Its been a while since I've posted much in the members ride section as I've been so busy with customer's cars and not my own.....and although this is a customer's car, I felt it was too good not to post.
I'm not trying to drum up business by posting all these pics as we have heaps on for quite a long time in advance, however I thought members would be keen to see what has gone into this amazing bus.
It started out life as a kind of solid 1959 Microbus that the owner purchased from Steve Muller at Kombi Rescue.
Before I dive into a heap of restoration progress pics, I'll fast forward a little over 12 months of solid work to where we are now....not far from paint...
Here is where we are at the current day...
Cheers
Al
damn Fuchs suit a split
Great work (as usual) 👍👍👍
Futue te ipsum!!!
Drum away Al, drum away. Looks way cool.
Cheers mate.
Like a lot of 50 plus year old buses, there are always lots of stubborn screws - rather than drilling and retapping all threads, where we can we use heat and then water/air to expand/contract the screw/screw plate to help uncrack them
So often people will assume "the rust is not too bad" when they can only see a small pin hole or two, but this is more often than not what is hiding underneath...
After blasting
The start of one of the major custom mods of this resto....a walk through conversion
A lot of Gerson repair panels went into this bus
Shaping walk through backs/sides
A hell of a lot of time was spent gapping the doors and apertures throughout the welding stage
Although they are the best of what is available, even the Gerson panels do require some tweaking to get right....nothing is just a straight 'chop out he old, weld in the new'
Why cant you be in Adelaide!
Mad job as always. When everyone talks about how good the paint is and never comment on the gaps, panels and all your hard work, just keep telling yourself it is all in the prep.
Well done Al,
Heath
C'mon kids gather round,
there's a new sensation hitting town,
It's moving straight, low to the ground,
it'll pick you up when your feeling down.
I saw this one at the Run to the sun its really a nice job and I know that the end result will be awesome. good work Guys
Nice work,we have a similar project about to start.
is that sand or sodablasted?
did your blast/prime the inside?
Cheers👍
"A car for the people, an affordable Volkswagen, would bring great joy to the masses and the problems of building such a car must be faced with courage."
Adolf Hitler At opening of 1934 Berlin Auto Show
Thanks guys. The bus was sandblasted by a guy who only does classic cars and hence knows what he is doing (has never warped a panel on any of our restos). He blasts the inside too but does not blast the inside surfaces of the exterior panels (ie inside door skins) but does the ribs/framework. He has found blasting the inside of the skins increases the likelihood of warping considerably.
Heath, as rad as Adelaide is, I think I'd miss the warm water and surf up here too much 🙂
Hope you're well mate.
Al
There are a lot of subtle (as well as some not so subtle) details on this bus including modified jacking points to keep the lines clean on the side of the bus as these are not very attractive in stock form. A bottle style jack will be used (if necessary) on the chassis rail (strengthened) but the jacking point has been 'cut and shut' so it can still be used a hoist lifting point
Lower windscreen sections had to be replaced as well
A donor door provided a replacement lower section (inner)
And a Gerson section plus a hand formed piece completed the rust repair on the outer skin
Lots of plug welds required for the cargo floor section
RHD locking ball handle Berg shifter is the ducks nuts
The start of the custom air conditioning installation
Another custom touch was the dash treatment including a glove box
bloody hell Al U have time to SURF as well ???
Top stuff
Not as much as I'd like to Dave - I thought running my own business would give me more time to surf when its 'on'....sadly thats not the case! At least I do what I love for a living so that is the trade off 🥲
The start of the air con evaporator (blower unit) cover
Lots of little details like filling in the original brake fluid reservoir access hole
And fabricating a new heater duct
Hydraulic clutch
One amplifier is mounted behind each front seat and is covered (more details later)
As the owner is a cyclist, he requested we integrate bike mounts (x2) in the rear cargo area that fold away under the floor so remain hidden when not in use
Deluxe bumper trim has been installed on both bumpers
More dash work
I remember reading another more complete build thread for this somewhere, where was it? I need more, lol!
Excellent work mate!
👍very cool AL are they 18's
SORRY BOUT THAT!
ricola wrote:I remember reading another more complete build thread for this somewhere, where was it? I need more, lol!
I've had one going for a little while on SSVC forum but have full pics (close to 1000 already) on my website:
http://dasrestohaus.com.au/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4742
Ol, Fuchs are the Iozzio custom 17in (18s probably would have looked a bit big on this bus).
Cheers
Al
woa my jaw is sitting on the floor, are they 17 fuchs from pete?
Yep 17in Fuchs are purchased through Pete Skiba at Airkewld but manufactured via Paul Iozzio - both very nice guys whom I met in the US.
After quite a few hours the glove box door was close to completion
Coolers underneath the bus include the AC condensor, engine oil cooler and intercooler radiator (all with thermo fans mounted above coolers) plus small supercharger oil cooler - cable conduits/tubes etc have been relocated to allow fans to be mounted on top
Speaking of the engine, it will be a 2275cc type I based motor (longblock built by Leon's Motors) with AC compressor, single throttly body (coupled to Link G4 ECU), custom water to air intercooler, and a Rotrex supercharger which will produce around 7 pounds of boost. This was fairly early on in the mockup stage
more more more.
this is my fav thread on the forum right now.
"A car for the people, an affordable Volkswagen, would bring great joy to the masses and the problems of building such a car must be faced with courage."
Adolf Hitler At opening of 1934 Berlin Auto Show
The start of the custom roof lining (fibreglass/mdf) with the rear sub box (sealed enclosure) housing the 2 10in subs.
Itchy stuff....
Front sections
A T3 engine access hatch was donated to the cause to make engine access easier (funny that)
Lots of time metal working the panels before filler work ensued
Al
Plenums for fuel injection runners ended up rectangular as height was an issue under the supercharger
Top of runners were bellmouthed into plenums
Wedgeports were selected by Leon's Motors
Another engine mockup with cardboard intercooler for dimensions
Intercooler water pump
Intercooler water reservoir
Supercharger oil reservoir
More bare metal work before filler is applied
wow, you are a very patient man, a lot of hard work there
1 1963 356b porsche coupe
2 1960 karmann ghia cab
1 1965 karmann ghia cab
1 1966 karmann cab
1 1961 split ute
1 1967 split p/van
1 1952 standard bug
1 1963 ragtop
1 1960 ragtop
2 1954 ovals
1 1956 oval baja project
1 1957 oval flying flea
Cheers Steve, I am sure you can appreciate how many hours this custom stuff chews up!
Speaking of which under the passenger seat we integrated a fire extinguisher mount which is on a hinged door
The first to be installed in Australia - a Red 9 Design double wishbone front end which incorporates rack and pinion steering (yes we have liaised closely with an engineer who is overseeing the whole rebuild including the vast range of modications) 🙂
The shifter was relocated backwards for both better comfort and also to give more room when in first and third (for clearance to the air con vents)
A mid mount was fabricated and chassis horns and gearbox cradle have been boxed for extra strength
A custom spacer was machined to fit an aero-style filler cap and neck
Obviously in mockup stage at this point but the new filler/tank setup has a block back vent (to relieve pressure whilst filling) as well as a rollover vent which allows the tank to breathe but blocks if there was ever an accident and the bus ended up on its side/roof
Brilliant.
love the new front end👍
amazing work
1 1963 356b porsche coupe
2 1960 karmann ghia cab
1 1965 karmann ghia cab
1 1966 karmann cab
1 1961 split ute
1 1967 split p/van
1 1952 standard bug
1 1963 ragtop
1 1960 ragtop
2 1954 ovals
1 1956 oval baja project
1 1957 oval flying flea
This is awesome. Can't wait to see more.
Al I Havent been on here for ages, great to see your working hard and attention to details and creativity is brilliant as always.
I would love to have you work your magic on something for me one day......
Cheers gents.
Couple of quick vids....
Fire extinguisher door:
Storage draw under drivers seat
Solenoid operated glove box door:
Roof bare metalled
Cover plates for custom walk through conversion
Custom Plazmaman water to air intercooler
Another mockup of engine with first version of laser cut steel face plate
To get the fatter wheels in the back with wider rubber and deeper dish, the rear torsion housing had to be narrowed
More pics to come soon
Al
