TheSamba.com :: View topic - "Helga" Matt's 65 bus restoration thread

Tue Jun 07, 2016 5:48 am

nice welds

got the seam sealer down hoping to paint to night!

Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:34 pm

the clutch pedal finished drying so i threw the rubber thing on

and installed it on the bus!

now I have three pedals and a shifter!

all the old glue needed to come off

so i hit it with the wire wheel

The apron that came with my bus is green, covered in gunk and kind of beat up. I'm using the EasyOff method of removing everything off of it. Then I'll bang it into shape and paint it with the remaining red color that I used to paint the trans area

Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:49 am

still have a few small holes to weld up. these are in the bulk head behind the wheel well on the right side

after easy offing the apron i cut out the remainng seal

then i hit it with the wire wheel, wire brush and brake cleaner to get all the caked on grime and old paint off. I probably would have kept the green if it wasn't so banged up, grimy and rusty.

hanging from the painting tree

i found this, it's a kind of close match but the previous stuff i had used is closer

it looks kind of neon red in this picture!

Fri Jun 10, 2016 6:56 am

right on!

Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:02 am

Has your bus become storage for the kids toys? lol

Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:04 am

khalimadeath wrote: Has your bus become storage for the kids toys? lol
very much so, the kickball and basketball fit nicely behind the tail lights. I can get both their bikes in the engine bay and their scooters go in the cargo area. having two dubs in the garage makes have to utilize the space efficiently!

Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:10 am

Longboardluv wrote: khalimadeath wrote: Has your bus become storage for the kids toys? lol
very much so, the kickball and basketball fit nicely behind the tail lights. I can get both their bikes in the engine bay and their scooters go in the cargo area. having two dubs in the garage makes have to utilize the space efficiently!

LMAO nice!

Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:14 am

haha that's what I thought!

Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:20 am

The seat covers and foam came in from SewFine!! Oh man I can't wait to get these all put together.

Heaterboxes and intake manifold freshly sandblasted

Hanging more parts on the painting tree! This time heater boxes and intake manifold. Duplicolor engine enamel de1650 really is nice!

found this little blower at Harbor Freight. It' moves a lot of air and has two plugs on it it. So now it's my new work buddy. Goes where every I go now that it's summer in Texas

Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:24 am

I've been trying to get ready for the next time my welder comes over.

Trying to hammer this piece back to straight so that it lines up. I'm cleaning off all the paint and rust to prep for welding

This area by the battery tray is all apart. You can see where it separated.

this is where the new battery tray will weld up with the old metal

The previous owner had mounted some bracket from the rear tray into the engine bay. these will get plugged up too

my motor is coming along! Alternator kit has been ordered and clutch/pressure plate. Won't be long now :)

Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:53 am

since i don't have any keys i'm hoping to have some cut based on the code that is on the locks.

i took down the parcel tray and got the ignition out farily easily. I had to cut one of the bolts off that holds the stearing column to the dash though

this is my buggered up rear hatch lock. it's a two year only part I believe (64-65) that looks like they are kind of hard to find. so if anyone might have one , let me know! thanks

Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:14 am

Big thanks to GLHTurbo for sending me these inner bumper brackets! Love it when team aircooled comes together to help one another! I'll be cutting these out and straightening them up. Then they'll get welded into my bumper, which is missing them.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 5:48 am

It was time to look into the fresh air vent to see why it wasn't working.

I had heard that these 14 little screws can be difficult so I had been pb blasting them for a few weeks

it was dirty in there, all the rubber seals are toast . You can see two little screws that hold the bar down, I wasn't able to get those out.

It's interestign how these flaps work, you turn a knob and they either direct air to the front passengers or to the back

They will get new rubber seals glued to them

they too get cleaned up on the wheel and hung from the painting tree

I wasn't able to the front flap out that opens and closes to let air in from the front. The little screws holding it in are crusty and will need a few days of soaking.

Sun Jun 26, 2016 5:45 pm

I was finally able to get the little set screw out of the flapper. I then drilled out all the rivets and will be ordering pretty much everything that WW sells to rebuild the vent system. Someone mentioned using regular rivets as opposed to pop rivets to repair this. Does anyone have any opinion on the subject?

it was nasty!

drilled apart

after hitting it on the wheel it too hung from the painting tree!

the it was time to clean the narrow vent. it had a very thick lay of dirt from years of sucking in air from the road. I attached wires to a long stick and then to the drill. It worked pretty good to kind of knock a lot of the dirt free

after some back and forth with the leaf blower and vac it stapled a rag to a long paint stirrer

after a few times i was happy with how it came out. You know rebuilding this air vent is exactly the kind of stuff I love. It a little no pressure project that isn't necessarily hard. It just something you get to learn how to do and get it done. Then, when I finally get to start enjoying Helga on the road I'll look up and remember all the little projects it took to get her going again!

I figure I hadn't posted a wide shot of her in a while. I think is is about as "apart" as she'll be. From now on, I think I'll be putting pieces back onto her.

Thanks again to GLHTurbo for sending me these. I got the brackets cut out and cleaned up as well to go into my bumper.

I also got my safari's from Wolfgang Int.! I'm so excited. Hope to start the cargo floors, rear seat/bed and seat belts soon! Then i'll be able to put the tank and trans back in. Which is closer to getting a motor in her!

Mon Jun 27, 2016 6:58 am

No problem, glad to see they're getting used. Looking good.

Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:34 am

Surprising how much dirt you got out of there.

Mon Jun 27, 2016 7:53 pm

Nice job on the fresh air vent Matt!
I think I need to check and clean mine now.

Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:03 am

silkvw wrote: Nice job on the fresh air vent Matt!
I think I need to check and clean mine now.

Thanks Greg! It's less thand 30.00 to rebuild everything. It's funny but WW doesn't list the "rubber stops" on their diagram online, but if you have the actual catalog it does

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wolfsburg_new/interior/bus_interior/misc_bus.cfm?type=2

Air Duct Seal - Inner 9 9 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817773A
Air Duct Flap Seal 6 6 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817757
Fresh Air Duct Cover Seal 5 5 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817759
Air Flap Control Rod Washers 2.25 2.25 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817798
Control Shaft Speed Nut 0.6 0.6 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=N120561
Rubber stops 2 2 1 https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111857145
Rubber Grommets 3 3 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817825
knob washer set 1.5 1.5 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817843
know spring washer 2.5 2.5 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817851
vent hardware kit 6.78 6.78 1 http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=211817000

Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:18 pm

General Grabber AT2 27 X 8.5 R14s, so meaty!

Thu Jun 30, 2016 5:59 am

I got the package tray out and one of the bolts that hold the steering column to the plate had broken off at some point. I sprayed with with pb blaster and attempted to extract the old bolt with an extractor but that didn't work so then i tried tapping it and failed at that. So i just drilled it out and will put a nut and nut and washer on there.

I like the patina on the tray but don't want rust dust getting on stuff i put in there so i decided to clean it and clear coat it.