I'm the PO - Re-Restoring a Restoration

[Clatter]

Warming up for another day.

Seam seal doesn't need to be pretty if it's going to match factory.

Did underneath my new battery tray.

Then realized the factory didn't do the bottom sides.
This is the left.

Wonder what they were thinking?
Is it to allow the water to drain, or cost cutting?
Guess we'll never know.


Years ago i did my compartment in Zolatone truck bed liner.
Used the SEM texture spray to try and match.

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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

The build grinds along...

Just pushed the easy button and had the nose blasted locally for a hunnert bux.
Stored in the extra room while we did graduation party and whatnot.

Blowing off blasting dust there's a lot hidden in pits and rough spots.
Crazy how dust comes out of what looks like clean metal.
Phosphate wash and air/sun dry.
Turns cool colors.

Bare metal makes a final slap-file session fun.

Lots of sanding with 240 then 400 to try and chase out fisheyes.
Hoping a final coat can go on.
Wiping down with wax/grease remover this time.

Reaching inside vents to sand out all the trash i blew in there.
Feathering edges.

Ugh.
This kind of work takes a ton of time.
Especially when you have to fix your mistakes..

Everybody makes mistakes.
It's weather or not you go back and fix them that counts, right?
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Ya, this many pics of dumb nothing constitutes douchebaggery..

But,
Especially on this forum,
There’s SO many “restorations” that just paint over the rust.
That won’t last for dick…!

And i just can’t help but show how to -at least try- to make a resto last.

Nose skin got epoxy primed,
But not before any place that gets welded was masked.

After the epoxy sets up a little,
masked places get a light dusting of weld-thru primer.

These vents might just be the hardest part of the whole bus.
Here masking for epoxy I’m using a trick to blend in the edge.
Wide tape is folded over onto itself.
That way it lifts a little and allows the paint to ‘fade’ underneath.
Plus a towel inside to preserve the finish, and some lights for heat..

Didn’t get a pic of epoxy, but, the fade buried well underneath a single thick coat of paint.

Also happy to report that the fish-eyes didn’t return.

Yeah,
Some orange peel and dust nibs.
It was a windy spring day.
Using a 15-year-old can of paint makes it tricky as well.
But,
This ain’t no show bus.
It’s not about a fine finish,
But more about sealing things up so water doesn’t get in.
And make the bus smell like moldy hippy stink foot…

That’s the thing about ‘patina’;
Nobody mentions the smell.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[cdennisg]

[Clatter]

[Clatter]

So since last night i put the paint stuff all away for a bit here,
Was fired up to do the new hitch..!
New bumper fits so bitchin'..

Aligning brackets to try and figure out where to drill holes, etc.

Hard to tell. Gotta mark 'em.

Finally figured out that more will need trimmed.
Time to go buy another twelver of Modelo and head over to Deitrich on Friday.

Takes a few tries sometimes..

Punished myself for this oversight brutally.

Could it be,
After hours of self-flagellation,
I'm actually getting some skill at removing DynaMat?

Stab the scraper, then twist, while pulling with the other hand...

Can't tell you how good it feels to get more of that HOAX DynaMat in the trash where it belongs!
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[orwell84]

Your rust removal info will be super helpful for many who care to take the time. Stuff that can be easy to miss when applying shiny paint. And then the rust comes back from who knows where. I’ve learned a lot of those techniques on the Samba and figured out a few on my own. They worked great on a 70’s Vespa Im restoring. Sorry for the non bus content.

Paint looks good, but it’s a badly prepped respray.

Water gets in the frame tunnel where it’s spot welded to the floor after flexing opens up the spot welds. Rust creeps into the seams.

Various rust removal tools including a sandblast gun with a trigger on the outside. Helps to have a boroscope camera and long Gumby arms.

You can get almost anything rust free if you keep at it.

Tipped on its side overnight for Ospho to soak into the seams followed by master series silver. Forms a nice bead to seal the seams if left to dry on its side.

Seam sealing from the outside. SEM 1k over scuffed epoxy, followed by another layer of epoxy. No filler as the few dents were easy to work out.

Getting there.

Don’t mean to crash your thread. Let me know if it’s not ok.

[Clatter]

Nice!

That ‘tip it sideways and flow into seams’ trick is killer!
Especially with wet epoxy.
A great way to prevent air from reaching into there.

Have to build a pretty big rotisserie to pull that off on a Bus.


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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

No more putting it off!
ANYTHING besides working on this POS...!

Decided to spin it around and work on the other end.
Maybe that'll make it more interesting?

Plenty of rust in the front dogleg area.
Some of these rust pits go clear through.
Crossing fingers blasting doesn't open up a can o' worms.
As it looks now, welding pits is possible.

Stripping with the twisted-knot wheel to get a head start on blasting.
Found some rust bulges at the corners of the front bumper.

Other side too.

Tis angle shows a gap under there that no doubt contributed.

Wire-wheeling it clean I'm strategizing...
Really want to blast in there and squirt some weld-thru,
But how to get the sand out?
Going to sleep on this one...

Decided to self-flagellate some more.
I repent!
Anyone ese want to come sit here on this crate?
It will cleanse your soul of sin!

Anyhow,
Tons of wire-wheeling away questionable paint,
Digging seam-seal out of cracks,
And double-taping to mask.

All in the interest of making blasting easier...
Shows how much i dislike blasting.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[The Volkswagen Ranch]

Clatter, you are a BRAVE man. You have taken OCD to a new level. Thank you for taking the time to show us all how to do this stuff! Bob
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1963 Convertible (Lizzie) and 1964 Convertible (Patience) 1976 Westfalia (Winnie)

[Clatter]

[Clatter]

Much as i hated to do it...
Set up for another blasting session - this time the front 2/3.

Ugh.

Set it up,
But just kinda stared at it for a long time.
Really not looking forward to this.

One thing i really want to avoid is getting all of the internals cavities full of sand.
My Oval is like that - sand everywhere and forevermore.

Capped any/all sand entrances i could find.

Works well when it works.
When the sand actually feeds right - it's almost tolerable.
Blasting chases out rust like a wire wheel (on left) just doesn't.

Seams got scraped, then taped, and blasted, then scraped and blasted again to chase out any spots i missed.

Way up under the drip rail is old factory seam sealer that's so tough and stuck down the blaster won't chase it out.
If it's that stubborn - it can stay.

Damon came over, and it gave me an excuse to clean up early and drink beer!

Got this side section done!

Anyone want to come over and do some of this front area?
It's really fun!
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Another long day out there gagging on sand.

Ugh.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[tcoop1100]

You're doing an amazing job, Clatter. Just keep the end result in mind- that always gets me through the dust... and dirt... and rust... and bloody knuckles...
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Aloha,
Tim
January '57 Sedan, April '64 40hp big bore

[Clatter]

Appreciate the encouragement..!

Cause when you're up under wheel wells,
It's easy to become defeated.

This is just extra blasting that came off the edge when i did the wheel lip.

Looking at the rockers, for example, stuff is still in good shape.

Years (20! ) ago i got under there and cleaned up and shot some 3M rubberized undercoating.
I'm thinking it helped.
What was most important was that i spent literally weeks underneath,
Lying on my back with Scorch-Brite pads and solvent and rags and carb cleaner and compressed air and...
Guess it paid off.
Rubberized undercoating can do more harm than good if it's put over a layer of dirt.
Was thinking of blasting under there (lightly) and another layer around the perimeter,
But now I'm just touching up where it got hit.
Call me a hacky corner-cutter, but it gives me a stopping point!

Keeping this pic here,
Just to remind me of the misery.
Even though it's pretty well swept up already in the pic.

And this one.
Blaster plugged up halfway along the lower lip.
Like you need that when you're clear down under there.
Piss Miserable.

Not sure why the blaster plugs up.
Maybe water in the lines?
Perhaps it gets too fine/soft to feed after so many re-uses?
Maybe i just miss a little bit of crap when screening somehow?

Hard to see when the mask lens gets hazed over,
And easy to miss spots that need it.
I see you little under-gutter hidey rust!

And finally....
Rounding the rear drip rail..
The Last of the Blasting...!

At least until it's time to do the doors..



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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[W1K1]

Blasters are just frustrating, I used to use black beauty for blasting, it works really well, but is wants to jam up all the time in my cabinet. I finally went to coarse 40-60 glass, it flows into the hopper just fine.
I think a vibrator of some sort on that tank might help to keep the sand flowing. I shouldn't have thrown out my old milwaukee sander, that might be the ticket stuck to the side.

wheel wells, I too spent a few hours in there cleaning up the crumbling seam sealer , rust pits, and cheap undercoat, mostly sanding and scrubbing by hand, fun times for something nobody sees

the wife just comes out looks, and shakes her head "that's gonna get dirty you know"
Carry on, re-restoring

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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/jim_martin_engine_build.php

1973 super
1965 squareback 1500E
1971 bay window westy- subi swap

[orwell84]

With typical by-the-book restorations, a bus gets stripped to a bare shell and gets sent out to get painted all at once before everything gets put back together. If I did my bus this way, it would become a dumpster for about 10 years. I think the section by section approach you are doing works a lot better. So many places need blasting, welding, sealing that you are better off finishing it and getting it in paint. Maybe not show quality, but still better than factory. The slickest paint job ain’t worth much once rust starts crawling out from under the seams. What I lack in painting skill, I can make up for in fixing runs and nibs and color sanding. Anyhoo…

[Clatter]

I have to do sections because working outside!

Took ALL DAY to flush the sand out and put everything away.
More fun work with respirator and goggles.

Used the blaster -and- vacuum together for crevices and cavities.
Amazing how much stuff came out of the front bumper support and doglegs.

Blowing out the smuggler's boxes was fun.
Stories of broken windows and camping trips.
Even a few Pall Mall butts from the PO.
Cleaned so many of those out over the years,
Those and 22 shells.
God bless Arizona.

Cool to see so much brazing in corners.
Pretty much all of them are brazed.

Leaf blower came thru as the final to clear the area, then the bus.

First order of business is to get the drip rail and roof in epoxy,
Rear of car sticks out of the carport,
And dew collects on top surfaces first.

Started with some 150 on a DA to the roof,
But then ran out of gas.

Pressure is on to get all this bare metal in epoxy,
And painted over in two days before it sets up.

Because it's all cracks n' crevices,
Ain't no way to scuff 'em.


Let's hope it doesn't rain!
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[cdennisg]

[Clatter]