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from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story...
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:17 pm    Post subject: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

So I've had the SilverSurfer for 20 years now... I have been wanting to do a re-paint for some time - this winter (and beyond?) is the time to do it!

My plan is to use this thread to document the process.

Originally she was Dakota Beige with brown plaid interior - standard for '78. I repainted and re-did the interior a few months after I bought it. In my 19 year old wisdom (this was 1999) I decided to go with a Silver exterior, re-do the cabinetry in light grey, and upholstery in blue and grey. She has held up decently through the past 20 years, but now I am super excited to get her back to either original dakota beige and brown plaid, or possibly pastel white and yellow plaid (which was a color combo available in Canada in '7Cool.

I am starting the process with the poptop - that way I can have it finished and stored somewhere other than my garage - leaving me room to pull and work on the interior cabinetry etc.

Here are some photos right before, and then as I removed, sanded, fixed some small cracks, and had the poptop primed. Paint goes on next week. Luckily I have a good friend that owns a body shop in town!



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I will post more as progress is made/ questions come up!
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airkooledchris
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:52 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

but, your username and your custom plates and you know what that means - your gonna need to find another project when your done with this one that you can turn into the silversurfer again. ;P

Looks like you do nice work, im sure whichever route you go will be cool. My first thought is to go with whatever your bus came with originally, but man it's hard to get excited about beige Laughing
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 2:23 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Hope to see you at some shows in the New Year.
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 4:27 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Pop top is painted - I am storing it at work until I am ready to install.

Dis-assembly to start later this week - not sure if I'm going to start with motor pull, or interior...


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Brian

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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 1:56 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Dropped the engine today (with some help from my Dad). We had some fun re-creating a few photos of him and I back in '83 "working" on an engine out of an early '70's bus he had at the time.

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We also found a plug in the casting behind the flywheel that was just sitting in the hole - very loose and obviously had been rattling around for a while...
Does anyone know what it is?


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Brian

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calvinater
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:15 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

You and your dad haven't changed a bit.
Still having fun, good luck.
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danfromsyr
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 8:43 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

the plug was used for the timing sensor for the VW Diagnostic computer
it's obsoleted and fine to discard, cover the hole from the outside with some foil tape or something else that won't cause damage if comes loose.
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:55 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

danfromsyr wrote:
the plug was used for the timing sensor for the VW Diagnostic computer
it's obsoleted and fine to discard, cover the hole from the outside with some foil tape or something else that won't cause damage if comes loose.


Perfect - thanks Dan!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 12:31 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Love the photo's of you and your Dad, happy memories!

My Dad did a lot of work on our 77 Westy, sadly Ive got no pictures of us working away together, I ought get some of him working on his BSA motorcycle.
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:59 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Work on the bus is slow going! I have been picking away at engine bay clean up, as well as some engine disassembly. Engine tins are being stripped and powder coated, I am blasting and having a lot of the small components and hardware zinc plated.

I have a couple of small patches to weld up in the battery tray and then it will be on to pulling the interior apart.

Here are a few shots of the intake manifold - sand blasted, zinc plated, and then powder coated. The engine is going to clean up nicely!


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:20 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Wow, that looks great!
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:25 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

I’m surprised your Powder Coater accepted the zinc plated part for powder coating. Everything I’ve read said it can be a challenge to coat if the zinc plating doesn’t have the right chemical composition.
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:54 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

ivwshane wrote:
I’m surprised your Powder Coater accepted the zinc plated part for powder coating. Everything I’ve read said it can be a challenge to coat if the zinc plating doesn’t have the right chemical composition.


The powder coater I use at work is a state of the art automotive place - when I discussed with them, they said that zinc plating is a good base, but galvanized is not... The only reason I zinc plated those was because of the threads for the injector holders - I figured it would look crappy if those started rusting right away!

Here is the plenum - no plating on it - just blast and powder


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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 7:54 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Had some fun making up tooling and stainless steel fuel pump brackets.

First I drew up the parts, then the tooling. Then I laser cut cross sections of the tool from 5/16" thick steel and welded them together. Then I put the tooling in the brake press and formed the laser cut stainless steel blanks.

Doing sheet metal fabrication for a living has its benefits!


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:51 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

SLVRSRFR wrote:
ivwshane wrote:
I’m surprised your Powder Coater accepted the zinc plated part for powder coating. Everything I’ve read said it can be a challenge to coat if the zinc plating doesn’t have the right chemical composition.


The powder coater I use at work is a state of the art automotive place - when I discussed with them, they said that zinc plating is a good base, but galvanized is not... The only reason I zinc plated those was because of the threads for the injector holders - I figured it would look crappy if those started rusting right away!

Here is the plenum - no plating on it - just blast and powder


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If you can do all that why not make reproduction exhaust heat shields?


I’m enjoying your thread though!
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:16 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

ivwshane wrote:


If you can do all that why not make reproduction exhaust heat shields?


I’m enjoying your thread though!


Mine is in good shape, so I have not reverse engineered it... Those are also available already - https://www.busdepot.com/039119227
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:25 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

*frantically clicks on "ads" button trying to buy some fuel pump brackets*
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 12:15 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

SLVRSRFR wrote:
ivwshane wrote:


If you can do all that why not make reproduction exhaust heat shields?


I’m enjoying your thread though!


Mine is in good shape, so I have not reverse engineered it... Those are also available already - https://www.busdepot.com/039119227


That’s not what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the F-pipe and after burner U pipe heat shields. The tin that is crimped on around them. Hell, even replacement heat exchanger shells would be awesome.

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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 1:50 pm    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Oh those - that stuff is tricky to make because it is stamped. It requires some much more involved (expensive) tooling - in the $30,000 - $50,000 range (just for the F-pipe shrouds).
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SLVRSRFR
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 6:51 am    Post subject: Re: from Silver to ? - a '78 Westy refresh story... Reply with quote

Have any of you guys ever opened up a decel valve to see what is on the inside?
It takes a decent amount of vacuum to "open" so I am wondering if it is all metal, or if there is some sort of diaphragm made of a different material in there. The reason I ask is that I'd like to send it out to be re-plated, but I don't want to damage any internal components. It looks to me like it was originally plated after it was assembled, but I'm not sure...


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