1976 Panel Van Conversion - complete resto

I was getting tired of looking at the rust under the fuel tank and rear chassis sections.

Used some 8x4 ply boards and old bed sheets to make a sandblasting shield (It worked for maybe 90% of the stuff)



After the first session of blasting , some heavy rust patches need more focus.



After blasting and a rub down it was two coast of Por 15 (I bought this ages ago so decided to use it) I would have used epoxy mastic if buying again - less fickle for those of use without the fine detailed touch!



The picture above sucks but they all did the light was hard to get right por15 is very shinny at first! I hope it sticks

 

Over the weekend I re-blasted the middle chassis rails and top hats to apply por15. The worst bit was trying to remember which bit has received both coats. I started a section followed it to the end then move to the section right beside it and moved on this this then moved inside the van to get the backs. Lastly I done all the cable conduits.



One mistake was not doing a full clean up before painting - shot blast media gets everywhere.

Unfortunately some fell from a crevice onto he por15 and settled so I have a small section of rough paint. Thankfully its on the chassis. lesson learned before I attempt any body painting!

 

Got most of the welding on the right hand side finished.

 

Two corners done



The out valance still needs welding in and some joining up of the engine bay wings (you know what I mean the bits at the side) to the inner valance.

Random photo of dust on he recently cleaned roof after blasting

 

About half way down page 5 I described a method for making the rear torsion beam strengtheners.

Well I finally got round to making them up to finishs the rear torsion beams - they worked great.

After cutting out the shape I held them in a vice and put a bend in every1half inch. Take out a half inch on the long side and slightly less on the short side through the vice and give it a whack with a club hammer repeat. you end up with a perfect shape to finish off the torsion bars.

The light is pretty bad in ths pic but you get the general view.


On the side below I only replaced to bottom strengthener as the top was rust free - slight mismatch but a good weld finished it off well.

 

I have been sandblasting in sections - its means more cleaning up in the long run but keeps the work load manageable without boredom setting in.

To date i have the chassis blasted and po15 on up to the B-post.






I wanted to get the chassis treated before the floor went in and decided to paint the whole thing then use the blaster to clean off only the hole directly below the old drill hole for a plug weld to reduce any gaps for rust to creep in. The floor was set in for blasting and each drill hole got a blast.

 

My sandblasting den with the floor coming up real nice and clean



Two repairs were required

The first below what would be the fridge so no surprises there.


the second at the rear c-post base where the gas vent would be.. is it a coincidence the two locations with holes are the two which had rust


I also had to rejoin the floor to side panel strengthener - below was for the sliding door side

 

Before painting I wanted to get all the welding done to the rear interior so seat belt mounts got welded in or drilled out. Didnt take many pics so only got these two crappies below from the rear wheel arch.



Also put in an engine inspection hatch



It went well and pretty happy with the result! this cut leaves me with a section for @Twe-d which I forgot to bring to Belfast sorry dude next week promise!

 

Right on to the blasting

Shinny floor! but crappy glue on the wheel tub and sloppy bit it like a trampoline for the blasting so it was a cup wire brush on a grinder first.




Getting there!


That's better!



I also used the blaster to key the old paint and any Bonda primer I had on.


Started with the newpaper



And getting ready to rock with a new toy! Devilbiss startingline slg60 1.8



The results

 

Looking really well mate

No worries, see you then.

 

The drivers seat base/tub was rotten so a body cut was needed which also had some rust at the seal belt mount which meant a two part repair.

Out with the old.


Sizing up the body cut - I like to keep some overlap then cut through both to ensure the match is close.

 

Looks like it is coming on nicely. I was in the same boat, no real knowledge, an inane grin and a blind faith it would all work out with a bit of luck.

Now it is coming on nicely and pretty much every challenge can be met with a piece of metal, a grinder, a compressor with a couple of tools and a MIG.

I've held off on the final blasting, but I think you have a good point. I'm going to be very bored when it is all done.

 

Finished blasting the chassis and painting with por15 semi gloss

 

With the guts of the welding finished I wanted to get the bus ready for a long winter in the shed but still wanted to be able to do some body work with filler.
Decided to strip to bare metal then epoxy mastic primer. Being non-porous no water will get to the metal and it can be filled over after keying with some 360 grit sandpaper. I can then work away with filler here and there over winter.




Poly disks are great but soft on edges. All edges and tight spaces were sand blasted. I also used the sand blasted and give the bare metal panels a blast from a distance to provided a keyed surface for the epoxy mastic to catch and hold on to. Hopefully this will keep rust at bay and held prevent any bubbling of the paint for many few years!


Red epoxy mastic 421 sprayed on, you can see the distortion on the side panel..this will be fun to get flat!

 

I decided to put in a swivel seat. I know many would advise against it due to strength issues. So I knew at least I would need to add a small rectangle of steel to give some strength but I never liked the full cut out look.

On the samba I seen some pics of apparently original vw splittys made with swivel seats and a reduced bulk head ( apparently 200 where made). I decided to mimic this design.


No to let the pics do the talking. £103 from ebay



I cut straight down about 5 inches in as i wanted to cut between the indentations on the bulkhead an d make it easier to weld again. You can see the pen mark at the base where I decided to do a straight cut giving a small shelf under the seat.




No going back now, well actually you could but ..




I wanted the bulkhead down bar to sit on the seat-belt mounting plate its also a nice flat part of the base.



Bar welded in.

 

Some more pics with the swivel seat in place.







Playing with some trim on the edge, its from the bpost - but just to give me and indication if I wanted to keep the lip.

 

Nice touch, it's along the lines of 'what would VW do?'

 

Are you sure you've done the right thing? That seat looks a little hemmed in to me.

 

When fully locked in the seat base is close to the bulkhead. at the top there are about two inches of seat behind/pushed against the panel. I did size it all up and gave it some thought before any welding or cutting. I decided I was happy enough with the position.

My thinking was the seat does not need locked in backwards only forwards and at a slight angle there is no issue with the bulkhead getting in your way.

 

Hi, Just reading through your build thread and wondering did you ever get it finished?