The journey of a new 1970 Westfalia owner. The fixes begin.

[wcfvw69]

It's funny how we have these goals and aspirations as we go to the garage. I was hoping to get more done today than I accomplished. I was able to install the sound deadener in the fuel tank compartment.

The paint inside that compartment was perfect. It just needed to be wiped down with hot soap and water before applying the deadener. I then slipped the fuel tank back into the compartment. I'd changed the rubber vent lines pieces a couple of years ago. I didn't like how they looked. So (time killer) I ran to NAPA and they had the 9.5mm large rubber hose and the smaller piece of hose but it was just a bit tight. I soaked it in HOT water, lubed it up and it slide on. Both hose material is the highly rated new fuel hose. It will probably out last the bus..

The tank compartment cover looked less than good enough to put into a freshly painted engine compartment. I stared at it on the bench. I had NO desire to re-paint it. It had grease and undercoating on it. I was able to get that all off and then used a light rubbing compound to make it a bit shinny.

I'm happy with how it turned out. I also replaced all the screws and washers that mount it to the body.

The rear apron continued to torment me. It's not easy to body work the top portion as its so floppy. I really should've made a support to firm it up while working it. Overall, I got it pretty straight. Its got a coat of urethane primer, then it was blocked and then some additional dings where filled, followed by another coat of primer.

I'll final sand the back of the engine lid and apron in the am. The back corner of the bus has been final sanded to 600. I'll spray it tomorrow and hopefully the lid and apron as well.
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[wcfvw69]

I was able to get most of the parts painted today. I just need to paint a small outer section of the apron blue to match the rest of the outside of the bus. The underside of the apron had no paint left on it. Just surface rust that was super fun to remove. I sprayed a few coats of paint to thoroughly cover the underside.

I was also able to spray the rear tub/quarter as well. I'm happy with how it turned out since it was so screwed up when I removed the pound of bondo. I was able to massage and shrink the dents out and it only required a skim of filler. I just hope when I remove the paper that the paint color match is close. I have no idea what the color of this blue is. I took the gas flap off and took it to the paint store. I looked at a ton of color cards to find what I believe is a match.

I stuck the engine back in as well. I was happy it didn't fight me to much. I removed a bunch of those flaps connectors and replaced them w/the barrel connectors. It just looks so much better w/the right ones on it.

I made up a new choke and solenoid jumper to replace this one. The only bummer is the RR running light isn't working. It's got no power to it. There's no blown fuse so it might be the light switch. The LR running light works though. I'll figure it out later..
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
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**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
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[Vee Dub Nut]

Its looking really good.

I'm wanting to get my engine bay resprayed sometime in the near future too.
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[khalimadeath]

Looks great, You will likely have to use a good compound and wax with a buffer to blend the lines on the paint, assuming the color is close there will still be a "seam" of paint in between them. Your gonna have to massage the paint on that "seam".

[airschooled]

[wcfvw69]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

The color match was actually pretty decent. I taped it at the caulk seam between the rear corner tub and the quarter panel. I'm happy with it. This bus was painted when the previous owner had it. They did some (bad) body work and sprayed it this blue and white. My plan is to repaint it the original color in the near future. Overall, it looks great from 5-10 feet. lol

I was able to finish off this "quick" repair that took a month to complete. I sprayed the blue on the lower apron early this am. It dried enough for me to mount it up 4 hours later. I fought with mounting the rear engine lid. I finally realized I needed to remove the hinges from the bus body first. Then mount the hinges to the engine lid with the seals first. You then mount the lid with the hinges screwed to it, to the body.

So, here are the before and after shots-

What it looked like when I bought it.

I'm SSSOOO glad to be done with this repair and repaint of the engine compartment.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
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**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
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[busdaddy]

That looks great Bill, got a pulley tin to finish it off?
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[khalimadeath]

Nice job.. Whats that thing on the left of the motor (drivers side) with the hoses running to it. I had one in mine and I had one but took it out since nothing was running to it.

[wcfvw69]

[wcfvw69]

[eche_bus]

That's sure a striking difference between the before and after shots! Nice work! Sure has come a long ways, with excellent results!

[airschooled]

Yeeesssssss looking good! When I stop through Arizona later this year, you can help me smooth out the divots in my apron, right?

The air cleaner is boxed up and sitting in the trunk of my car in storage. I'll make sure to send it on Monday. I'll look for a spare pulley cover tin in the meantime. There's a 50% chance Brian inherited one from me, but if he didn't I'll send it with the air cleaner.

What's next on the agenda? Reorienting the dual port boot clamps so the screw heads are on the bottom and not chafing the plug wires? Ooh ooh ooh, have you painted your dashboard? I did that one today. Very fun. Not very easy.

Robbie
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[richparker]

^I was just beginning to like your pictures with the white dash in the window reflection.
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[wcfvw69]

[wcfvw69]

[airschooled]

Hmm. Perhaps we'll have to go "the way of the heater hose clamps" on this one. Having had a spark plug wire chafe through and short out on an extended mountain drive, I always put the screw clamp portions on the bottom, correctness be damned. That was my first trip without a tool box, too…

Overly-long condenser wires and white dashboards are both punishable by forty lashings and EMPI chrome accessories.

Robbie
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[wcfvw69]

I needed to finish off a few things from the engine compartment repaint and battery tray repairs.

The underside of the drivers side battery tray had surface rust where the dealer undercoat fell off. It also had a good layer of rust in the back corner under the tray where the rear wheel spray had sand blasted the paint off over the years.

I knocked all the loose undercoating off. Under the good undercoating, the paint was like brand new. I then used Navel Jelly and applied it to the rust after sanding off the loose stuff. It took a few coats and scrubbings for the Jelly to remove the rust.

Once everything was rust free, I cleaned and neutralized the acid and then wiped down everything with a prep cleaner. I applied 2 coats of Zero Rust. It's a rust preventer/encapsulator. This was followed by a few coats of undercoating. If it starts rusting again, anytime soon; it deserves too! lol

I then moved over to the underside of the passenger side battery tray. I had to gently grind down the back sides of the spot welds and tray patch so I didn't damage the paint. I should of done this BEFORE I painted the tray inside the engine compartment. I followed this with removing all the old undercoating from the tray. Most of the undercoating came off w/out much off a fight using a plastic scrapper. Like the other side, where the undercoating came off and where the rear wheel debris removed the paint, it was covered in surface rust. I used a small air grinder and discs to remove as much of the surface rust as I could. I then switched to 220 grit paper to hand sand and remove as much of the remaining surface rust as I could. I followed this up with multiple coats of Naval Jelly to remove the rest of the rust. The jelly works but you have to be patient and scrub it into the rust after about 10 minutes. Then wipe it off and apply another coat. Keep repeating this until the rust is gone.

Looking at this area, the surface rust looked pretty harmless. After sanding and using chemicals to remove it, it wasn't harmless at all. It was starting to really engrain itself into the metal. I got it all off probably as it was really starting to dig in. In some spots, there's pitting but not too deep. I need to look over the rest of the underside of the bus. I don't think there's anything as bad as these rear corners were.

This is before the Naval Jelley.

This is after. It really does a nice job of removing the rust though sand blasting it would be a hell of a lot faster. I then coated it w/2 coats of Zero Rust and will undercoat it tomorrow.

This is a previous picture of where I installed sound deadener in the fuel tank compartment. When the engine was out, I tried a few different things to remove the glue and tar board remains on the engine compartment ceiling. Several solvents were tried during the cleaning and repainting of the engine compartment and all were slow and made a big mess. I figured I'd revisit getting that off down the road. I wanted to install the deadener on the ceiling but it wouldn't stick very effectively to the remnants of the tar board and adhesive

Well, after driving the bus w/the sound deadener installed in the fuel bay and finding at least a 15% engine noise reduction in the cab, I figured I needed to find a way to get the sound deadener on the engine compartment ceiling too! I was really shocked at the noticeable reduction in noise. This stock engine/muffler bus is really quiet idling at 850. I have to listen for the engine now at stop lights with the windows down. On the freeway, it was also considerably quieter as well. I'm hopeful that adding it to the ceiling of the engine compartment, under the tar boards will quiet it down even further.

So, trawling through old threads on undercoating removal, someone mentioned Easy Off oven cleaner. I thought to myself "no way".. Acetone and paint thinner didn't do much and were SLOW. So, I decided to try the oven cleaner. What's left on the ceiling are remnants of the tar boards and the adhesive the factory used to glue them up there. Well... the oven cleaner worked very nicely. I covered up the engine compartment and engine. It's very messy and don't spray the oven cleaner on paint you don't want damaged. It quickly softened up the tar and adhesive. I was able to use a scotch brite pad and remove it all. In one spot, I left the over cleaner on a bit long and it ate through the paint as well. So, I got it all removed from the easiest front location. Now, I need to remove the rest from above the engine. Lots of reaching and bending! I wished I'd done this with the engine out before painting the compartment!

I'm going to have to really cover the engine up and tape off the rest of the bay to keep the over cleaner overspray from damaging any paint. Hopefully a further reduction in engine noise in the cab will make the work worth it.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

I finally wrapped up the engine compartment refresh along with repairing the drivers side rear corner. I also removed the rust from the bottom of the battery pans and rear tubs, painted it and then undercoated it all.

Cleaning the old tar board and adhesive off the engine bay ceiling would have been SSSSOOOO much easier had I done it w/the engine out. Reaching in and over the engine to spray Easy Off oven cleaner and then having to scrub it off was tedious and a crappy job.. I had to cover up the engine and all the fresh paint to insure the oven cleaner didn't get on it. I found that if you sprayed the cleaner on it, let it sit for 20 minutes and then use a scotch brite pad to scrub and remove the tar and glue. A second coat was required all over the ceiling. Again, I let it sit for 20 minutes then scrubbed. This removed 95% of it all. I then got a bucket of hot soapy water to remove all the oven cleaner that was anywhere in the compartment ceiling. Had I left any on there, it would of continued to eat the paint.

I covered this little panel with the sound dampener. I had soaked the original warped tar board in water and then covered it with weights to get it flat again. I applied the really good 3M contact cement on the sound deadener foil and tar board and glued it up. I then bent the tabs back over it. I did the same above the battery in that small cubby.

I then applied the dampener to the rest of the ceiling above the engine.

So, then the road test to see if all the tedious work was worth it. Again, just applying the sound deadener in the fuel compartment made a HUGE difference in noise reduction in the cab. I drove around for a few blocks. The bus was not running too well suddenly and idling higher? I thought WTH? I then remembered I had un-hooked the green retard vacuum hose from the carb when I taped the engine up. Duh.. I pulled over, reconnected the hose and all was well.

Overall, I'd say installing this sound dampener reduced the engine noise in the cab at least 20%. I'm VERY happy with the results. I was sitting at a light with my blinkers on to turn right. I'd never noticed the flasher noise before. The damn flasher is loud! At cruise doing 45 MPH, I can't hear the engine. I may have to reconsider installing gauges..

So glad to have that behind me.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

My shifter was not being as nice as I'd liked in smoothly transitioning from gear to gear. It was discussed in this thread.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=656665&highlight=

While I had the rubber matt out, I figured no time like the present to fix the accelerator pedal and rust on the floor. Luckily, this is really the only rust inside the bus. I had the furniture out and the rear is rust free thank goodness.

The pedal was a squealer like this guy in that move.

It required frequent band-aid applications of PB blaster to keep it from hollering. After removing it, it was apparent as to why.

Here's the offending rust on the floor that's so common in these bays. I used a small air die grinder with those little 40 grit discs to remove as much of the rust as I could. I followed that up and used a wire wheel on a drill. This was followed by several coats of Naval Jelly to eat/melt the remaining rust and neutralize it.

I used the blast cabinet to remove the rust from the shifter base and petal.

It quickly removed the rust and paint.

I mixed up some U-pol urethane primer and sprayed the floor, shifter parts and pedal. I need to do some wet sanding then paint everything.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[khalimadeath]

Nice work as usual. I envy your engine bay and hope to give you a run for your money by the end of the year

How do you plan on fixing up the slop in your shifter? I replaced my coupler with a EMPI polyurethane one (slightly modified) and that helped a lot but its still pretty damn sloppy. I have a bushing kit from bus depot I have yet to install, maybe thats the missing link.