Rusty 65 SC restoration

[Kb65single]

Finally the "tube" that holds all the gate, treasure chest, and engine lid hinges will be sealed. The last part was the rear corner.

Cutting and fitting the tops

Rustproofing

Welding

full weld

A lot of grinding and 8 hours later (from cutting to smoothing) the final product.

Since the Gerson treasure chest hinge carrier doesn't come with the j-channel for the rubber seal, I had to make one just like I did on the passenger side.

Clamping and hammering the J

ready to weld (old one from the passenger side)

Welded in from the back side

Moving on. Little by little, step by step a running SC is getting closer.

[Kb65single]

Repairing the 1/2" flange that the separation panel gets welded to was going to be difficult. That piece was rusted and beaten to death from throwing things against it over its long life. Just copying it the way it was made just didn't seem right. Maybe there is a better way to repair it without getting the same result 50 years later.
Picture from the outside

Picture from the inside

Butt welding a 20 gauge, 1/2" x 1/2" (bent 90deg.) X 60" long and keeping it straight seemed like asking for a miracle. I chose a different route. As I was looking through the endless selections of metal shapes at the Metal Supermarket in Norfolk VA, the solution hit me. I would cut off the rusted bent flange leaving about 2" of metal to weld to.
Rusted and bent flange

Chose a 1"x 2" boxed x 60" long to plug weld underneath the metal that was left. Let it hang out 1/2 " so the load bed could be welded to it.

End of the 1x2 piece was sealed shut. My straightness problem was solved.

Had to finish repairing the last top hat. The 1x2 piece was limiting access for the welding gun.

Plug welded the bar

Painting and prepping the area for the 1/2"x 1" boxed bar that would be welded on top .

Welding that bar on top with a series of 1" stitch welds spaced 6" apart.

Now the area is a lot stronger and straighter and will resist punishment a little better. After I finished it I thought it would be even better to include some vertical bars to back up the middle section of the separation panel, give it the jail bar look. I'll get to that when I am ready to fit the panel so I have the correct spacing. That means I get to go back to Norfolk: kid in a candy store.

[Kb65single]

Decided to attempt a try at replacing the rear metal that holds the engine seal on the front side. Mine was damaged from rust.

Started with a cardboard template which proved to be to flexible to trace and have it stay accurate.

Moved to thin plywood 1/4 " thick ( Luan plywood for underlayment) that I had left over from a home improvement project. Was easy to shape with a belt sander. (16mm wide)

Used the same dimensions and materials like I did on the straight C-channel.
Bar was 16mm wide x 1/8" thick rounded on all 4 corners

Used the 1/2"x 1/2" boxed bar to help support the plate but had to bend it in the correct shape. Cut the bar on 3 sides, bent it to follow the shape of the bar and then welded it together on one side.

Clamped it to something flat while welding.

The sheet metal was also the same 22 gauge and 29mm wide. 3 pieces ready to bolt together.

Started to bend the top/outside first because the plate eventually needs an escape route.

Could only bend the inside/bottom part of the C about 70-80 degrees up. Bending it any further traps the plate which I found out the hard way. After getting the plate out I bolted the sheet metal back to the bar. This picture shows it bent to far. I had to "unbend" it slightly.

In order to finish bending the inside part of the "C", I made a short plate that I could slide inside to help finish the bending. I made it in two pieces because the screw heads got in the way. Welded a handle one part; that made it easier to maneuver.

Also had to support the outside so I wouldn't F-that-up. Found a 6x6 in the garage and the correct router bit and it was supported.

The final product

Now that I have a replacement I can remove the rusty one. Does anyone have a SC that is painted this color (fire wall) that they could send me. Trying to figure out if I like it.

Clean things up an rustproof

Fit it in because I made it a little long.

Welded in from the back side

One more thing off the list. That was fun

[BarryL]

Henry Ford would have made you head of improvising.

[Busted-bolt]

I needed a similar piece for my fabricated apron for my bus. I just removed it from an old scraped out beetle. I find a lot of the parts that have to do with the engine sealing rubber flaps are the same.Great work on making you're own though.
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Vw collection 60 combi ,61 panel ,62 deluxe micro,82 diesel Westfalia,88 Vanagon synchro,98 Jetta tdi,11 Jetta tdi mt ,11 Jetta tdi dsg.
I do all my own work,body,engine and transmission.

[chrisflstf]

There is a samba member who made a tool, like a double pick to reshape the rubber seal groove, danny gabbard. They get beat up during engine r/r

[Kb65single]

BarryL
Mr. Ford probably would have fired me, I work to slow and take frequent beer breaks
Busted-bolt
I'll have to compare my 66 beetle engine metal to the bus. Thinking outside the box, that's why I enjoy reading everybody's solutions to different problems. I just wish I could remember them when I needed them.
chrisflstf
I have run into Danny gabbards name in other samba posts. What a talented person, his finished products are mind blowing, he is be a very patient person with metal.


Since I was in the engine compartment, I decided to stay there and finish the ass end of the bus. The same spots that were involved on the battery side were also present on the driver side and just for some variety some different challenges appeared. Had to disassemble the area first.

Splash panel removed

Wheel well rust cut out

Inner wheel well

Lower outside panel where it butts up to the vent

Panel that welds to the frame and holds the rubber engine seal.

Since the D-pillar had major issues ,I had to gain access to it. The support triangles needed to be removed.

The non-battery tray removal will help with the d-pillar repair.

Some of the pieces.

The end of the frame has a support that the apron bolts to. Rust in between that and the frame moved and twisted it crooked so I had to remove and repair that piece also.

Rust does move metal.

Time to sandblast, strip paint and clean up the mess.

[Kb65single]

So now the drivers side rear corner has been cleaned up and I can start to repair the damage. Pictures of the sand blasted areas makes it so much easier to establish where the good and bad metal is.

Lower d-pillar was beyond swiss cheese.

The louvers were straight and dent free.

Did some rust proofing in the areas that didn't need welding. Fixed the crack in this spot so that that area could lay smooth again.

Frame had thinned with perforation and needed a section cut out and replaced.

The support for the rear apron needed four repairs on it . Thought I would never stop fixing that thing.

Took a piece of angle iron and copied the rear apron holes so when I welded the support on it would fit. Also measured the opening of the engine lid so I would have no surprises later on.

After cutting the d-pillar free I had to go back and touch up the sandblasting

Repaired the top hole in this section first to make this area stronger.

Lots of pictures but they tell a story about what is behind the things we try to fix.

[chrisflstf]

What are you using to grind down/finsh your welds?. They look awesome

[Kb65single]

Started to fit the Gerson d-pillar that would fix the rusted out one that I had. The Gerson d-pillar is 4 pieces, 3 of them are spot welded together. After having my rear corner disassembled I found out that the new assembled one should have been 4 separate pieces. Asking all these pieces to fit just right was asking a bit much so I took the 3 pieces apart. I made a template from the passenger side so I could copy the profile of the outer skin. That same template shape matches behind the rear tire, c-pillar, and b-pillar. Crafty Germans.

Assembled Gerson d-pillar. Black circles are the locations of the spot welds.

Template from the completed passenger side

Disassembling the new d-pillar

I was glad that I chose to take the new one apart because 3 of the 4 welds for this little piece didn't hold. After drilling out the bottom weld I separated the rest without tools, just a twist and it fell apart in my hand. Also found out that there isn't any primer in between the panels pieces.

The profile of the panel wasn't curved enough so I had to correct that by welding a piece of metal to fill this space.

The d-pillars width was spot on but it was to thick. Changing that would have been a lot of work and besides the support triangles would cover up that difference.

The Gerson j-channel that holds the rubber engine seal didn't match the width of the original. Fortunately the J was way to big at the tale of the J. I was able to recurve it outward to match the original.

The clamp hides the J-channel match. Now that the d-pillar is fit I can cut out the damaged outer skin of the bottom corner.

Fabricated the corner using the shrinker/stretcher tool to match the profile.

Using the template to confirm the fit of the d-pillar and shape of the outer skin.

Welding the bottom corner of the outer skin

After getting the corner piece welded there is a flange that has to be added. That flange will get welded to the d-pillar.

Now that the outer skin is finished the d-pillar can be welded in.

D-pillar final fit

Welding in. I filled in the gap at the top of the new d-pillar by welding it shut.

I was expecting the d-pillar to fit a little better than it did but I realize that reproduction parts have limitations. Doing the work to correct the problems is all part of the challenge. It can be frustrating but the alternative is making them from scratch. On to the next challenge.

[Kb65single]

Some other areas that needed attention.

The support for the rear apron had to be welded back on to the frame. The angle iron helped with positioning. I left part of the frame on the top of the apron support so I would have a reference position when I welded it back on.

The little piece of the Gerson d-pillar that came off in my hand connects the frame and apron support to the d-pillar and outer skin. That piece needed modification too.

Little piece had to be thinned so that the engine lid had clearance to close.

That little piece gets plug welded from the outside of the outer skin through the d-pillar.

It also gets plug welded from the back side of the apron support.

It also gets plug welded to the side of the d-pillar which is where the Gerson spot welds had failed. I had to add a small piece of plate metal on the flange that the little piece welds to the apron support (just past the shinny bolt). The dimension of that piece wasn't wide enough. The little piece has to set on the same height as the frame. The plate was the easiest way to solve the problem.

On to rust proofing the frame and fitting the driver side engine metal. I kept the angle iron in place to insure my engine lid opening space wouldn't change.

Fixed the flange that the splash panel welds to.

[Kb65single]

[Mid West Dubber]

This build is insane, thank you for the detailed photos and explanation

[Kb65single]

[Kb65single]

Now that the d-pillar is attached to the frame I can fill in the rest with some clean metal. I purchased two Gerson panels to help me out. The first one was the driver side engine bay panel. That was the one that I previously showed the repair of the c-channel that holds the rubber seal. The rest of that panel fit really good and welded nicely to the frame and the back side of the rest of the engine bay sheet metal.

Final try in and seeing how the d-pillar supports fit

Welding in with the angle iron bolted in place to keep things right

The width of this panel was spot on.

I drew a picture and recorded the measurements from the other side of the engine bay before I tore things apart. Final grind on the welds.

The second Gerson panel was the Non-battery tray. Like the battery side I had to bend the flange at a sharper angle ( especially on the tail light side and rounded corner ) to get it to seat level and straight.

Try in

drilled holes to plug weld the vent and tail light side.

Welded in place

Next was filling in part of the wheel well. Used the old piece as a template.

Weld in

Finish

Looking more complete.

[Two Glove Boxes]

Yo I'm late to your post but getting caught up. Killing it!
I didn't know if you have mentioned this or not but are these dimes laid down with a mig?

And this metal work is super good and I think the first time I've seen someone do it right.

_________________
1951 Split Standard Hoffman Build

1960 Dove Blue Double Cab Patina Build

Two Glove Boxes

DLK

[Kb65single]

[zuggbug]

very impressive work - thanks for taking the time to share
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SOUTHERN INTEGRITY AIRCOOLERS
58 15 window
56 westy

[Kb65single]

[Kb65single]

So the non-battery tray is in. Still need to assemble the pieces that will finish the drivers side rear corner. The d-pillar support is two parts. One faces the louvers/vents and one faces the engine. They both get welded to the d-pillar and the frame and do not overlap the engine bay metal that I just welded in, they should butt up to it.

Part of that support gets welded to the flange of the non-battery tray.

The hole that they stamped in both pieces had to much metal left compared to the original. The width of the metal left in the Gerson hole was 7mm the original was 3mm. Grinding them to match fixed it.
Paint before closing it in.

Prepping the area before welding. Notice the "little" piece that needed to be even with the height of the frame. That piece gets welded to the d-pillar support that faces the engine. Also notice that the thickness difference of the Gerson d-pillar gets hidden behind the supports.

Finished. Yes that is my sandblasting cabinet ( in the background) that I made 30 years ago when I had no money and three kids. It still works, siphon feed 5 gal bucket media supply ( aluminum oxide) from the top, drain on the bottom and a squirrel cage fan that clears the dust. Construction site dumpsters supplied the wood.

Next is closing in the wheel well. Had to make another splash panel.

Welding it in. Same as the passenger side the splash panel gets welded in behind the tray flange and rear corner flange.

Two pieces to go.