I recently managed to get a 1978 Kombi and just wanted to put a thread up on the work that will be ongoing with it. I'm no stranger to hardship, like most classic owners that let their heart rule their head. My last peoject was with a rustbucket of a fastback, that had plenty of this stuff, But managed to get to here after a lot of hardship and elbow grease. So now I will be working, and asking lots of questions on this new addition.
What a great project. Looking at the small round white reflectors on the front and the left side sliding door, I’m going to guess it was a South African import ? Stirlingmoz
I haven't found anything on it at the moment thats going to phase me, but one of the trickier jobs will be taking out a roof ding.....carefully. Luckily there are no creases in it. So all advice welcomed.
Push it out, what could wrong? Seriously though, I have no idea, it looks pretty stretched over an inside support.
Its actually not that deep a ding, the water makes it look worse. I could remove the headlining and ease it out, but I was hoping to do the engine first before any body work. I know I could use some body dent pullers. But the OG metal is a lot stronger than the repro metal crap available now.
Hey presto. one well placed blow with my fist, and it popped up nicely. Just have to repeat the violence on the rear left hand corner. Its not too bad now at all.
Good luck with the restoration Tim! Those Kaiser Chiefs stickers need swapping out for Thin Lizzy and you'll be reet
I read on the advice thread for things to look out for in a bay window is the engine bay. If you can see the ground around it, then some tin is missing. Well i must concur, as the ground is plainly in sight
My crewcab was from South Africa and I think it had worked hard for a living. I don’t think anything was done that wasn’t absolutely necessary to keep it mobile. I had to go right through it from top to bottom to make it safe for the UK and even though exempt, I put through an MoT just for reassurance. Deffo worth it in the end. Stirlingmoz
I couldn't agree more. I only trust 1 person to do all my mechanics on any of my vehicles. And thats me. I dont listen to any fluffing if I buy a classic. I start on the mechanics first, front to back. I've been lucky enough to work on vw/s since I was a young teenager, thanks to my dad who owned and worked on them since the early 50/s in england.
I have a couple of interesting " get me out of dodge quick fixes" on my kombi too from south africa. Most interesting is the key jb welded to the ignition to assist with the steering lock mechanism.
Closely followed by the addition of an aircraft flick switch to by pass the ignition.....that does nothing. And the cut leads in the engine bay, along with the hidden coil and electrics that the po seems to have overlooked.
