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

[white74westy]

I am so glad that I decided not to rush the windows, and rather that I had them painted properly. Mucho mo betta, than the craptastic rattle can job I did on the smoker's window! The end result was worth the additional time:

Moving right along!

[white74westy]

Another project I was working on, while I waited for the window frames to come back from paint, was wrapping up all the things that needed wrapping up, under the dash. The first order of business, was to wire in my clock. I tried the conventional way, mentioned in one of the manuals, and wasn't overly pleased. I strung the instrumentation light onto the tail end of the rest of that circuit, and could never get the lights to work properly. I wondered if there was too much load for that particular circuit, and decided to try something else. I needed a constant 12V and the ability to have the light come on, when the rest of the lights on the instrument panel were illuminated. I decided to come off the headlight switch for both. I recognize that these are crappy pictures, but they're the only ones left:

You can see the red wire and the grey wire going from the switch to the back of the clock in this picture. Works like a champ!

Next, it was on to reinstalling the wiper motor assembly. I mentioned earlier in the thread, having rebuilt it and lubing everything up nicely:

The next thing on the list was to wash the fresh air/defrost ducts. If you haven't done this, and have access to them, do it! Well worth the effort. Frankly, I was amazed at how well the plastic cleans up. Nice to be able to get rid of the dirt that was built up inside of them. A few minutes with some warm soapy water and a good degreaser...good as new!

While I had access to the area under the dash, without the windshield or the dash in the way, I went ahead and wiped everything else down too:

With that out of the way, I started to assemble all of the fresh air ducts.

Center portion:

Drivers side defrost:

Passenger side:

Glove box reinstalled and duct work, all done:

Mount the dash:

Now we're ready to install the windshield!

[white74westy]

With the dash mounted, it was time to install the windshield. I was really excited to get the glass back in the opening, as the bus hadn't had a windshield in nearly 15 years. You see, when I went to remove the original, I cracked it. Now, at first, I was really upset. I wanted to save everything on this bus, to ensure originality. As the years have passed, I've had time to reflect and realize, that I would much rather have a new piece of laminated glass in the hole. I dunno, maybe it has something to do with becoming a parent. The original windshield was in pretty good condition, but I'd rather have something a little less weathered up front. I recognize that people are having some issues with the new chineseium glass, but I had originally purchased mine several years ago:

I highly recommend it, if you can find one of these. It is, I believe, one of the "older" versions; clear glass, no stripe across the top. The shape and cut were good. I did not have to make any modifications to the glass whatsoever. The curvature matched, and the corners weren't too large, as others have mentioned - there was no grinding required. With that said, I wish I could tell you that the installation was a one and done. It was not. However, that had nothing to do with the glass, or the seal, but rather the installer...namely, me. I did everything mentioned in the stickies. (There is some really good information there, obviously!) I used some newly purchased para cord and lubed everything up, per recommendations. The glass and the seal fit the hole fairly well. I got the seal over the bottom lip and started to pull the cord, evenly around the glass. Everything went very smoothly! However, once I had a chance to come around the front of the bus, it was obvious that the seal had been pulled to far inward, and wasn't sealing properly on the exterior of the bus. Amazingly, this happened twice, before we got the windshield and seal in place, properly. Equally as amazing, was the fact that the windshield came out without breaking! Thankfully, I had my neighbor there to help, with both the installation and removal of the glass.

A couple of things I would like to mention here. If you have seen the write-up on how to wrap the cord around the seal, it is by far and away, the best thing you can do, to help save yourself a great deal of aggravation! I'm speaking specifically about using an old BIC pen to feed the cord into the seal. What a nightmare that would have been, without that nifty little tool, not once, or twice, but three times. You can imagine, how annoyed we were becoming, trying to get the glass to seal properly. The other thing I wanted to mention, is what actually worked for us. In the tutorial, everyone mentions starting their string/cord at the bottom. I tried that twice and couldn't get the result I wanted. I decide to give it a go from the opposite direction. For whatever reason, it worked for us! I made sure to get the seal over the bottom lip and started working the cord from the top of the seal and worked my way down. Worked like a charm. I was freaking super stoked!

1) I might be mildly stubborn...maybe.
2) I didn't have to call a glass company to do something, I was sure I could do.
3) I didn't break the glass. Phew!

Again, because of all the aggravations, there were no photos taken, during the process. However, here is the finished product:

This was our little helper...my neighbor's son, with lighting duties. I think he did an awesome job! It was also fun to see him imagining himself driving the bus on crazy made up expeditions, while we were battling the windshield. Cool little kid!

All sealed up! This was a big moment for me.

Doesn't look like much, I know, but it had been a very long time since I had seen my bus with glass in this opening. The next day, I took her out for a spin. I had forgotten what it was like to drive this vehicle with nearly all of the openings sealed up. In fact, it was so different, I didn't know what to make of my inability to drive without worry of bugs in my teeth.

[WildIdea]

All that dash work looks great! Its super cool to know its all clean and in order up under there. Never hurts to have a clear understanding (and pictures) of whats going on in there if you ever have to reach up to service anything in the future.

Can't wait to see more.

[Chochobeef]

Bus is looking good. I agree that cleaning stuff you or anyone won't see daily is the way to go. Might be another 20 years before it is seen.

Are you making sure to clean all your electrical connectors on both the part and the wire, I couldn't tell.

Keep up the good work. Its very inspiring since i've stalled on my project.

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

Alright. So we're getting closer to having the bus "sealed" up...at least as far as glazing is concerned. I still have to do the cab doors, but I have some issues that I had to wrestle with - that will be saved for a write-up, coming soon. The next thing I wanted to tackle was getting the seat stands done and the pedastals wrapped. At first I was pretty bummed out that my original rubber was no good. However, after installing the rubber kits from Wolfsburg West, I was totally stoked, with the way they fit, feel and look. The foam backing very closely emulates the original. The guys at WW are putting out some really nice stuff. Obviously, I can't speak to everything they produce, but I feel it necessary to highlight good products, when so much crap is being marketed. Two thumbs up, as far as I'm concerned.

I started with a nice clean space to work in. I wiped everything down, before I began, to ensure that things would stick properly, etc.

I dry fitted everything, to make sure that I was happy with the way things would look. This was also necessary, as I only really had one shot to get these things in place. I used this glue:

This is some really good stuff! It has held up well to the heat and cold so far.

After everything was said and done:

I cleaned up any excess glue with some odorless, mineral spirits and called it a day. Unfortunately, I ran out of glue for the drivers side, so I'm yet to stick that side down. I did however, leave them in place...just need to add glue.

[white74westy]

While I was waiting for the glue required to finish the installation on the driver's side seat, I decided to move towards the interior, specifically the subfloor. I kept the original material, when I originally stripped the bus, so that I had a template to work from. Once again, I'm glad I did, especially after years of questioning and being questioned about the sanity of doing so! I'm not sure about the rest of you, but perhaps your significant other is a little less tolerant of the eyesore, created by deteriorating subfloor panels gathering dust bunnies, stacked up against the wall in your garage? I'm a lucky fella!

Started by cleaning the space out, to see what I was working with:

This image brings me so much joy, particularly when i reflect upon how differently things looked, not that long ago!

Just because I like geeking out on the history of things, I couldn't bring myself to cover/paint the original factory marks made by somebody at either Volkswagen, or the factory at Westfalia, before they fit the panels. Notice the three "X" marks to the right? I like finding these kinds of things! As eluded to earlier in the thread, I felt as if it was only appropriate for whoever the next person is to open up the panel to find the same.

Anyhow, back to the subfloor.

This is the original material that is put down first. As you can see, mine had seen better days and had begun to crumble, as it must have been exposed to moisture - probably from a leaking ice box line.

The tempered hardboard that was installed at the factory seems to have been thicker than the offerings, here in the USA.

Next, you would find a piece of plywood laid on top of that material to add rigidity to the stuff below.

I wanted to stick fairly closely to the original installation, with a few added twists. Here is what I came up with.

The tempered hardboard measured anywhere from approximately, 7.5mm to 8mm in thickness:

The plywood measured approximately 5mm:

I merely took these measurements for the sake of trying create a decent facsimilie of the original dimensions, so that I didn't create any fitment issues. My efforts weren't perfectly precise, but I figured that they were close enough, that I wouldn't have to worry about being too thick, or too thin, before I started installing the carpet and interior, etc.

I went to a local lumber provider and asked if they handled 5' x 5' birch, in 6mm thickness. As luck would have it, they did, among some other really beautiful exotic species of woods:

Now I decided to go a slightly different direction than the factory, and laid the plywood directly on the floor. I used the originals as a template and cut the birch the way I wanted it to lay out:

I believe the factory put the hardoard material down first as a sound dampner. To simulate this, I covered the top of the plywood with butyl window tape. I reiterate what I stated earlier in the thread...this is NOT the asphalt based stuff that you find at the big box stores. This is a rubber based product.

It measures approximately 0.5mm thick.

Here is the strip that is found just as you walk in to the bus, covered in the tape:

The rest of the floor:

While I was in there, I took the opportunity to begin some of the soundproofing, for the interior panels too. I decide against covering every square inch of surface, but rather just patches. All we're trying to do is interrupt the sound waves, as they attempt to travel through the skin:

Made sure not to cover the "X" marks!

Once I was done with that, it was time to move on to the next surface. Again, I decided to flip the order of installation. Ultimately, it was a combination of variables, that factored into my decision. However, the fact that I couldn't get hardboard that wasn't tempered on one side, in the thickness that came from the factory, led me to this design. I hope that water incursion isn't an issue, down the road, but I figured if it was, the plywood would still be capable of absorbing the moisture. I suppose time will tell if it works or not. Nevertheless, I cut the next layer the way I wanted it. I simply created a template with old cardboard boxes, until I was satisfied with the way it would look. I traced that on to the hardboard and cut it to fit:

The hardboard measures 4mm thick:

Final cut:

[Chochobeef]

Man that is nice work. Where did you get the rubber tape from? I think that is what I have been looking for.

[WildIdea]

Looking great!

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

The next few shots are just pictures I took, to help document the process, as well as to provide references, just in case I forgot where anything went. As I stated earlier, the original material is extremely durable, and in most instances, will bounce back to life after a gentle wash.

Green arm rests:

Material was removed, washed and reinstalled:

I used stainless steel staples.

Same goes for the bench seat:

I will post the after picture, once I have the rest of the interior sorted out and installed. The colors came out really nicely, after all the dirt and grime was washed out!

[white74westy]

With each passing day, as each of these projects is completed, I begin to realize how close I'm getting to actually having a bus that is sealed up. The upholstery is cleaned and reattached, the subfloor is done, now it's time to finish up the windows in the cab doors! Woohoo!

I had read a bunch of different threads about how difficult, or at the very least, time consuming this can be. I was prepared to dedicate whatever amount of time, in order to get it done correctly. WOW! If only I had known what I would come up against. Several years ago, I ordered the scrapers from Bus Depot. They were original VW scrapers out of Brazil. I had them stored away and hadn't really paid them any attention...couple of years later, I remember reading someone's thread about the mill finish, or lack of a polished appearance on the scrapers. I decided to take a peak at what I had to see if it was the same. Sure enough, they were a sort of dull, almost milky finish. I wasn't sure if I would be happy with that, so I ordered another set from Bus Depot. This set was "German" and supposed to be superior to anything else available, and they came with a nice shiny finish. Now in fairness, they came with the nice shiny finish - and in reality, there is very little wrong with them. However, they were nowhere near as good as the original set I had purchased. I could tell a difference in the weight of the material, the rubber used etc. I just wasn't going to be happy with the "new" and improved set. So I decided to polish the first set I purchased, in the hopes that they would more closely match the originals.

The original scrapers I bought:

These are the "new" scrapers:

Here you can one of the scrapers, from the first set that I purchased, pictured on the right, versus the "new", shiny scraper, on the left:

I wanted to see if I could polish the metal to a brighter appearance - did a trial run on the small, curved section:

This might just work:

I went to the FLAPS and was advised to buy this product. As you can see, I used blue painter's tape to hold the scraper to a large piece of cardboard, as well as providing protection to the rubber:

I found this stuff to be very effective! Now, I'm not going to lie...this took a great deal of effort. It was easily a couple of days worth of work. I tried several different approaches. The one that worked best was to use 0000 steel wool. I would tear off small pieces of steel wool, and apply liberal amounts of the White Diamond polish, to the steel wool and start scrubbing. It got rid of the coating while bringing the metal to a nice shine. I would use a rag to wipe the excess polish off and see how much more would be required, before I moved on to the next section. I liked to work in sections of about 4 inches, before moving on. Its tedious, but the results are rewarding!

I did the driver's side first:

From there, it was on to the passenger's side:

Once I was done with all the polishing, this is what I was left with:

Now, I'm not sure if these are still available or not??? However, if you can get a hold of a set, I say go for it! This was the sticker on the outside of the box, as it was delivered to me:

The fit is very good. All the correct compound curves are exactly where the originals were. The only real complaint I have is that one of the holes for the felt clips, found just above the knob (door lock) is about 3-4 inches off. I simply used a punch to set a point at which I could get a drill bit in there and drilled the hole out, with the scraper installed in the bus. Obviously, you want to take a great deal of care, not to ding up the paint!

I think they came out nicely!

[WildIdea]

I like to hear that your not afraid to buy stuff twice in order to find the very best fitment, and then to polish out the pice just shows your attention to detail. I prob wouldn't have even thought to polish these pieces until I saw you doing it. On the other end of the spectrum, I've sanded out new chrome fried eggs along the tops with 2000gr to age it a bit to match older pieces on my 65, so I guess if a new replacement piece really sticks out, one prob aught to take whatever effort to get it to match. Nicely done!

[white74westy]

[white74westy]

Been a while. I've been dealing with an anemic engine...but I think I might actually be making some headway with it. I'll write about it later.

Back to the doors. Before the bodywork started, I had already pulled all the hardware and cleaned it all up, lubed it and put it back in place. Again, if you haven't done these things, you should. It is amazing how nicely they work, given a little TLC. Anyhow, because I was driving the bus back and forth to get the bodywork done, I opted to leave the mechanisms in place. Naturally, they began to collect dust, and debris. I therefore decided to pull them and give them a quick run through again. They really weren't terrible this time around, but I figured why not?

In the relatively small amount of time they were at the bodyshop, they accumulated a fair amount of grit:

All cleaned up again, and ready to be reinstalled:

Time to move on to the vapor barriers and the door cards.

[white74westy]

Finally...I feel like I'm getting somewhere!!! Getting the cab doors sealed up properly took a lot longer than I wanted it to, but I knew that if I didn't take my time and do it the way I wanted, it would always be in the back of my mind, eating away at any remnants of sanity I have left.

Here's what I came up with.

My vapor barriers were in pretty sad shape! The passenger's side had been hatcheted to the point of being completely useless. The driver's side was much better and at the very least functional.

This would not do, so I decided to make repairs with new plastic.

This is the driver's side barrier:

You'll note what's left of the masking tape that was used during a past repair, that I assume was put there to keep the flap from falling off.

The flap is somewhat critical to the design, as it is intended to keep your door cards dry. VW used a method that heat welded the seam. This allows the plastic to remain between the door card and the elements and still allows the driver and passenger to ventilate if they desire.

As I was wracking my brain with ways in which to emulate the process, my neighbor walks in and asks what I'm doing. I asked if he had a food bag sealer. When I explained what I was trying to do, he started to gain interest and we both started bouncing ideas off of each other. In stroke of genius, he looks at me and says, "why don't we put the seam at the top and cut out what we don't need?" It was one of those moments where you realize you've probably been overcomplicating things for no reason whatsoever. I know we all try to remain faithful to the original VW design, but sometimes, other ideas may work just as well. Perhaps this is one of them. We had some 6 mil polyethelene laying about and started to work.

We took a piece and folded it in half, so that the seam (folded crease) would be at the top and then placed the original vapor barrier on top of it, to act as a template.

I used a sharpie to trace the outline. It doesn't have to be exact. In fact, I would allow for a couple of extra inches all the way around, so that you can trim it up, once you have it on the car.

I made sure I marked the major openings too...the window crank and the lever that opens the door, need to be cut out. I know the image shows that I've highlighted them, but don't worry about marking the holes where the clips are going to be inserted, you'll do that later.

Once you've made all your markings, it's time to start cutting. I used a pair of nice sharp scissors to make all of my cuts. Worked out great. Also, don't be afraid to go back and forth between the cutting surface (dining room table, or whatever) and the bus. I made a couple of trips and trimmed additional material each time, until I was satisfied. Here is what you'll end up with:

So the intention is to leave the exterior piece long enough to sit inside the door cavity, while the piece closest to the driver/passenger will have the cutout that will allow the fresh air vent to function. Take a look at the pictures below, once it is installed.

Also, once I was satisfied with the fit, I took the newly formed vapor barrier and used it as a template for the other side:

Just remember it is going to mirror the opposite side.


By now, it's time to get to some of the fun stuff. Let's start installing them!!!
To begin, I wiped everything down, to ensure a nice clean work environment. The bus had just been painted, but I wanted to make sure I didn't have to do this again. Degreaser and some paper towels were used to prep the area. Obviously, you want to be able to get behind the vapor barrier to make any repairs that might be necessary down the road, so I used this stuff that I had read about in other threads:

It allows you to reposition the plastic, should you need to remove it.

Apply the caulk strips to the door and roll them out. Now I actually had a roller that is used for this type of thing, but couldn't find it. I suspect a couple of little scoundrels may have found it and put it to good use, while playing with their dolls. In any case, I decided to raid the kitchen drawers and found this one:

which I used to flatten the caulk strips around the door. Now I'm not advocating or recommending the use of your significant other's utensils. In fact this is my disclaimer, that doing so without prior consent may be hazardous to your life/relationship etc. Thankfully, I have a very understanding wife, and I explained that either way I would have to take a trip to the store. So, rather than go now, I would use hers, and replace it at another time, so that I didn't have to stop working. Phew...she bought it - and eventually, I'll have to buy her a new one!

Everything is squished and we're ready to install the vapor barrier:

I attached the vapor barrier to the caulk:

Please note how (as I mentioned earlier, the longer piece that is sitting inside the cavity of the door) the exterior piece is tucked inside the door and the piece closest to the driver or passenger will still allow the vent to be used and keep things nice and dry:

Once I had the plastic in place, it was time to attach the rubber clip retainers. I found that a file used for prepping a tire for a plug was the perfect size to puncture the plastic:

With the holes made, all the way around, I used a small drill bit to help push the rubber clip retainers into place. They have a small lip near the widest part of the cone, that helps keep them in the door. By using the drill bit, I was able to make sure that it was seated properly:

I have mentioned in the past, that I like to give credit where it is due. This is one of those cases. I used Wolfsburg West's kit to help finish out the doors. I was fortunate to have almost all of my original clips and their retainers. However, many of the rubber grommets had begun to show their age and some of the clips were missing. I ordered this kit and was extremely pleased with the way they performed:

A big thank you to Wolfsburg West for making the effort to find parts that are manufactured to work, or even better, manufacturing them for us!

Back to the doors. The night before I started all of this, I spent a couple of hours scrubbing the original door cards. There was 40+ years of grime, dirt and filth that had built up over the years. I used a little bit of GOJO hand cleaner on an extremely worn out 3M dish sponge...you know the kind with the green brillo attached to the yellow sponge. I like to keep a couple of them laying around, just for jobs like this. Be careful, not to get too aggressive with the vinyl. I think it paid off, and I'm pretty happy with the results. Here is how things ended up:

[secretsubmariner]

So, so good. Thanks for sharing!
_________________
-Tony
ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ
1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI

[Busman1985]

Looks awesome! Gets me motivated to work on my 74 camper some more. Just waiting on money to buy me a new nose. Look forward to seeing yours all done.