I'm the PO - Re-Restoring a Restoration

[Clatter]

Here we go again... Another painfully wordy/detailed thread.

Trying to get motivated on this has been hard,
So maybe doing a thread here will help get me moving.

Had this 'ol bus since 1989 or so.
This was done long before the Internet,
And times/tastes have changed.
So don't be too judgey - these were cheap and you went at it solo BITD.

Around 1999 or so, this Internet thing happened,
And a guy named Jake Raby appeared on the Shop Talk Forums.
From that point, following his advice, i built a motor according to his research.

Prior to that, flat cams and dropped seats were commonplace.
Went thru three sets of heads in a few years.
After building with a RAT cam and HAM heads,
The bus did various hauling and camping duties,
Staying together for the prior 13 years.
Not sure how many miles, as the speedo got replaced, but guessing maybe 40-50K?

Hauling:

Mountain passes:

This Bus has been a big part of our lives raising kids,
And now that the oldest is heading off to college,
It's going to get a long-overdue refresh,

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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[dodger tom]

hey neighbor, are you contemplating engine work at 40-50k?
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[babysnakes]

Nice ride. I gotta say, I was never a fan of those Mercedes wheels but they really look legit on your bus.

[airschooled]

Alright!! This is what I'm here for. Rapidly approaching my own re-restore in the next few years, I can't wait to see what Past-Clatter did
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Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[Clatter]

[Clatter]

I used to live in Phoenix,
And as you know,
Phoenix can get a bit hot sometimes.

One of the things you can do is paint your car white.
Back in 1996 or so, i was between jobs and spent 7 straight weeks and $7K at a place called Mirage in Mesa.
They let me work/learn there on my own crap with their help,
Which was really cool of them.
This big biker guy John and his guys really worked hard and taught me a lot.
Great experience.
49 consecutive days - often sleeping there, always 12+ hours/day.
Usually about 16-18.

Then i moved to the bay area and left it outside in the rain for 20+ years.

The bus had one of those stupid spare tires on the nose,
And of course a PO ran the tire into something.
We put the thing on a frame table during the paint process,
But there ended up being a bunch of Bondo in the nose.

What's worse, the airbox ender there got bent,
Enough that the flaps never sealed right,
And my lovely bride has had to endure cold air blowing upon her for years.

Enter a nose section i got when cutting up a parts bus.

It's a bit dented, but aren't they all?
At least the airbox under there will be straight,
And I'll probably get it free from the nose skin to work it anyways.

Going to be a lot of cutting and spot-weld drilling in my future.

Got the dash out and studied a few nose replacement threads here.
Trying to get my head around the best strategy..

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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Other projects - while we got the welder out...

Battery tray hack fix years ago needs done correctly:

AutoCraft piece seems a nice think part.

Neighbor down the street did me a hitch.
Gave him some stuff and he just welded it to the bumper brackets..
Then some asshole ran into the back of it in a parking lot and ran off.
Spot welds around bumper brackets are all popped apart.

Plan is to get all that stuff welded back together and build a proper hitch that hits all six bolts.
And not just weld it to the bumper brackets...
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Let's move on to stupid stuff i did back in the 90s!

Anyone remember DynaMat?
MAN, that stuff sucks!
WTF was I thinking!?!?
Got about $500 and 100 pounds worth of that gooey stuff stuck to the inside of my poor bus.

Even better, i decided to put some of that insulation padding in the doors.
Like on the roof here.
That stuff got wet and moldy and stunk to high heaven!
Like having the door packed full of wet sweatsocks.
As an added bonus, the insulation held the moisture in there, rusting the door from the inside out.

Luckily, i never got to the passenger door.
It's crispy and clean as a whistle by comparison.


Got a couple more sections from a parts bus.
Going to make inspection/access hatches for the fuel filler neck and gauge sender.

But first i have hours and hours and hours of tedious hand-scraping of DynaMat..

Every time i see someone all excited to "make their car quieter inside" with stick-on crap,
I just have to roll my eyes.
That stuff don't do shit. 100% placebo effect.
Everybody just repeats the same thing until it becomes true.

I'll admit it. I got suckered.
As long as you learn from your mistakes, right?
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Joey]

[Clatter]

[Clatter]

[SGKent]

Steve - I do hope this all works out well before it wears you out. The advantage of owning a bus for a long time, is that you know where the rust is hiding. The glue might come off with a heat gun and putty knife. The nose is going to be a lot of work to get that spare one straight. Dave in Australia used a late new one on his bus and it turned out perfect. The main issue is that those noses have the VW emblem pressed into them, so he had to cut that area out and put a new piece of sheet metal in there. He had his bus body dipped first. The only thing he did not like about that was he spent too many days crawling around it when it was close to being done sealing seams and the spraying waxoyl into the spots VW left holes to do that. I had mine media blasted here in Sacramento, then epoxy coated so it would not flash rust. Then the body work was done. If you have trouble finding anything you need pm me and I'll give a hand trying to locate it.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Clatter]

Thanks for the kind thoughts, Steve.

Since the base paint job was otherwise pretty good,
Most of it survived intact.

I’m not blasting or dipping,
Other than spot-blasting window frames and repairs.
This is going to be a patch-up to a certain extent,
Because there was a bunch of bare metal in AZ 20+ years ago,
And most of it is sticking tight.

Single-stage, no base/clear,
And all of it shot outside in the back yard here.

Did my Oval last winter that way,
Full cut/buff and base/clear, and it came out good enough.

If this one is half-way as nice I’ll be happy.
It’s a utility vehicle after all,
And needs used in the field.

Hope to re-purpose it for use by just Mom and myself,
And maybe a dog.
We plan on taking some big trips just the two of us.

Retirement has me flailing away in the shop nearly every day,
And,
Yep,
My right arm/hand has been locked into a claw for about a week now.

Hopefully i can get it done while the body still holds up!
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[cdennisg]

I'm in for the grind. Seems like a fun one.
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nothing

[orwell84]

Really looking forward to this one…

Seeing so many restoration threads that start off:

How much to paint mah bus?

10-20k brutha…

Hoping to see the cheap junk (TM) version of this restoration…

-shrewd and skillful metal fab using fairly ordinary tools and welding.

-modestly priced, yet serviceable paint over judiciously used filler.

Mostly validating the idea that it’s still possible to rebuild and run a bus without being a mechanical engineer or fabulously wealthy.

[Clatter]

I just got a really good deal on this white bus here.
I’ve never worked on anything with tools before,
But I’ve been watching lots of youtube videos.

The plan is to go cross country at the end of the month.
I already got my solar panels, extra batteries and inverter,
Plus I picked out really great colors for curtains and upholstery.
Was also planning LED lights and power windows.
I also got a great roof-rack.
Once the new upgraded insulation is installed i should have everything i need.

Follow my Instagram to see my progress,
Or donate to my Go Fund Me.

Can anyone tell me how many parts are supported to be in an engine?
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Does anyone have an engine they could donate to me?
I don’t need much except it must be super reliable.

I can install it and get it running myself,
Because i hear its only four bolts and super easy.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[SGKent]

[Clatter]

The rain quit for a little while this afternoon!

Took the opportunity to start stripping the skin off of this nose clip.

Got the A-pillars off first - they're heavy and make flipping this thing suck.
Thought i could cut around the ducts where they tie in,
But realized I'll need to drill spot-welds instead.

Much easier to work with now.

Ground/drilled the small tack welds where they folded the drip rail over,
Then pried 'em open.

Looking again at this airbox,
Nose got hit hard enough to bend it, too.
Will need it out of the way to smooth out the skin anyways,
So started drilling spot-welds.

Then I'm all WTF?
All these acorns started falling out.
Digging around up in there,
Rodents had packed it clear full!

Then it started raining again,
So i swept up and put everything away.

Progress!
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[orwell84]

I’m assuming you need an engine that will keep up with modern interstate traffic, never slow down on hills and that costs under $2k…

Wait, you wanted a free engine. My bad.

You need a puppy and a hot chick cooking up some Vegan surprise wearing a thong.