house. It was after a long, hot, afternoon, working on the bus. So we decided to load up and head over. It was a really fun evening! Our kids were off doing their thing, while the parents sipped on some home brewed Oberon beer. Great way to end a rewarding day of VW labor.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I started installing the rubber door seals. I only had the passenger's side, cab door, and the slider left to do. They both went in fairly well. I must say however, that the passenger door does require quite a bit more effort to shut. I'm hoping that it will seat properly over the next couple of weeks. If not, I will let the door out a little, as I don't really want to put that much stress on the latch.

While I was going along on the slider, I nearly forgot how nice it is to be able to take the door off, with such ease:

Nice and easy...got the seal around the mechanism and finished installing it. Once that was done, I installed the cover that goes under the window, covering the track. I already had the driver's side installed, and it really used to bother me, to see the unfinished look on the passenger's side. No longer an issue! Yahoo!!!

With that done, I spent a little time working on the shore power outlet. It was a little crusty:

I know it is impossible to see the script in the image, however, it is there. The Delta Six Industries had faded, to near obscurity. I went online and thought I had found the solution at Wolfsburg West. However, once the sticker pack arrived, I quickly realized that it was no good! The size is way off, along with the font and the background color. This was pretty disappointing! A little more searching on TheSamba, netted some pretty good results. It wasn't long before I got a hold of Matt Curtis (curtis4085), to see if he still had any of the repops that he worked on some time ago...

Matt to the rescue!!! Thanks again Matt! I think it looks great!

Cleaned up outlet with some polishing compound, treated the rubber/neoprene gasket with some gumi pflege and installed it. I think it looks killer. Another item to check off the list. Starting to feel pretty good about how things are shaping up!

Once I was done with that, I also installed the tow hitch:

It is in place! Still lots of little things to finish up, but it looks really awesome back there. That was my stopping point. As I stated above, I was called in and told to take a shower, so that we could take the kids out.

[NoBudgetVWGarage]

Inspirational!! Keep it up! Looks Great!
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1969 Transporter
1968 Ghia
1959 Ghia Hot VW Drag Car

[LazyLightning75]

Not sure how I missed this thread, but I’m glad I found it. Very inspirational and the bus looks great. Thanks for sharing and documenting your experiences!
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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

Got to spend a little more time on the bus today. I wanted to finish up the rear side marker lights, as well as install the third brake light.

I started with this:

The original clips that hold the markers to the bus, were long gone. I went to the local ACE hardware store and found these plastic nuts and bolts:

Cleaned all the terminals:

Wrapped up the project!!! Pretty stoked. They were another one of those things that were bothering me, seeing them left undone. No more!

[white74westy]

I installed the third brake light this weekend. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I have intentionally tried to make sure that any and all additions/upgrades that I make to the vehicle are completely reversible. This is one of the upgrades that I feel imperative, to making the rig safer to drive. There can be no doubt, that we drive in an ever-increasingly, distracted, system of roads. Text messaging, cell calls, streaming videos, FaceTime, and whatever else one can imagine!!! This is not exclusive to the roads here in the USA, I have seen it in my travels to more than one, overseas country. This is frightening enough. Couple that with the fact that a great deal of today's drivers may not have been born, when the advent of the third brake light became the norm. It is no surprise to have someone stop, just shy of your rear bumper because they are unaccustomed to looking for a car that doesn't have a third brake light. I've decided to try and alleviate some of that stress.

Here is the type of light that I bought:

https://www.autoelecwarehouse.com.au/HELLA-LED-High-Level-Brake-Lamp-CHMSL-Wagon-12V-p/5239.htm

I mentioned this in another thread, but I have absolutely no affiliation, nor have I had any dealings with the people in the link above. I merely wanted to show the type of light I bought. It is a Hella lamp, that is designed for cars with near vertical rear windows. Incidentally, that price is far less than what I spent on mine.

Nevertheless, the installation was pretty straight forward. First thing you have to do is to clean the area you are going to mount the light with rubbing alcohol. Once you have done that, there is a template, that has the Hella logo attached. It is a dark grey vinyl. It helps you determine the precise position of the lamp itself. After that is situated, you take the double sided sticky tape off the lamp and affix it over the template. With that done, I wanted to hide the wire, so that it couldn't be seen. I did this by taking an old set of "cheater" feeler blades - you know the kind with the little 45 degree bend at the end:

Carefully place the blade between the rubber, window seal, and the glass. Gently pry the rubber seal down and stuff the wire in the gap. As you can see, I used a small flat blade screw driver to push the wire back into the hole. I was very careful! However, I would recommend using some type of plastic tool instead, just to make sure you don't damage the finish in any way...thankfully, not a problem for me, but why take the chance? In the picture below, you get an idea of what the seal looks like, with the wire stuffed inside:

I think the finish is clean. I followed the seal all the way over to the driver's side and zip tied the wire to the rear defrost wire. From there, it went into the back of the cabinet and through an existing hole in the body, down to the engine bay, and finally over to the left, rear light housing. The wiring is very simple and the instructions expressly mention the polarity of the wires, as the LED lights are sensitive to this. There are two wires; one has a red stripe, and the other is solid, black. The red wire is positive (+) and the black is the ground. I used my tool to crimp new female, copper fittings to the end, and piggybacked them to the existing ground and brake light terminals. I mention this, as the kit comes with some wire splice kits. I didn't want to go this route. Anyhow, once that was all done, it was time to check out my handy work. I had one of my little helpers climb in the bus and apply the brake pedal. The images below give a decent example of how much of a difference the third brake light makes, particularly in a difficult lighting, situation. The other two lights are far more subdued:

After looking at this image, I will likely add some reflective aluminum tape to the inside of the light housings, similar to what Colin (Amskeptic) has done. That's it for now. I think the only other thing left to do, on the exterior of the bus is to paint the air vent cover, for the sink, found just below the driver's side jalousie window. I have messed with some color mixes, using rattle cans. However, if anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

[SGKent]

looks really good. If you can, and I think you did, stay with the original side markers and don't use the repop bases. They short out in no time. Better to clean an old base and use it than the repops.
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[WildIdea]

I like the third light. You have me thinking I should get one. Looks like the wire tucked in the seal pretty clean.

Non hippy bus? I don’t get it,