Hello and welcome to my resto thread. I have a 1975 bay originally from the Netherlands, which I bought and imported into Germany 10 years ago. It is a werid combination of dormobile roof, westfalia interior but also had a couple of features such as channel for the rear test which makes me believe it is/was an amescador. I fitted a more moden homemade interior (if anyone is interested in a slightly tatty westfalia helskini interior, I still have it) and drove it all over europe, but then was craving a bit more power so took it off the road while I got the engine rebuilt and did some rust repairs on the rear end etc. Then once the new shiny engine was back in I decided it was a shame the rest of it was so tatty so started to unbolt stuff and.... well here we are I've done a bit of welding before so not too afraid to tackle it but I'm not quite sure which direction to go with the front end. it's clear the inner windscreen panel is completely gone but at the bottom some of it is ok but some of it is hole-y... I think it makes more sense to go for the whole inner valence and go right back to the chassis legs but it seems whichever way I do it there is a fair amount of spot welds to unpick. I don't know if it's just me though and the bottom of the A-pillars seems to be one of the more complicated sections of a bay and I am open to advice in this respect! Mine will need some attention: The good news is this is really the worst of the rot. The back end I did previously, and the chassis sections are mostly good inclduing outriggers etc. It will need a new sill on the passenger side but apart from that I'm optimistic? Probably spoke to soon, lets see.....
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClM3t5JWYJzyjazBFz8RKog One one of the 1973 VW Campervan restoration videos, it shows a detailed explanation of the build up of the lower front panel sections you talk about. I have watched them through and enjoyed them. Hope they are of use Good luck
I sympathise with the horror of just picking at some loose filler somewhere and ending up with the bottom half of the front of the bus in little pieces in a box beside the bus. The inner screen panel looks like it might just be the bottom edge has gone - in which case joining it to a section off the bottom part of a replacement panel might work . The Schofields lower A pillar repairs are quite good : 2mm thick metal to rust away slower. The three pieces of metal are a bit of a puzzle until you realise that the deep "U" forms the section the door seals against and then there is a plate with a bend in it in front of that. And the strange bit then goes between the ends of the inner panel and the pillar. I watched the inner and outer lower panel video from Snowdonia Campers and realised he is being a bit over the top in filling in all the holes in the panels - the deformation panel has a row of 15mm holes for rubber bungs that hold the bumper off the panel - he filled them. And there are two "windows" in the inner panel he taped over - but these are actually ventilation holes - or places to spray Waxoyl through. If you have the under pedal belly panel under the front of the bus, there is no direct line for water to go in there. Your inner lower panel looks quite good at the top - it might be worth leaving it at the top and joining the bottom half of the new panel to it, although they are different profiles so it might be hard. I found it quite a challenge taking off rusty chassis structure equipped with an angle grinder, a box of discs and a Draper mains powered reciprocating saw with good quality bimetal blades for cutting fast through metal. (I could cut about 4mm thickness with that saw, used the angle grinder to "start" when there was a solid weld)
Yes I was wondering that too about joining the sections of the new panel to the good bits of the old. I certainly don't want to hack everything away as the doors fitted ok before and I'd like to try and keep the datum rather than endlessly refitting the doors and windscreen. Certainly the kick panel I think can be saved. I'm going to pick away at it carefully and try and get a better assessment. I don't know if it's a blessing or curse having things "half gone" in this way where you have to decide the way forward. I ordered things from Schofields before but I think post brexit thats not such an option now . I ordered a part for my MGF in early Feb and it has sat in customs now in the Netherlands for over a month. Had to pay about 30% of the cost in additional import charges also . It's quite amazing how much better the parts availablity in the UK is (and the community in general) for these buses than in Germany!
Anyway back to pretty (?) pictures I'm wondering what to do about a couple of window seams like this one, where the rust has got hold seemingly (pun intended) behind the join and prised the two edges apart a little. I guess it has to be a job of picking them apart and rust converting them Also not sure what to do about the front beam. Sections at the bottom are rotten out, but the rest seems ok. Repair or replace? Also the plate for the bump stop has rusted away from one of the rear control arms, I'm wondering if thats common and can just be welded back on
Sorry lots of questions today.... I'm also wondering about the best way to store the engine, specifically my nice new weber 40 IDFs which I really don't want to have to rebuild as they have got gummed up by the E5 fuel which is the only option here. I put fogging oil in the cyclinders at least and taped up all the openings so the local mice do not find a new home! Unfortunately the vintage speed exhaust will have to go as it doesn't fit with my towbar, and the TÜV were not happy about it in general. I need to find something more in keeping with the age of the bus.
Good luck with the resto @eumecon . It is strange that parts are easier to find here than in Germany. Maybe there were so many there that not as many people were as interested in providing parts? I like looking at oldtimers on German Ebay
I’d be binning that front beam, by the time you’ve cleaned it back to good metal it’ll be half the thickness.
I guess with the front beam it depends on if you want to keep original or not, I can recommend a red 9 but, I bought mine when they were £1600 now they are much more but, very straightforward to fit. I certainly think unless your a welding wizz and like a challenge and the satisfaction of restoring it and the reduced cost, that a new original or alternative is the way to go.
Unfortunately modifed or aftermarket beams is not really an option. It's a pain to get anything modified through inspection in Germany especially as mine has a special historic status which means I'm exempt from low emissions rules etc. But hey it makes it an easier choice I guess
Some more progress over the weekend: I made an executive decision to replace the front inner valance as the corners are pretty bad and points where it meets the chassis legs also not great despite looking solid from first inspection. Besides which it seems it would be an awful lot of unpicking with the spot weld drill. The kick panel can be saved though. I have left the two corners for now as a datum for offering up the front panel when I fit the new inner windscreen panel. That was completely rotten and definitely beyond saving so I'll do it first. Replacement OEM panel is not cheap though On the bright side, the A-posts look quite good! Just the outermost section where is attaches to the valance is rotten and a hole in the middle section which can be easily repaired. I think I'll try and fabricate my own outer panels rather than spending €70 each side for the 3 piece set I don't even need half of! Cut some inspection holes into the front steps, as there was bubbling here anyway. Not really surprised: You can see as well the step has been plated but the back of the step apart from a couple of holes and the rest of the arch seems pretty solid on both sides. I'm in a quandry again as the choice seems to be poor quality inner steps or an entire OEM arch section at considerable cost.
In some other good news I was in contact with the Amescador club in the Netherlands and based on a photo of some of the features (spare wheel carrier etc) they confirmed yes it is probably a Amescador conversation (they had Westfalia interior) which only 35 are only known to be left in existence. It changes my plan a bit for the resto as I might put the interior now back to near original. The only issue is I really don't like the Westfalia Helsinki interior so I might try and recreate a berlin style interior using the good bits of interior I still have from the original plus some repo westfalia fittings. I don't know if this will be seen sacrilege! But I think it will be a nice compromise and give a nod back to the original and look the part while still serve as something I will enjoy actually using. Got the old interior out for a bit of an assessment anyway! I would really like to get the old electrolux absorber fridge working but I think it's clogged up so beyond saving mabye . The conversion also came with this heater mounted in the floor next to the sliding door though - this might be an interesting challenge to get working again . I'd like to try as I believe it's an original feature of the Amescador
Trying leaving the fridge upside down for a few weeks, the ammonia can crystallize, I believe. Someone on here had success doing this.
It sure is They were used in trailer tents originally It’s interesting to hear they were also fitted to that amescador camper conversion as well As I’ve never seen another Vw bus with one
General comment: It surprises me often to see peeps assessing the condition of parts and panels without removing the paint so having ziltch idea whether an inch to the left could be a minefield of filler and rust but still holding out. Even more, making decisions about where to cut in panels without properly cleaning up around...AND... cleaning the paint last thing, almost certainly thinning the metal on that cut edge about to be welded. It's soooo much better to clean up before you decide/cut/whatever. I just don't know how you can do this stuff with what amounts to half the picture! I do understand you're trying not to coat your garage in dust but you know, sometimes you just have to.
Yes that seems to be the one! I would love to find out as much as I can about it, especially how the ignitor /shut off valve is supposed to look like as mine was binned at some point in the past (not by me).
