Good news, my Californian 72 T2 Kombi is due to land on my driveway on Monday. Bought it from Graham at FBI VW a couple of weeks ago and it's been having a new footstep and battery tray fitted. Starts and runs fist time but has been off the road for 7 years. Apparently sat out in the Californian sun. The question is what do I do first? The paintwork is original and there is very little rust at all. The chassis is immaculate and behind the grime is the original black steelwork. There is no interior and some light surface rust on the floor. So do I pull out the engine and get it rebuilt first, then overhaul the brakes and suspension? Do I remove the surface rust inside and treat with Hammerite.....or do I strip the whole thing down. Any thought, hints or tips very much welcomed.
Get the bottom blasted and coated, to hold back uk rain. Clean the inside, sort out some door cards, rnr bed and interior cupboards. Get engine to run, don't re-build unless it don't work, maybe new front seat covers?
Anyone any ideas on what I'm going to need to get done for MOT pass i.e. lighting (converting from US to UK? Will seats fail an MOT in this state? Sorry for all the questions!
Get rhd headlights with the sidelight part as well then take the wire (think it is grey) that goes up to the indicators and feed the lower sidelight bulbs. Job done.
my priority would be to give it a good dose of cavity wax, and wax under the van and change any perished window seals
Whs^ plus fuel lines and underbody protection would be my priorities. Get it MOTd and do everything else in slower time as a rolling resto. Enjoy.
Personally, I'd avoid using Hammerite for surface rust...there are better products out there. As a stop gap, you can treat the areas with a rust converter like Jenolite....this will stabilize it until you decide what you intend to do with the paintwork. For the chassis, I'd give it a tickle with a brass brush to get rid of any loose, flakey stuff, treat any rust patches and then use an epoxy-based paint rather than underseal or stonechip....Alternatively you could apply a liberal coat of Owatrol. Have a good poke around and do any welding before cavity wax. If you're designing/making your own interior, do this before you paint the inside...you can trial fit without being concerned about chips and scratches If the engine's good, I'd run it as is....no sense in pulling the motor just yet, unless you need to carry out work in the engine bay/tank etc. Depending on their condition, try to retain/recondition the original seals.... @Beaver should be able to give you some good info on US to UK spec conversion
Change the headlights £25 from GSF, can't see the rears so can't advise but later buses should be ok indicator wise. Service brakes, service running gear. Treat the outside rust, rub down and rustoleum the inside and use it! Leave the engine and gearbox alone other than a service and change the rubber components.
The first resto thing I'd do is chip all the rock hard, cracked, 40yr old seam sealer out and replace it with tiger seal before the English weather gets in. Important places are between the battery trays and rear corners, the seam inside the rear wheel housing and the seams in the front wheel housing, like between the b pillar and bulkhead, round the seat belt mount, the end of the sills etc. paint it with bonda then waxoyl the whole underneath and inside cavities, pillars doors etc.
