1959 Kombi/Deluxe Rebuild Thread

[Navydave73]

[Krustybus]

Found this photo:

(Thanks CaLiBus)

In this thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=608560&highlight=harness+tube

I also found a barn door picture with a tube, so yes, 59 had one.
I wish mine had a larger than stock diameter for additional wiring back to engine/battery area. Or another one down the left side.
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Tim

[Navydave73]

[Navydave73]

[Navydave73]

Does anyone know the diameter of the wiring harness tube?

[John Ghia]

Dave do you have any updates?
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BUS BOYZ

[Navydave73]

I do. I’m off next week so I will update the thread. She’s off the rotisserie and back on four wheels. Almost ready for paint

[Navydave73]

Spot welded Drip Rail. It blew through in a few places, but should be easy to fix

Belly Pans Welded in. I used the 3/4" conduit suggested in another thread for the wiring harness tube.

another project came my way, a 64 21 window that needed extensive metal replacement. Before:

after:

[Navydave73]

there was another deluxe conversion at the OCTO show so I got a chance to look at what they used for inner corner windows

Using a Wolfsburg West inner window frame, i cut out the center of the window and ended at the begining of the curve. the scrap that was cut out of the center.....cut almost all the way through at 1" intervals, then bend to match the window frame and weld back up.

all for naught now............the BBT inner window frames just arrived at WW. damnit. had i waited one more week...

[Navydave73]

new Wolfsburg West nose. the turn signal pedestals do not fit, they were bright green aftermarket that we bought at Pomona. not the correct shape so i will have to cut them out and harvest the ones off the original nose that i have mounted on my backyard fence.

some shots of working on the canopy for my single cabe and a nice shot of 44 windows in my garage!

[Navydave73]

Floors complete and a home made heater log

thinking about this yesterday......what if i kept the bus looking like this on the outside? ill repaint the entire interior, new upholstery, door panels, headliner, etc.... make it bitchin' new on the inside, but keep it like this on the outside? i was going to paint Dove Blue lower and Artic upper, so the roof would be painted Artic over Dove Blue so it will wear through correctly. any bare metal will be painted Dove or ARtic depending on where it is, but leave the OG paint, hippie hearts, Klassic Fab green, and WW primer panels? STill thinking about it.

im updating my other build threads also. been busy with my Daughters bug, new truck, and my buddys 21 window....

[Navydave73]

some distractions over the last couple of years since i was diligent about updating my build threads

a parts score! NOS 36hp bus exhaust with the VW emblem on the side, factory stickers, etc... awesome.

[John Ghia]

I was looking forward to seeing it painted Dove Blue / White
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BUS BOYZ

[Navydave73]

just painted this last weekend. here it is in full Dove Blue before the two-tone. a couple of runs, im usually pretty good with painting but my Hill Billy paint booth set up left a little to be desired this time. it was so foggy in there i couldnt see so i ended up with a gnarly sag on the long wall by the vents.

[Navydave73]

this one says it all, very happy with how it turned out.

[Navydave73]

Lessons Learned.
1. the Dove blue mixed by PPG code was too gray. Temple Restorations sells spray cans of perfectly matched paint at the OCTO shows. i bought a can of Dove Blue from him and had it paint matched where i buy all my paint. looks dead on to me
2. the bullet turn signal metal housings that i had, maybe from EIS, were the wrong size. i ended up going with the WW silver weld-thru primer ones. had to weld up the first holes cut too big, then hole saw and file for the new ones. WW provides a cutting template for correct location
3. the headliner beading on a deluxe goes above the cargo doors also, but on a Kombi there is no extra piece of metal that creates that groove for the beading. Klassic Fab sells a kit that has that piece in there that i installed. without that, the beading wouldnt look right.
4. im planning on holding on to this bus, so i painted the whole thing blue then white over the blue so it would age correctly. I love the look of the bottom color coming through the upper color over time. worth the extra cost to me
5. remember when masking, the driver compartment skylights are open to the driver compartment. DUH!!!!! my son and i masked the whole bus and forgot to tape up the front skylights so now i have to repaint the driver compartment due to a lovely white mist over everything up front. at least i had the dash and air box taped up separately. stupid mistake that created a lot of unnecessary work.

still have to finish the doors and other body color pieces. I found a good nap cloth stretchy Mercedes material for the headliner, after this weekend's paint touch up I should be ready for home-made headliner project.

[Navydave73]

for the white, i used Arctic mixed by code. At first it seemed too green when I sprayed it on the interior cargo area, but on the two-tone exterior the Blue brings out the blue in the Arctic. Thats my son's stock 1960 bug color, it looks good against the Dove Blue.

[John Ghia]

Looks Great Dave, can’t wait to see it in person. I’m interested in seeing how the headliner goes.
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BUS BOYZ

[BarryL]

That Bus is beautiful. Great job fersure.

[Navydave73]

forgetting to mask the forward skylights, i managed to get a white dust spray on EVERYTHING in the driver compartment. I tried Acetone, but stupidity prevailed and i had to repaint the interior.

cut and buff the back and two corners so far: