Well this is a new one for me - i normally restore old cars but my wife wanted a vw camper so here it is- Looking at it - it’s going to be a lot of work - but hoping it’s easier than restoring 1960 classics. Ok this will be a frank no frills blog on what where and how much i will spend. So far - camper - eBay £2551.00 - roll over jig (well I’m getting old and crawling under the thing will cripple me) £299.00 - yet to be delivered and i will let you know if its rubbish. Anyhow, here are the before pics for you to think I’m mad!!! Well last night was the start – ripping out the old smelly dirty rear interior. As it was mostly old ply and timber – I decided to have a fire at the same time. I have kept all the door cards, curtain tracks and other bits I can use as templates. It got a bit warm at times!!! Well after taking the floor out - there are holes galore - 1 by the sliding door and 2 at each side of the wheel arches - Also the rear bulk head has been cut out at some stage - silicone and re welded - why ? i have no idea - may there is a stash of cash behind - or most probable some one could not be botherd taking out the engine to do some work. Well after taking the floor out - there are few holes – not too bad, I think I can make sections up and weld them in (not patches) - 1 by the sliding door and 2 at each side of the wheel arches, probably this is where they all go? - Also the rear bulk head has been cut out at some stage - silicone and re welded - why? i have no idea - may there is a stash of cash behind - or most probably someone could not be bothered taking out the engine to do some work and hacked it up – more welding. Well the next stage is to carry on with the cab – before I get the whole thing dipped. See http://www.paint-strip.co.uk/ As I am in Preston – I think I will use them and see how it goes – my intention is to get the van stripped down and get the whole lot dipped first – bring back and cut up and weld all the panels in – then take it back and get the other process done. This is their sequence of works Stage 1 - Thermal clean - The controlled thermal process removed all paint and contamination eg underseal from components without any damage stress or warping. Stage 2 - Rinse - Components are rinsed with high pressure cold water to remove all traces of paint and contamination This is where I bring it back - weld and then take back too: Stage 3 - Derust - Parts are immersed in a mild de-rusting solution to remove all corrosion and oxidisation without damage. Stage 4 - Rinse = Hot water neutralising rinse - removing all traced of derust solution. Stage 5 - Coated = A high specification phosphate is applied to the surface which provides rust inhibition. Stage 6 - Dry - Parts are low baked to completely remove all moisture from inside cavities, sills etc. they have given me a price of £1200.00 but that was over the phone - lets see what it does cost? Got a lot done last night – burned the last of the interior and took the roof off!!! I should have got a mate round to help me take it off as it was a lot heavier than I imagined. Once I drilled out the pop rivet’s and un did the struts the thing flopped over to one side and was a struggle to get off and down –but I just managed it – wow it was heavy. The side curtain has holes in it and I think that the replacement will be a bit tricky. Got it started and drove it into the garage and proceeded to take out the windscreen   Rust and more rust Well found a bit more rust there!!! – looked like a repair section – more welding- wow this bus is a rot box- but looking forward to getting stuck into the welding – The rollover jig arrived – but I need to get the rest of the bus stripped down before putting it on the new jig . Nice!! Got the sliding door off (a few nuts that had to be drilled out)and the rear bumper off, the sliding door rain covers (they were well rusted in and had to be hammered up) and the driver’s door. Striped down the driver’s door – getting it to bits was a bit of a challenge- the window mechanism was a pain – and finding all the hidden screws holding in the ¼ light frame was fun!! – But got it to bits eventually - Took the engine bonnet off (in good condition!!) and the rear lights(crap condition). Well the side door need a new skin and a new inside bottom – the covers to the siding door need replacing – the battery tray and the other one on the other side need replacing – the drives door need a new skin and the inside bottoms making good. The only good thing is it’s a simple job taking it to bits compared to classic cars. But boy this is a rusty VW tried to save the aluminium window surround and failed – the pop rivets were easy, but at the bottom it is fixed buy spring clips that were tight in and as I gentley pried them out, the surround bent – so 2 new ones!! Next was the dash – easy apart from the 2 rusted window screws that need to be drilled out, only held in by 6 fixings and the screws on the dash top. - a 20 min job - The wiring loom looks to be in good order and I think I may be able to re-use it with a bit of tidying up – looks a bit of a mess - I took off the connections but I recon I can make it looks tidy when its back in – I hope the loom comes out easily and it’s not running down the inner sills. Dash is in good condition and I think only a clean-up – Found this on the internet for rust removal – never done it – it’s using molasses (cheap horse feed) and water 1 part molasses 10 water in wheelie bin – will have a go and let you know. See what you think! Remove Rust from Metal and Panels the Easy Way: Video 1 Took all the door handles off , headlining out - kept that may need for a template and the windows out. - Posted 7th August by Marc
Got back off holiday and started working in the cab. Un-tangled the wiring loom and took off all the extra connections that were on it from over the years for radios etc etc. Found an old Moss alarm – that went in the bin!! All in, all the loom looks good – but as I said before – I hope it comes out of the rear ok. Quite a simple strip down – all were 10mm and 13mm – the only thing I had to drill out was one of four screws holding down the accelerator mechanism. Found a new hole under the pedals but the main cab floor is in good order. Took out the loom for the upper cab light and the sliding door switch (all part of the same loom) - there is no way that these would be able to be put back in unless you put in a draw string (i used welding wire) - these will be hard to get in - buy i should have a chance.
Parts Lists & Costs So Far Have been shopping around for a huge parts list. I put the list on a n XL sheet and sent it off to a few companies to get the best price – the only ones to come back to me was Vw Heritage and Just Kampers both were good. Spoke to a chap called Alex at VW Heritage and he new his stuff - so i placed my order with them. The list was for everything I needed apart from trim and engine and gearbox - £4000.00 later!! So to update my costs Camper - £2500. Parts - £4000 Now the list below is my estimate so we will see how far off I am in the end - Engine £1200.00 - Not decided yet on what to do with it – do I upgrade the size or keep it standard ? any one got an upgraded engine - is it worth it? - what did you do to it? - Interior £2000.00 Paint £1500.00 – I will do the prep Chemical body strip and hot zinc plate £1200.00 – he gave me this price – Bits I have missed like tyres etc. etc. £800.00 Total bill £13200.00 – plus 6 months of working in that garage!!!Looking at the prices for the t2s I should be on the right side – but as they say – "it’s only worth what someone is prepared to pay" – I see loads of them on eBay asking £15k plus (for average ones) but they don’t sell. Posted 3 weeks ago by Marc Last night, a couple of my friends came round to help me take the engine out of the van and to get the engine in the Alpine. As most of you are aware there are only 4 bolts holding the engine onto the gearbox so it should have been an easy engine out. However unless you have hands the size of a small child with the reach of a Giraffe and your joints can articulate 360 degrees there is 1 bolt that is a total Bas***ard. The 2 bottom bolts are easy. The top RHS bolt (passenger’s side) was ok but a bit fiddly – these 3 are all undone from the front of the gearbox. But the other one, that is the driver’s side- top, has to be undone at the engine side- is something else. To start off – you have to contort your hand in, and once you have a spanner on it no probs – but as it comes loose, unless you pull the bolt out towards the engine the dam thing starts spinning - looking at some campers they have an engine bay lid – so I guess that if you have that you can go in from the top – I didn’t- so it was hand through the wheel arch, over the top of the rear suspension arm and through a hole. You need a torch as well – not easy – but it came off after 10 minutes of painful contorting. After that it was easy We also got the engine and box into the Sunbeam Alpine so a good night with a load of big stuff done Got it on the roll over jig - rust and more rust Got the van on the roll over jig – best £299 spent so far – bit hard work getting it up in the thing – but now I can easily roll the thing over to any position to get easy access to anything I need to weld – and boy is there a load of welding. Once turned over – I took the middle panel off under the main cargo floor and the two cross members are total US – but the floor is in great nick and only needs a bit of patching. The front chassis legs are US as you can see by the pics- where they split into 2 – have got a repair section for them, but I feel a lot of fab work will be needed. Took off the front beam – totally knackered – so have ordered a 2nd hand part from FBI – hope that will be good – but the chassis sections where the beam bolts onto is knackerd as well – no repair sections for that- so more fab work. Booked it in for chemical stripping this week so tonight I will finish off the under side stripping.
Well I eventually got everything off the camper – apart from the clutch pinion – I couldn’t get it off and so that will get dipped as well – both sills looking from the inside are completely rotten – the fools who welded up the camper before will have known this as it has had 2 new side under pans – these should be bolted on but they got welded on over the top of the old ones that had rusted up. However a bit of good news – the floor has been wax oiled and apart from a few holes at the edges of the floor and the entire small floor cross members are in good nick – Got it on my mates trailer today and off to the chemical strippers – will be done In 2 days – so then I have 4 weeks of welding (I hope not more!!) – It then goes back to be chemical dipped in a zinc protection (or something like that) and they will then electro paint the whole thing in primer ready for the body shop. So a few more days off cutting out rust when it comes back and then I am starting to put things back on for a change.
Picked it up today from the first phase from the stripers – Just a quick reminder It looks quite bad - it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stage 1 - Thermal clean - The controlled thermal process removed all paint and contamination e.g. underseal from components without any damage stress or warping. - Now Done Stage 2 - Rinse - Components are rinsed with high pressure cold water to remove all traces of paint and contamination- Done Then 4 weeks welding at home – hopefully. Stage 3 - Derust - Parts are immersed in a mild de-rusting solution to remove all corrosion and oxidisation without damage. Stage 4 - Rinse = Hot water neutralising rinse - removing all traced of derust solution. Stage 5 - Coated = A high specification phosphate is applied to the surface which provides rust inhibition. Stage 6 - Dry - Parts are low baked to completely remove all moisture from inside cavities, sills etc. Stage 7 - Protect - A neutralising water based seal is applied to prevent flash rusting and improving paint adhesion. Stage 8 – electro prime Then back to my place to fill and then off to the paint shop.
Got the camper back home and onto the roll over jig after the chemical stripping. Now I can see what I have to do – and boy is there a lot of welding. My sequence of work will be chassis sections and then to the sills and then to the body. That all looks like a long way off yet. I have started by cutting out the two rotten cross members, and jacking points out I have purchased low cost plasma cutter – 40 amps Chinese thing – £199.00 I must say this thing is fantastic – a lot cleaner and easier than a cutting disk – also you can get into small areas and cuts through 20 layers of patches!! It is apparent that the previous repair work as rubbish and that they had put patches over the top of rust – I seems a bit stupid as most of these parts are in expensive, and that to do the job correctly the first time would have only cost a bit more money – Anyhow after cutting out the two cress members and jacking points, I found out that the front I beam and the rear most I beam are a bit rusty – so I will replace them – also the Y section that takes the heat from the exchangers need a bit of work as well. Have a look at the pictures showing the old out riggers compared to the new one – what a difference.
The First Bit Of Welding Last night did a bit more chopping out including the front and rear rusty I beam. Also the front chassis leg where the front outrigger attaches had holes in it so more cutting, after getting back to good metal I made a section out of 2mm – and welded it up. Had a bit of a problem bending it in my bender but after heating it up managed to get the right angle? Anyhow took a before and after picture of the first bit of welding on the camper!!! My main concern is the front inner chassis section that holds the stering box on – its completely rusty –will see if I can get a full 2nd hand section at a reasonable cost , otherwise I will have to make it.
The I Beams & The Middle Chassis Sections The last 2 days were devoted to cutting out, and trying to get the chassis sections between the 2 axles sound and to get all the I beams in and welded. Well the rear one is a different shape in the middle so I kept the centre section and weld in on both sides the sections I got fabricated at my local metal shop – This section would have cost £25 plus delivery – but I took a section with me and they made it up and cost £10.00 eh – I would have made them, but my small bending machine will only do 500mm wide bits and it would have been too much strain on the bender with that gauge of steel in it. So to date I have got the front I beam in, and welded in place and the rear most the two side sections in and the 2nd from the back replaced as well. I have dry mounted the 2 centre cross members – but I am having difficulty in working out where the steel tubes go for the heater cables and the throttle cable – I do have picture taken but it all is like a puzzle. The other thing I need to do is weld the rear heat pipe that is a mess, as that will need to go in before the rear cross member – its pain the ass to get in and out and will be impossible to get in after. I am going to see if there are any 2nd had ones – but I guess if there is they will be £££.
Cross Section and Outriggers This weekend I started off cutting out and setting repair patches in the Y shaped heat duct as i am too tight to spend £40 to get a good second hand one. Well by the time I has finished doing it I may have well got it because it took a good 3 hours of cutting beating, moulding and welding – not my finest bit of fabrication work – but the repair is on the top so will never be seen – and any how all the holes are now patched. Next was to get the thing back in position – was not that bad- took a few minutes but after a good beating with a pieces of wood down the section it went in – and did not bend! Next was positioning the tubes that control the heaters – Then in goes the cross section – front – back and out riggers – Had a bit of a cock up on the first jacking point – punched holes in it and spot welded it in – but half was through the thing “pinged” – the heat stress on the section caused my week spot welds on the section to come adrift – so I had to re drill the section and give them a good long buzz- so I now have the correct time for doing a good weld for the rest of the sections.
I will look forward to this thread, you certainly have your work cut out, it's amazing how good it looked in the first photo before you found all the rust! Your fabrication work looks good. I think you need some karma to keep you going and for saving another rusty van! Cheers Ben
Hats off to you for saving another that manly would have not bothered with Looking forward to the finished bus
Last night I decided to get on with the front passengers side front chassis section from where the front beam bolts on- it is quite a mess – I had rung around to get a price for a second hand sections but they were asking £200 per side – or a deal for £300 for the pair – would have been easy but as I have the 2mm steel I figured that I may as well cut out and repair for £10 of steel and 12 hours of my time. I was told that under no circumstances cut out the holding bolts for the beam because if I get then out by a mm or so it will cause alignment problems – so with that in mind I cut out the rotten sections – Made up some 2mm bits and welded them in , started at 6.30 and finished at 10.30. Still more to do as you can see (got the hard bit out of the way) there is work to do on the bottom rail and looking at other sections on the web there is a fish plate to go over the Y section. When grinding down the welds I could not get into the tight areas with my grinder so i remembered a few years ago I got a Tungsten Carbide Rotary grinding bit for my Sipp air drill and this thing rips through welds and you can get into all the areas – not cheap – but they last for ages- and it makes the job neater.
great resto mate, that chemical stripping looks the buisness. I use those rotary carbide bits too....they are good looks like you got loads of work to do but all the skills you need looking forward to following your progress K+
Passenger Side Chassis Leg Part 2 Well it was time to finish off that last section – again cut out the rotten bits and made up sections and seam welded in place. Looking at some pictures on the web site a few campers have a fish plate covering the bottom of the Y section – but looking at mine on the top it just has a straight section welded to it – so I mirrored it on the bottom rail. After doing the passenger’s side I started on the driver’s side chassis rail – now that is rusty with a capital R Cut out the first section – but I could not get my head around how I was going to make the bits – as I don’t want to cut the whole lot out simply because I want to get them exactly back in place. So at 10.30 I packed up. So dreaming in bed (it’s getting quite sad now that I dream about welding ) on how I will do the repair sections, and came up with the following- I have purchased 2 chassis repair sections – but did not need to use 1 of them, also I purchased an inner chassis leg repair section from Just Kampers (but it’s no good as it is a straight section and does not have the bend in it as the original) – so with all these sections I will fabricate whole new sections. Well that’s the idea – we will see if goes well-
