Paul's 1977 resto project.

Hi all,

I thought it was about time I finally got round to starting a Resto thread. Please feel free to add any comments or tips along the way. This is my first proper vehicle restoration and is a big learning curve. My previous experience is really with Race bikes and messing with cars in my youth
The bus is a 1977 Kombi. ( not sure of any specific model details as cant find M code plate) but suspect it was a german disaster wagen..

I bought this van in 2008 with Tax and MOT as I was looking for a 'rolling project'. It was imported from Germany by the PO. The van was pretty rock solid underneath the engine sounded sweet with no smoke etc... there was some bubbling coming from under the 'Hand painted' bodywork.

Here it is on Minster beach:



The bus was used almost daily as it was just more fun than the car and to my surprise Passed its MOT with no advisories... but after time the bubbles under the dodgy paint got worse so I decided it was time to start on the repairs..

It is more of a case of bad previous repairs than rot:







as you can see, attention was needed but not too serious.


First job was to chop out filler and remove the bad repairs to sill, to remove front arch outer skin and Repair B post:

I cut the arch out in stages so not to cut too much out but forgot to photograph it all cut out :-[ .

B-post repair

After cutting out some rot and little fabrication to inner arch, the outer is welded in




Next was to remove previous repair panels, which virtually came off in my hands.




Then new panels welded in:



Next job was to graft metal into a disused hook up point which was filled with fibreglass. after knocking out with hammer and cleaning up I shaped a piece of metal to fill the hole and welded it in.

ht=600 src="http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i411/Paul2tall28/IMG00258-20100610-1112-1.jpg" />




Due to having to work outside I ran out of good weather so work then stopped for a while and van was used from time to time as it was still MOT'd

I was offered a workshop but after months of waiting and false promises it never happened. So that was that for the year.

That was Part 1 of the story so far, will now set about posting part 2 with more piccies.

 

Some good work going on there, looking forward to part 2

 

Ok, on to part 2.

After several setbacks in my life I had some good news that a lock up was availible, and I had enough Tax and Mot to drive it there. So the project was back on

The first job once in the new lock up was to remove the engine and fuel tank. the engine was a bit more of a pain than i had imagined and had to cut straps on tank as they were well seized.

I then started chopping out more filler and found this little horror. I dodgy metal plate welded over a deep scrape in the bodywork where the two panels meet.





I then cut out the dodgy bit and started on dents with slide hammer. Also cut the lower corner off too



due to it being on the seambetween two panels I made a repair panel from two folded bits of metal and welded them together



and then grafted it in


then the new lower corner was welded in

 

Part 3

It was at this point I realised it was no longer a rolling project. I realised I was going to be without a VW for the show season. But didnt want to rush it and cock it up so the project continued..............

I decided that I didn't like the look of the hook up on side panel and figured it would be better to route from engine bay at a later stage. So out it came and area cleaned up with disc.


then infill piece made from sheet metal


and then welded in and ground flat


Time then to start other side

 

always great to see a new resto thread

good work so far mate, looking forward to seeing more updates

K+ for posting

 

Thanks for the positive comments guys and the Karma Gives me a bit more confidence that I'm heading in right direction. Getting alot better with welder now after alot of practice.

Got a lot more photos to add over next couple of days too.

 

Good work mate, keep the pics coming

 

Good work, it is amazing what is underneath the paintwork on some of these buses isn't it?

 

Is that a gasless welder?

Nice project.. O0

 

Evening all.....

Found a bit of time to add a bit more to the thread...

So moving to the other side it was the same story with the front arch. The usual rot spots, but again the inner was repairable and new outer was purchased.




As before the outer arch was cut away in stages so not to make any mistakes. Here you can see the few rot spots on the inner arch.




..and whilst in cutting mood i cut the rear outer arch off as i new that had rotted through and once again pulled the sill off with my hands.


Rear arch tub looked like this

sill off, the inner looks pretty good but the strenghener requires a little work

B-post needed work too



so a fair bit of work on there and time to get the welder out again.

 

Starting to gain momentum now and time to start the repairs

First job was to repair the B-post the repair panels I purchased from C&C were great, real thick guage formed steel.
cant find the pics at moment but will edit at a later date :-[

With the B-post repaired it was time to cut out the rot from inner front arch and fabricate the repairs:

started with the lower step notched some folded steel and got the curve then tacked in place then made a rubbing of missing metal. this was then cut out of sheet metal and formed and welded in:




then the tricky bit where the return runs into flat face:


with this complete it was ready for the outer arch to be welded on along with the closing panel. I still have a couple of repairs to do on the step.



another days work complete

 

Next I needed to attend to the rear inner arch. I didnt fancy replacing the whole wheel tub due to price and I decided it was repairable. Probably a little more work this way but trying to keep to budget and use the materials I already had.

so this was the rotten arch:


I thought i start with the straight bit so cut fair size amount out to make sure all the rust was out. and made a replacement piece from sheet metal with a folded strip welded to it to make the return

then rolled it to get the right curve in the panel

after getting the right curve it was offered into place held in with magnets until I was happy with positioning

then welded across the top only as sides more had to be cut out for repair


Again using folded strips of metal with notches cut out I formed the curve over existing arch, when happy i tacked the notches up to keep the shape then cut out the rotten bits. I took rubbings of shape then cut metal to shape formed and welded to curved piece to make replacement panel. This method was used on both sides of arch (Thanks to Diddymens thread for inspiration )






and this is how it turned out


primered and seam sealed and ready for outer panel.

thats as far as I have got to date, will ad to thread when work commences again. Hope this has been of interest

 

Nice work on the arch repairs.

 

Good work, have you decided on a colour yet?

 

I vote for the original orange.

 

I really like the colour I saw on an MGB at a classic car show I went to recently.
I asked the owner what code it was and he told me it is called Blaze.. apparently come in 3 shades. it is a real deep orange. I think that would look nice all the way up to gutters with a white roof....

I guess this would upset the purists O0