I'm the PO - Re-Restoring a Restoration

[notchboy]

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[jtauxe]

[Clatter]

[Seasurfnbird]

Damn those POs! Watching this topic first hand, but you know I'll be addressing similar issues in my 66 EZ at some point. But first I need to finish the 1776cc you are helping me rebuild. See you soon!
Those early adventure photos are really cool!
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67' Squareback
66’ EZ Camper
Jeff’s Bus Stocker Plus

[SGKent]

[Clatter]

WHoo! Coupla big days out there...

Erasing past transgressions:

Me, for thinking i wanted one of those stupid angled black rubber powered antennas.

The dealer, for installing an anemic A/C unit that didn't work for long.

A past bodyshop for not welding up the marker hole very well.

Some careless asshole in a parking lot, for tapping the rear corner.

The wounds of times past.. Cauterized with a welder.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Here's a big/long one for you to skip over...

Learned a lot from this, maybe someone can benefit.

Had what i thought was a pretty tidy receiver hitch setup,
Guy down the street did it for me long ago before i had my own welder.

Found the hitch at the flea market, not sure what car it was for.

While i wanted it to have its own mounts,
My boy just welded it to the bumper brackets.

When you park a bus nose-in to a space in a crowded parking lot.
The swarm of brainless idiots will tag it constantly.
Because modern plastic bumper cars are round,
Dipshits are completely unprepared to miss a vehicle with square corners like a bus.
Especially if the bumper sticks out the sides..
Because i used the bus as a daily, the rear had been tapped literally dozens of times.
Having only the four bumper mount bolts holding the hitch to the body,
It ripped the mounts free.
More on this later..


Newer "chrome" flimsy aftermarket bumper was flame-cut crudely to clear brackets.

The thing did tuck in tightly to the bumper, though.
When it was in place, all you could see was the receiver under there.
The location he got perfect.
I'm going to duplicate this location exactly.

Got some 1/4" wall 4" angle from the local steel place.
New brackets are going to be long enough to pick up all six mount holes.

My little homeowner chop saw struggled to cut this big piece.
After leaning on it for what seemed like an hour and getting nowhere,
devised a special automatic feed.

While the saw ran on its own, was able to multi-task.
Made up a transfer punch of sorts.
This screws into a mount nut/hole so the point -just- sticks out.
Part to be drilled is laid into place over the punch,
Then struck with a hammer to make a dimple.
Dimple is then centerpunched and drilled as normal.
Flats are for installation/removal by a wrench.
Cool trick an old man taught me years ago.
No more moving holes over.

Once cut, laid out the angle, my "new" brackets, and the old setup for some CAD.
(Cardboard Aided Design).

Picked up all six mounting holes,
Clears various motor underpinnings (hopefully),
Trimmed for weight reduction,
But still enough beef left for strength?

CAD templates transferred to angle.
Off to the steel shop for some plasma cutting.
And also to switch out that galvanized square patch piece for some regular.
Don't know how i missed that being galvanized..

Found me an OG heavy German rear bumper and it's being straightened down in LA.
Once it's back up here in bare metal it'll get trimmed to fit my hitch as the hitch is welded together.
Then the bumper will go back down to LA with the front and some other stuff for chrome.

So there you have it (for now).
Thinking this'll be a right proper way to do a hitch.
Some things take a coupla tries..
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

To think of all the towing i did with this thing!!

There are six bumper mount nuts welded into the rear of these buses.
We'll call them front, middle and rear..
The bumper mounts to only the middle and rear.
Because my hitch was attached to the bumper,
And the bumper got tagged many times,
The mounts got ripped away from the body.

Rear nuts are free and flopping.
Middle ones are way stretched and about to pop ..!

Driver's side rear nut came out by hand.
Just grabbed it and pulled it off.
No tools required.

Been staring at this whole problem for months (years).
Not really sure what to do.
All these layers of sandwiched sheetmetal...
Crappy birdshit "repair" attempts by my neighbor...
Crying about it didn't help.

Finally just decided to start cutting - peel back the onion.
Cut out the area that looked bent or stretched.
What's not seen is hours of lying on my back using a twisted-knot wheel overhead.
Lots of rubberized undercoating and road grime to dispatch.

Really just a fairly thick bottom plate with another section of sheet for the nut.
Made copies in the right thickness sheet (taken from old a-pillar),
Drilled some holes for plug welding.

Scavenged the nut and zap zap.
Used some weld-thru primer.

Little sheet/nut section goes in first,
Welded to an inner layer.
Only got this far before it was late and Mom was making dinner.
Plus it got windy...
Still need to weld the other side in.

Going to grind, and them hammer flat that inner layer,
So this bottom plate can get plug and perimeter welded.

Not really ready for this piece yet, but you get the jist.
This will all fit tightly.

And, oh, I'm a gonna birtshit and birdshit the birdshit onto that one.
Let me tell you what...
Bumper car mouth breathers bring it!!

Man, it sucks Ev got rid of that 'fist' icon with the middle finger.
Fucking PC woke!
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Cdn17Sport6MT]

That's exactly, now, how I plan to do my hitch. Totally 100%, Clatter! I always thought that it'd be smart to pick up the vertically-up bumper bracket mounting holes, as you've done.

[Clatter]

Looking inside the intake vents there’s a bunch of surface rust..

While i think i can get the blaster in there to scour it out,
How to paint in there??

Anybody know a trick?

Was thinking of loading paint into a garden sprayer with a long wand..?


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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

[orwell84]

The fuel filler access door is a great idea. It’s not an easy job especially if you are doing the bent pipe thing. Luckily I have long Gumby arms.

Your kid is way better at busting out spot welds than me. Klaus must have been drinking on the job when he did the front of my bus.

I have had my bus long enough to go through sheet metal repairs a second time. A good number of them were holding up just fine 20 years later that I redid to look more factory.

I have a section of floor along the long side rocker that I go back and forth on replacing. It’s sturdy, neatly done and hasn’t rusted a bit. It’s obviously not factory. You can’t even see it. Not today. Maybe a dark day in January if I’m bored.

[Ceckert64]

[Clatter]

Glad to see you guys taking the time to follow along.
Going it alone, you start to question yourself.

This was a long miserable day that I'm glad is over.
Both sides all done.

Lesson learned is that there's an inner and an outer D-pillar, all the way down.
Inner (upper) nut plate attaches to inner D-pillar.
Outer/lower under-nut-plate attaches to outer D-pillar (and everything else in this case).

Another lesson re-learned;
Welding and grinding overhead sucks.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

FYI.

OG German bumpers are about .015" thicker than Brazil.

Might not seem like much,
But when you pick them up, the weight difference is very noticeable.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Yesterday was all about getting ready to blast.
Vacuumed out inside closed areas and capped them off.

Hung tarps from the carport rafters to (sort of) contain media.

Blasting is the only way to get to the bottom of little rust pits.
Wire-wheeling falls a bit short but gives blasting a good head start.
Doesn't help that i glued a seal in years ago.

See also how i masked..
Because most of the paint is in good shape, i want to try and save it.
Heavy duct tape protects against sandblast well (and a little bit against the wire wheel).
-BUT-
Make sure to put some yellow or blue tape underneath it first.
Otherwise, you'll have a nightmare removing smeared-on duct tape goo.

A first test shows good results.

Coal slag from Tractor Supply needs screened.
Screen funnel came from Eastwood.
With one little chunk being able to clog the blaster tip,
Saved thousands of hours' frustration by pre-screening.

Battery tray area cleaned up for some weld-thru.

Also doused the tray itself to be sure it's clean.

Going to clean up and do some more welding today, hopefully,
And,
With luck,
Maybe drag out the primer gun?
Hope springs eternal..
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Didn't make it to primer gun yesterday..

Some weld-thru on the tray and it's perimeter,
And rassled it into place.

It's just a little bit big,
Or my bus got tapped back there,
But the thing wanted to fold up before it came home.
Hammer marks will attest to the amount of banging it took to get into place.


Because trying to tap it flat with hammer/dolly made it want to move,
I'd get it sheet-metal-screwed in place where it fit,
Then add more as i got it straightened.

Sheetmetal screws suck things nice and tight for welding.

Had to 'walk' it into place,
but there it is.
I'll drag the welder out when the wind is down.

Man!
A LOT of sand everywhere!

And we're -just- getting started with that part..
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

A whole day out there yesterday.

And i was really busy the whole time i swear!
Doesn't look like it.

Battery tray took a long time to get snug and welded.
Have to get the seams tight before zapzap.
Don't hear the term "hammer welding" anymore..

Hammer/weld/hammer/weld.

Love my new finger sander.
Especially for smoothing welds way back in the compartment.

Kept chiseling old glue and paint from seal channels.
Rust hiding way up in there needs flushed out,
But the blaster does a poor job against glue.
Who put that damn glue in there, anyways??

Lastly, since i the welder was out,
Front bumper got some PO PO holes welded up.
Even a PO can have a PO.

Hope i didn't screw that up too bad for the chrome shop.


Also got a sweet new rear bumper from Barry 'skatevw'.
Real German VW, all straightened up.
Stoked on this one.

While it ain't perfect, hopefully the chrome shop has an easy enough time with it.

We'll get it all sweetened up nice so some lady can ram into it at the mall parking lot.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[nogoodwithusernames]

Steve, what's the plan for noise dampening since you're not using the Dyna mat anymore? Not admitting to having any in the Squareback but wondering what alternatives there are?

Also you are a sucker for tough fixes. Want me to send the Square down when you're done? It's got some interesting hits from it's past life I'm sure would be loads of joy for you
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71 Squareback, 1.7l T4 w/ crank trigger fuel and spark
(Conversion thread https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732508&highlight= or https://shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=151375&sid=f0542d44a322d290c29d6609fac7f215 )
74 914, 2.0L w/ D-Jet

-Derek

[Clatter]