Arthur - So called because he was HALFA bus when i got him :-)

I see the forum has had probs, so here's my rebuilt thread!!!

Here's our bay project, we've had her now for a month or two, and to be honest, not alots happened......

Its currently on a Q plate, but i have not got a VW birth certificate, and will be popping into the DVLA office to sort out an age related plate asap.....

Its a 1976 Model year, built Sept '75, and has its orignal 1600 Twin port air cooled engine, though not for long, as it's gonna end up a 1776 or larger probably, though i do have a spare 1641 i might bung in it for a while until i build this one up properly.....

It was ordered for the military so i was told, and was ordered from VW with no nose badge, and painted in mouse grey. Interior was brown vinyl, and is a LHD netherlands spec. It also has a very very rare VW side loading door, hence the hole behind the nearside front door.....this was a rare option from wolfsberg apparnetly, though i have no idea what for.....

I've started aquiring new panels for it, and stripped the engine, to find out why it was half dismantled......

Anyhoo...here's some pics.....













engine case when i'd first split it....


and now engine parts all steam cleaned, and ready for inspection and re assemble....(i too have an air cooled rear engined mk3 )


My letter from wolfsberg, and the campers Birth certificate

 

some more pics now she's in the workshop and all cleaned out

 

i've managed to get a bit of work done on this now, i have welded up the holes in the engine bay, repaired them all properly, and have even fixed the rear light aperture problems, due to me sourcing a coulple of half decent cuts from a bay that was being broken








Since then i have had a day removing all traces of the original front arches and steps, and started fitting the new Genuine VW ones, and aligning them, they are currently held on with self tapper screws, until i get chance to final fit them and plug weld them....thsi is a big step in the bus resto, and once this is done, sills can be tackled, and lower front panel can be fitted, and the ball will start rolling very quickly







And we toot a trip to Vanfest in september, to get everything else we needed, ha d agood chat with alan schofield, and came away with a huge stack or parts at mega discounted prices then i met up with a lad there who was bringing me a side panel cut from a bay, so collected this, and had to carry it from the other side of the showground, back to the car - typical lol....

Then wedged it all in, and trecked home in the Mk5 golf Van....





Finally, i have a slot in the workshop for 10 days at the end of the month, so im having the 10 days doing this solidly, so all going well, it'll be welded up, all in one piece, and even have some filler on it, and getting to primer stages..though that may be puching it a bit, as i'll be doing it all on my own!!!

Watch this space.....

 

progress report!!!

been at it today

















Got inner sill fitted, repaired inner under floor top hats, mocked up and fitted middle sill and sliding door track - the sliding door is now fitted, for the first time in 9 years!!!!!

The rear arch is cut off, and new panel nearly ready to go back on, inner arch closing panels fitted!! a good day i think

 

found some rust on the inner arch lip

so i sut it out, and amde a new bit to go in

then welded and ground it up


then set about repairing the inner front wheel arch, next to be post, and got that all welded up, and repaired, then fitted a new lower b post outer section....



Also, i fitted a new section where the seatbelt bolts to in the front, under the door, as it was corroded and rusty....



Then set about welding the new rear arch back on, after painting the inside of the arch, and the inner bits fo the van with zinc rich paint, to stop any corrosion in the future hopefully!!
this is how the bus looks now!


Al thats left this side now, is outrigger and jacking point, which is all cleaned up and ready to go on, and front arch, again which is ready to fit fingers crossed these will be done tomorrow afternoon, if i get my little carpentry job done in the morning, and get chance to get back down the workshop

 

Interior Bulkhead removed, ready for camping interior and "walk thru"

O/S Front arch and step now welded in place.


O/S Battery tray and infil panel welded in place

N/S Front outrigger and jacking point welded in place


N/S Lower side panle cut away so i can get to inner floor sections to remove the rest of the existing inner and middle sills, and clean up top hats ready fro the new ones.

New N/S Inner sill test fitted


New Middle Sill strengthener ffitted, and welded into place....


N/S B Post inners fabricated, then new outer fitted.


N/S Front Arch and step welded into place.

N/S Side panel, removed folded edges, and cut new infil panel to fit, and got ready for welding in....

 

right then, good day today on the bus......]

Side panel fabricated, and welded in place, and support ribs welded up, and completed. I also had to fabricate a lower side panel repair, as you have to cut the bottom off the side panel to do the sills. this was a right pain in the ass to make, but worth doing properly i thought.










Im quite chuffed with how it went, and how straight, and strong the side is afterwards......




Also welded in a new rear arch, and repaired the inner whilst it was off.....




Then i welded up the sliding door side outer sill.....


and re hung to doors, and slider again.....its almost there!!!!!!!





Just rear corners, and lower rear panel to sort tomorrow, and a few other little bits, and she's there.......WHAT A WEEK!!!!!

 

its been a bit cold of late, and there's no room in the workshop for me to keep him, so he's been sat outside for a while now with the cover on, getting all snowed on, and cold.....

so i started in the garage today......

rebuilt the new RHD clocks, took them apart, washed, cleaned, and rebuilt everything,

Before

After

Then i cleaned the skanky sun visors to see how they came up....
before

after


then i got all the engine apart, and layed out, so i can assess everything, and work out what i need to order. :scratch:

 

Hi Hi! Im back again......



A small update......



I am gonna have 3 weeks off work in a couple of weeks (prob start of feb) to get the welding finished, and the bodywork done and get her painted.



I bought myself some seats for it from the wonderfull auction site we all know and love, and collected them on saturday, followed by stopping of at my mates (who breaks campers and beetle's) to get a load more parts....





Got a new fuel tank, front bumper, some missing tinwear, heat exchangers, heater y piece, and a few other little bits.....



Oh, and i manage to find a cheap 1641, with Weber carb, ally rocker covers, 009 distributer, and a few other shiny bits the other day, so collected that thsi evening......

 

right then, another update.......i got bored last night, so went outside to strip tin wear off the new engine, to clean, and start painting, and checking stuff......then got carried away, lol.....




Took heads off just to check condition of bores, and check heads arent cracked. Turns outt he engine is in very good condition, and is (as i was told) hardly used, there are still hone marks up every bore :ex:

Anyway, i have ordered everything to put her back together again and it should be here tomorrow....., and hopefully have her running on the garage floor with my new "bench testing rig" which is coming along nicely.

I'll put some pics up when its all done

the new RHD chassis leg is cleaned up, and fitted......looks like it was meant to be there im really chuffed with how it went.

Here's some pics of the chassis leg and cross member fitted up....






Had another hour on it tonight too.....

Servo bracket is moved over to the right hand side ready for re fitting.....

Also moved over the steering damper bracket, which needs to swap sides, so thats done....

And i managed to unstitch the clutch calbe, and accelerator cable conduit from the others, and from the floor, and slide them out the back, so i can re insert them where i need them down the right hand side - was a right bitch of a job, but one worth takin my time over.....im chuffed it went well.

Next up - check my mates RHD one and see where the conduits go, and then tack them back into place.... and clean, seal, and prime the underneath

 

Here's the chassis leg fitted as of last thing the other night....


then i got busy with the wire wheel on the grinder, a wire brush, and some 80 grit, removing any loose bits, and flakey bits of underseal, ready for some zinc rich primer.






then i whacked some primer on him


I had to remove the air heater duct bit from the front floor section as it was poking out the wrong way, and turn it around the right way for the RHD setup.....



Then i cleaned up, and welded up all the holes from the steering column on the LHD side, and welded all pedal holes etc....then ground up, and zinc primed...



Then cleaned up, and welded the little access panel back in that i had to remove from the RHD side, so i could weld the top of the chassis leg, also whilst i was there, i marked, and cut out the hole for the steering column.....this all got cleaned up, and that half of the floor primed too.....





Also, had to weld in a little 10mm nut on the inside of the front panel heater vents, so the bolt for the steering column support bracket could bolt in......


But here's the best piccy - A RHD BAY!!!!!!!

 

I've been on it again this evening, cleaned, wire brushed and prepped the cargo floor, and primed her all up. Also got a porsche seat in, just so i can start working out where its all gonna go etc.....pics are here......



Side cover trim J sections spot welded in from inside......



Complete full width bulkhead removed, and this is what im left with.....not quite wide enough for a seat....




Porsche seat roughly in place......the one pic with the bar poking up to the seat is to see if its aligned with the steering box......the box section is sat over the column connection on the box, and i think is aligned really well with the seat facing it perfectly.....



And finally my cargo floor, all wire brushed, rust treated, blown off, and primed......looks much tidier now

 

i've been busy again today......finally some pictorial progress...

Got the seats up front sat on a frame, so i could make sure all was level, and correct....


Then i measured, measured, and measured some more, and came up with these.....

They were a right pain in the arse to get right, as the seats are angled towards the centre of the van, and the floor slopes from high to low towards the cargo area from the cab.....was a proper headscratch moments getting them right.....
Still, i fitted them, and tacked them into place, and put the seats on to see how they sat....- Here's me being all happy

Then i got on the blower, and ordered a couple of sheets of new flat steel, ready for the tops.......and here's one all made up, fab'd and welded into place...


Then the other side fab'd, and welded.....


Ground everything up nice and clean, and sat the seats on to see what they sit like.....


Then, as it was late, and i'd had enough, i went home......

I'll get the backs all filled in tomorrow, the sides of the frames will have ply / MDF fronts, and have little doors on the side, so i can stash the spares selection for the engine, and first aid kit etc.....

 

right then, another sheet of steel ordered, and finally the seat bases are done, apart from the wooden side panel What ya think peeps?

Im well chuffed with them, think they look really good, and will look good when sealed, and carpetted, you'd never know they werent always like it


[imghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Rixy666/040220111525.jpg

 

I've been at it again the last couple of days.....made an executive decision yesterday to bare metal the complete outside of the bus, and all the door shuts, and panel lines, so i know exactly what is on the bus when its done. Also, it uncovers every little spot of rust, that isnt obvious without bare metalling, also the roof had lots and lots of microblisters on it, which seemed to be under the original VW primer, so it all had to come off anyway.

So far i've spent £40.00 on some D.A discs, 4 x Knotted wire wheels, and a big tin of Nitromors.......not bad for a bare metal job, would have cost far more to get it blasted / stripped professionally....
But its about there, only took me 2 days worked my ass off, a bloomin horrible job, but looks much much better for it, and in future everything will be an easier job than stripping that old bugger off, lol!

Here's some pics.

The pedal assembly

and front seat mounts all primed up......


And the paint stripping job......

 

some more pics......




Everything original vw was bare metla'd, then on went the etch primer




Then a sart on the filler work.....




Then I Stripped the doors and opening panels...



More filler work






Then i decided i was gonna knock myself up a cab bunk, for putting things / small people to sleep in......




Then i spray filled the complete van sides and front, everywhere where there had been lots of filler work, this is to smooth the surface, and fill any pin holes etc......





This was then guide coated and blocked down again the next day, to leave a surface ready for primer......So i cracked out the antichip gun, and antichip'd the lower parts of the van, and sills, rear corners etc......so its dry and ready for primer....





Then yesterday morning, i went into work to prime the bad boy up

 

right then, after he was primed, the bus was guide coated, and flatted all over....




then the interior was painted in the "top" colour



then the top of the van was flatted all over after guide coat, and was masked ready for painting....





then the bottom was masked up the next day, then flatted and painted in the final colour....






then here's how he looked after paint was done.....





and then was taken back to my mates, so i can start the massive rebuild.....










and a quick shot of the engine as its nearly built.....



brand new bosch starter

 

I'll upload some more progress pics and what not tomorrow night

 

great to see your thread re posted K+

is it on the road now??

 

cheers for the karma always appreciated

Nah, he's still not on the road yet, however it wont be long. just need to sort my engine out still, havent got round to setting it up properly, and am having carb problems to be honest, think im gonnna chuck the weber 32/36 away and get a solex pict carb or a pair of twins maybe??

I have however completed all the wiring now, and loomed it all up, and re fitted the fuel tank, along with fitting the rest of the brake pipes and bleeding them up, i finally have brakes and a good brake pedal....



Oh, and my awesome seats are back from the trimmer what ya think......

from this........


to this......


and fitted.......




Im hoping to have everything else nauiled into place this week maybe, and then get the engine sorted in 2 weeks when i get back from cornwall (i was supposed to be going there in the bay, now going in a golf instead.... )