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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:25 am Post subject: |
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heres the work on the short rocker panel:
notice the gap/hole in the corner where the rocker meets the panel:
here it is closed up:
ground down:
cleaned up:
next is the passenger side rear wheel well, that will be the last of the panel replacements. _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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here are some catch up pics (ive been bad about updates)
welded up all the hacks/holes in the dashboard
The passenger side door has been repaired. its odd that my doors rusted on the lower rear part of the bottom, and the front lower parts are rust free. the bus must have been parked uphill with water in them.
I opted to sandblast the lower windshield sill section and patch up all the holes with little pieces of metal (and some patience) as opposed to replacing the whole thing. The metal was pitted but saveable
I ordered a new drivers (left) side door from the classified. I orignally was going to weld up the large 14"x14" square hole in the roof but I think I'm going to install one of these instead:
from here http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Metal_Roof_Vent_p/vts-280.htm
I've read the tin top campers can get toasty inside without a roof vent. my van is a panel but a walkthrough and they didn't come with the rear vent slats that non walkthrough panels had.
I still have to fix the drivers side wheel well, fill some screw holes in the interor....buy a new front emblem and rear bumper and then shes off for paint. _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 3:03 am Post subject: |
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...the other side. I thought this one wasn't as bad as the passenger side...
...but it was worse
rust all cut out:
test fitting the patch. I used 14 gauge steel for this part on both sides.
welded in.
welds grounded down
A few nights earlier I finished the engine bay. I had to drill out the broken bolts for the gas tank straps. The dove blue paint I used was way off...its much too grey. it has almost no blue in it. glad i tested it here first.
_________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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mtb7001 Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2009 Posts: 899 Location: Meridian Idaho
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 8:17 pm Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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very nice , I like the mileage
_________________ 63 15 window deluxe Turkis walk through 1500
"comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable" |
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14218 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:08 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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Sheesh, how'd you get the face so perfect? |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:36 pm Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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BarryL wrote: |
Sheesh, how'd you get the face so perfect? |
Lots of patience.it Took time to mix up matching paint. I used an airbrush and fine brushes on the face to touch up areas that needed help after cleaning.
There are some great threads on here describing how to disassemble and repair these _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 2:01 pm Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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slowly but surely crossing things off my checklist, today I installed mounting points for 3 point seat belts. I'm going to use vanagon seat belts.
ground the finish off some washers and welded on nuts with the oddball thread size that the vanagon bolts use
drilled a hole
cut out a tab that I could bend back
welded the nut plate in. I cut two holes on the pillar to puddle weld these in but I found that I could get enough access from the tab I cut out to get a good weld from the back side. I used that information when doing the other side.
gave it a good weight test and then welded up the access tab
welds knocked down
rinse...lather ...repeat (on the other side)
heres the vanagon belt installed
With the little time I have to work on the bus (i have two small kids) I've been doing all the small tedious stuff needed to get the bus ready for paint.... ive spent a lot of time getting the front door window frames ready...getting all the old original rubber out of the grooves has taken several hours. I have all the major stuff on my checklist complete, which is a good feeling. _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:53 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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I towed the bus around to body shops yesterday. see more on that front here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=651446
I had struggled in the past to get various buses up on the vehicle trailers that uhaul rents. I came up with this:
I flipped the mounting plate to my harbor freight 5000lb winch around and bolted it to one of the bumper brackets. It worked like a charm. For some reason my phone didn't save the pics with the winch on it but hopefully you get the idea:
_________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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twistedbug Samba Member
Joined: January 15, 2006 Posts: 675
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:59 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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So what was in the OG gas tank that made it so heavy???? |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:02 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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twistedbug wrote: |
So what was in the OG gas tank that made it so heavy???? |
it was some sort of sludge. I think there was sand and old gas in there and then newer gas on top of it. The outlet was completely clogged with crud, I think someone put something in there to try to free it up??? who knows.
I actually cleaned it out and gave it to someone who needed a tank. _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 11:18 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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After deliberating for a few weeks, I decided to start doing the body work.
I hauled the bus to 9 different body shops for quotes on bodywork and paint. they ranged from $12K to $35K and most shops wouldn't touch it. I was looking for someone to do "economy" body work. but i guess nobody does that anymore except maaco... and the only macco I trusted apparently burned down. All the shops i took it to wanted to strip the whole thing to bare metal. I guess I understand that, but they wouldn't even consider working over the existing paint and bodywork. I understand why, just kinda a bummer.
I'm about 16 hours into sanding and there's going to be a lot more of it.
My plan is to scuff the existing paint, going down to bare metal where needed, do some filler work on the repaired areas and hit the whole thing with epoxy primer, then do a guide coat to see where I'm at. continue with any more filler where needed then start with build primer and block a few times....then paint. I'm very anal about getting the filler work right. I do several coats and then block it with 120 grit and coat and block again if needed. I like it to be really close come time for primer.
I started scuffing the existing paint with 80 grit on the nose and passenger side. I hand sanded all the door jamb area. and crevasses in the pillars. I also did the interior cab area last week...lots of work. after the 80 I'll probably go down to 120-150 before the epoxy/filler primer.
The more I dig into this the more it seems doable. It is a ton of work but not impossible. its just a matter of finding blocks of time to do it.
Materials:
I'm going to go with SPI epoxy primer. I have experience with that and have had good results with my limited experience. I might also try their 2k primers which I haven't tried yet. I might seal that with reduced ex epoxy (i'm pretty sure their epoxy recommends doing this but I'll obviously check)
In terms of paint, I'm up in the air. The shop I used to buy PPG paint from has long since closed so I'm researching. I hear that PPG doesn't sell the "concept" line any more and that was what I used to use.
I know napa sells Martin Senor paint and I can order from TCPGlobal. They only sell the Deltron line in terms of PPG and I think he said only BC/CC. I want single stage. They also were touting their own "restoration shop" paint as an alternative to PPG Concept. I'm reading what people have to say about it. They quoted me $140/gallon for dove blue or silver white and $45/qt of activator. that seems pretty cheap so I have my doubts.... I dont' want to skimp on paint but if theres a good deal out there I'll give it a shot. I'm sure its a rebranded version of something else...gotta find out what.
One reason I want to go with PPG is I have a PPG recipe for dove blue that I like. The standard PPG code comes out way to Gray. I'm not sure if that recipe would carry over to different brands. would it?
I'm open to any ideas or suggestions. Its been a long time since I painted a car and could use any advice. thanks! _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 9:58 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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spent 2 hours today sanding down the engine lid. small progress. there was some dove blue hiding under there...and some old body work.
I'm noticing a bunch of layers of paint. theres a thin brown layer on the metal which i think is factory etch primer or something like it, then factory gray primer and then the dove blue. Then theres a slightly darker shade of blue on top of that which might be a respray? then there's a layer of white (primer I think) then orange, then a very very thin dark gray primer and then the blue flake paint on top of that.
On the inner cargo door someone painted "1973" in orange, but it looks like cheap rattle can paint and might be different than whats on the outside.
On the inside of the engine lid there were some compression numbers and mileage dated 1980-1981 and another from 1989.
_________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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Stephbong Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2010 Posts: 167 Location: Brussels
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 5:21 am Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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That's cool!
I can't help you but keep on good work! |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:40 pm Post subject: Re: '63 panel camper project |
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more sanding/scuffing. still have to do the other half of the roof, the front doors and the interior. doors might come down to bare metal.
spent a lot of time on the rain gutters, hit them all around with a wire wheel and then sandblasted a few bad spots. no rust through, thank goodness, just some minor pitting. it looked worse before attacking it.
_________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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crukab Samba Chef
Joined: December 13, 2002 Posts: 6115 Location: Vermont
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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edgood1 wrote: |
got some donor parts to convert the hacked panel to a kombi/standard window van:
I have a set of westfalia windows in awesome shape which I will use once this piece is sectioned in. |
Are you still planning on adding the Kombi window clip ??
Your work looks great, tough to carve out the time w/ little ones..... _________________ Tom
My Pops:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604100&highlight=
I know you will always be with me, rest in peace with no more pain. 8/13/14.....
In the yard right now:
'51 Dodge 5 window truck
'65 Bug
'66 Singlecab
'82 Rabbit Truck Diesel from CALI
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
'88 Dodge Ram pickup
'11 Jetta Wagon |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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crukab wrote: |
Are you still planning on adding the Kombi window clip ??
Your work looks great, tough to carve out the time w/ little ones..... |
I want to if I can find the time. Part of me wants to just get it into paint and reuse the cut-in windows (they need a lot of work). The other part of me wants to use the prestine westy windows I have and weld that clip in. I fear though, that If i weld in that clip I'm going to want to make it a 15 window.... and then if I get that far, i'll want to turn it into a 23 window. _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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