California to Germany - 1971 Tintop Camper full restoration

[bullibene]

Hey all,
This is the story of my 1971 Tintop Camper.

Since I was a kid I dreamed of cruising down PCH next to the ocean in an aircooled Volkswagen. In 2018 I had the possibility to spend half a year in Long Beach, California and make my dream come true. At that time I already could call 3 bugs my own back home in Germany, so I was keeping my eye out for a Type 2. My plan was to buy a good driving bus to use as my daily driver for my time in California and bring it home with me to Germany for a full restoration.
I was able to close a deal with the seller of a 71 deluxe that once was converted to Camper.

It got some rust issues, especially in the front. But in comparison to a bus that lived its life in cold and wet Germany you can consider it as almost rustfree

After a quick inspection i could call it my own.

I am not a fan of the spare tires being mounted to the nose , so that one had to go right away

I am attaching some random pictures i took during my time in California.

January 2019 it had become time for me to go back home again. So it has for the bus. Before taking on its journey back to the motherland I already bought some much needed parts for it, like the high quality front nose repair panel.

This is the last picture of it in California next to a late bay I bought for a friend.

To be continued
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www.089garage.blogspot.com

Instagram: 089garage

[Inside Line Competition]

Nice find!

We recently picked one up, and I sent a picture to my buddy in Germany and he asked "Did you quit the company or win the lottery?"

PCH looks like her natural habitat!
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Driving the only vehicle I have ever owned that gets cheered on for passing others up hill!

[ImAddicted]

Blondes, beer, VW, pizza. Yup, you are doing it right
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1979 Transporter (sold)
KC1MUR

[old DKP driver]

Oh, To be in Munich for October-Fest just one more time in my life.
The tables full of people and hanging out near the Houfbrau house
Singing “ Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke Hoi Hoi Hoi !!!

1983 was a good time in Germany for me and my Girl 👧
Great memories thanks to my old Boss $$$......
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V.W.owner since 1967

[Wasted youth]

You were doing fine until the Bud Light got in there.

[bullibene]

6 weeks later the bus arrived in Europe. After it was custom cleared i got onto a flight to Rotterdam where i collected the bus in person.

As it still was regstered in California in my name, i was able to drive it legally for more 6 month with the Californian plates and registration here in Europe.

The weather was as bad as it could get.... super cold and super rainy.
Welcome to Europe Without any heater quite a ride those 1000km /625 miles home.

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www.089garage.blogspot.com

Instagram: 089garage

[bullibene]

I started with the restoration in May 2020.

I originally didn't plan to do a full nut and bolt restoration... but one thing let to another...


All the interior was removed.

This gas bottle was installed below the Bus....hasnt been used for quite a while i guess haha

Somewhen in he past a camper window was patched very poorly in the back of the roof. They used glasfiber, bondo and cardboard... what a "repair"

Due to the rust in the window frame, the lower valance and also due to the warped metal due to the previously mounted spare tire i decided to replace the whole front panel with the really high quality nose wolfsburg west offers.

After some cutting the real extent of the rust in the lower valance was revealed and all rotted parts were cut out

I built a simple frame for the bus to be able to roll it around without the axles and also to be able to flip it to the side to be able to work on and blast & paint the undercarriage comfortably

The L-Profiles slide into the square steel pipe which i screwed to the frame.

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www.089garage.blogspot.com

Instagram: 089garage

[busdaddy]

Dang, bummer about the rust and the botched roof fix, but none of that is really surprising on these, on the whole it's better than alot of them.

Looking good so far!
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[airschooled]

Ha! I’ve always wanted to tour my bus around Germany

That may have to wait until after the new nose skin...
_________________
Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[bullibene]

After the Bus was all torn apartment i decided having it blasted to get all of the surface rust out of the metal. Escpecially the undercarriage and the cargofloor had quite some surface rust, that is now all gone

I removed the paint of the roof and the sides with paint remover to bare metal. Afterwards everything was primed.

_________________
www.089garage.blogspot.com

Instagram: 089garage

[wcfvw69]

Wow! It's nice seeing your old bay bus getting repaired so thoroughly and correctly! You're going to have a "like new" shell when it's completed and painted up!

I look forward to your updates!
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

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**

[old DKP driver]

Wow! is correct as there are many here in the U.S. following your project
It has really come along way.Cheers
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V.W.owner since 1967

[rugblaster]

What a great post!!! I wish you had posted more pics of the girls, I mean the beer. What did you think of American beers? (You don't have to reply, I already know.) I was thinking of doing the same thing, except the trip would go the other way. My daughter has a year and a half left to do in law school and she wants to drive around Europe, especially Germany when she graduates. We went to Spain, France and Italy the last trip, but took trains. We might like to drive this time.

I was thinking about shipping my camper over there and just seliing it when we are done. Maybe 3 month visit. I could buy one there I guess, but I know the shape mine is in. (it will go anywhere reliably. I'm 63 years old and my wife and daughter don't really care about my bus, they like AC, heater and NAV. They don't care if I sell it.

IF you don't mind me asking, how much does it cost to ship a bus? Also, do you have any buddies that may like to purchase a Weatfalia camper?

Your bus is looking great, lots of work I know but worth it in the end, something to be proud of.
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'69 Karmy, '69 Camper, Meyers clone, '65 drag bug, 10.78 @ 128 (sold it) '51 Dodge farm truck,
'09 MB E350 '18 MB E400, '65 Plymouth Valiant convertible and a '19 Ford F250 King Ranch (nicer, but dirty, farm truck)

VWoA factory trained line tech 75 till 90 or so
ASE Master Certification
VWoA Assoc. of Quality Technicians inductee (One of 25 in the five state southwest region)
La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (San Angelo Chapter)
TCU ......GO FROGS!!!!!!

[bullibene]

[wcfvw69]

You're doing a great job! That spot welder is a nice tool to have and certainly saves tons of time vs. all the grinding with spot welds with a mig.

Keep up the great work!
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

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**

[jeremyrockjock]

spectacular job!!
_________________
Why buy what you can build.
Step away from the fiberglass and no one gets hurt!!

[bullibene]

Next was repairing the cabin floor on the driver and passenger side.

Due to the amount of rust on the driver side I used a repair panel. For the passenger side I was able to fabricate 2 small patches myself.

Again, I used my spot welder wherever i could.


I started out with the Driver side which was quite crusty

Old crusty floor was cut out to the size of the repair panel.

welded in and ground down the welds where i joined the new repair panel to the old floor. For the overlapping areas i used, just like in the factory, my spot welder.

The passenger side had only some little rust at the flange where the wheel housing joins the cabin floor. Due to the small size and the simplicity of the shape of the area that was to repair, i fabricated the needed patch panels myself.

After cleaning the area with a wirebrush the size of corroded area was visible

Only replacing whats acutally necessary. In the picture i made the first cut to the cabin floor

The corroded base of the wheelwell was cut as well and a self fabricated patch panel was tack welded to it

welded and ground down

Cabin floor: sheet metal welded in and ground down

And to finish things off: Some spot welder action

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www.089garage.blogspot.com

Instagram: 089garage

[orwell84]

It’s nice to see that level of restoration go into a bus. Excellent work.

[Rhysos]

I was a big fan of your Gartenkäfer project and this new undertaking is just as compelling in a totally unique way. Really enjoy the story that underpins this particular restoration.

So, I have been catching up on your blog and seen that you recently got all the old nuts and bolts galvanised and the finish you achieved was outstanding! Did you outsource this to a specialist company or do it yourself? If the latter, then please could you do a post here about how you went about it?

Thanks for the inspiration and motivation - makes me realise that I just need to crack on
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www.vwbeetlerestoration.blogspot.com

[MikeyM73]

Doooode! Totally rad the effort and time you're putting into it. All hats off to you, man! If you ever ship it back to Cali, head up to Napa and we'll have a couple bottles of wine waiting to share in exchange for your download of all you did to it.

Cheers, brother. Excellent work.

Mikey
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'73 Pop-top Westy, found sitting in a field for 10+ years, cleaned up, rebuilt furniture, reloved. Original 1.7 block/fully polished crank, 93mm 1.8L balanced AA pistons & cylinders, new 1.8L balanced rods, HAM 42/36 heads, Scat C25 cam & lubalobe lifters, Dual HPMX40s, R2C filters w/ Outerwears pre-filters, functioning thermostat & flaps, Pertronix Flamethrower III, 4-1 exhaust w/ Cherry Bomb 2" turbo muffler & OEM heater boxes, averages about 19-22ish on the highway.